§ 54-0703. Approval of state assistance payments for municipal recycling

or waste reduction projects.

1. State assistance payments toward the cost of municipal recycling or
waste reduction projects shall be made pursuant to this title with the
approval of the commissioner pursuant to an approved contract or
contracts.

2. In reviewing applications for state assistance payments for
municipal recycling or waste reduction projects, the commissioner shall
give due consideration to:

a. the adequacy of the municipality's waste reduction or recycling
program and its relationship to the needs and plans of other
municipalities; provided, however, that such adequacy shall be
determined in part by the efforts undertaken to date by the municipality
to implement a mandatory source separation law or ordinance required
pursuant to section one hundred twenty-aa of the general municipal law;

b. the suitability and feasibility of the project in relation to the
recycling program and the area to be served;

c. the proportion of solid waste for which waste reduction or
recyclables recovery is contemplated and the extent to which the project
is consistent with the statewide solid waste reduction and recycling
goals established under the state solid waste management plan, pursuant
to section 27-0103 of this chapter;

d. the potential for coordination and consolidation of solid waste
management practices among municipalities within specified areas,
regions or planning units;

e. the implementation of the system or components thereof and their
expected terms of usefulness, singly or in combination;

f. the present and projected population, land use, and rates and
composition of solid waste generation;

g. the potential or contemplated markets for recovered recyclables and
the extent to which the full avoided costs of proper collection,
transportation and disposal of source separated recyclables are, or are
projected to be, greater than the cost of collection, transportation and
sale of said recyclables less the amount received from the sale of said
recyclables;

h. the intergovernmental arrangements integral to the project;

i. the non-governmental arrangements integral to the project;

j. the urgency of the project, in relationship to all recyclables
recovery program needs in the state; and

k. the environmental soundness of the project, including assurance
that the project will meet all applicable laws, criteria, and rules and
regulations.

3. State assistance payments toward the cost of a waste reduction or
municipal recycling project shall not exceed fifty percent of the cost,
and in the aggregate such payments shall in no event exceed two million
dollars. Such costs are subject to final computation and determination
by the commissioner upon completion of the project, and shall not exceed
the maximum eligible cost set forth in the contract.