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General | Eligibility | Funding | Application
General
No questions currently.
Eligibility
- What entities are eligible to apply for this program?
Eligible applicants include cities, counties, city and counties, Regional or Joint Powers Authorities, and special districts that provide solid waste collection services. - Are foodbanks eligible to apply?
No, foodbanks are not eligible applicants. Foodbanks may enter into a written agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an eligible applicant for the use of grant-funded equipment or vehicles, however, equipment purchased with grant funds must remain the property of the grantee for the duration of the grant and five years after the grant closes. It is up to the grantee and foodbank to agree upon what they want to include in the MOU. - Are refrigerators, trucks, and vehicles for organics and edible food projects eligible?
Yes, the grantee needs to own and control the equipment/vehicle. The full cost of the equipment/vehicle may be charged to the grant, or the grantee may contribute matching funds, but the equipment/vehicle may not be partially owned by the grantee. - Is the procurement of recycle organic products an eligible expense?
Yes. - Are disposal costs for organics processing eligible?
No. - Is the production of outreach materials and door-to-door outreach eligible?
Yes. - Is providing incentives, such as rewards for recycling or having low contamination eligible?
No. Grant funds may not be used for monetary incentives. - What are indirect costs?
Indirect costs are expenditures not capable of being assigned or itemized to a particular project or activity but considered necessary for the operation of the organization and the performance of the program. Examples include the costs of operating and maintaining facilities, accounting services, and administrative salaries as well as contractor’s indirect costs in their contracts. All indirect costs charged to the grant must be associated with grant activities in the approved budget. - Is there a cap on personnel costs?
No. - Is equipment such as tractors, turf tires, or compost slingers, eligible for organics procurement activities?
Yes. - Are already incurred costs an eligible expense?
No, expenditures made or costs incurred prior to the term start date are not eligible for reimbursement. - Are disposal costs associated with organic processing an eligible activity/cost?
No, disposal costs are not eligible. It is not sustainable to offset disposal costs with a one-time grant. - Are new organic waste curbside containers an eligible expense?
Yes, blue and green bins are eligible expenses. - Is the purchasing of recovered organic waste products to meet the SB 1383 recovered organic waste product procurement target an eligible expense?
Yes, the purchase of recovered organic waste products are an eligible expense. - Are wheeled collection carts an eligible expense?
Yes. - Can jurisdictions seek funding to offset service fee increases in high-cost (but not impossible to) service areas, where no exemption/waiver is available?
No, grant funds may not be used to offset service fee costs. - Are replacement bins an eligible cost?
Only green and blue bins for organic waste and edible food collection are eligible. - Are tractors, turf tires, and compost slingers an eligible expense?
Yes, these items are eligible expenses for compost procurement activities. - We would like to use a portion of our grant to pay for a subscription to a compliance/record keeping software. They offer a discounted rate for a three year subscription as opposed to annual renewal. If the three year subscription was paid for during the grant period, even though the subscription runs past the end of the grant period, would that whole amount be eligible?
Yes, we will allow a three-year subscription as long as the expenditure is made during the Grant Term. - Would paying tipping fees for processing (composting) organic waste be an eligible/approved use of grant funds?
No, tipping fees are not an eligible expense. - Can funds be used to construct compost holding bays?
Yes, construction of a storage/staging area for procured compost is an eligible expense. - Can you please confirm if the following are eligible activities? 1. Obtain a firm to identify City-usage and possible application of compost/mulch on City-managed lands; 2. Obtain a firm to identify and establish partnerships with the top 10 privately-owned parties within the City boundaries that can utilize the application of City provided mulch; 3. Obtain a firm to help identify private landowners/ranchers or similar private parties outside the City boundaries that could utilize City provided compost/mulch and explore delivery options of said materials.
Yes, these are all eligible activities. - We are planning a separate food scrap collection with a dedicated six gallon cart, that will be yellow to differentiate it from the yard waste cart (we will have a four cart system). Would the purchase of those 6 gallon carts be eligible for grant funding?
No, only brown bins with either, brown, black, or grey lids are eligible for food scrap collection. - We would like to hire a consultant to perform education and outreach, program evaluation, and capacity planning; is this eligible?
Yes. - Can we use grant funds to create a city run grant program?
No. - Are new organic waste curbside containers an eligible expense?
Yes, blue, brown, and green bins are eligible expenses. - If grant funds from two jurisdictions were pooled to purchase a vehicle for a food recovery organization, can vehicle ownership be shared between two jurisdictions?
No. A vehicle needs to be owned and controlled by one jurisdiction. - I understand that the City and our hauler cannot apply as joint applicants. However, if the City applies as an applicant, can we use the allocated funds to reimburse our hauler for their costs related to implementation of SB1383, per our Franchise Agreement with them? Specifically for:
- Cost of producing and mailing Outreach and Education Materials
- Personnel Costs:
- Indirect costs – Contractor’s indirect costs in their contract
- Cost to hire additional staffing to conduct SB 1383 requirements, per our Franchise Agreement
Yes, these are allowable expenses under this grant program.
- I would like to know if the following would qualify toward “Capacity Planning” – consulting services towards the planning of our Water Quality Control Plant’s Facility Master Plan. These consulting services will include the analysis of food waste receiving technologies (organics diversion) that can provide additional renewable clean energy at our Water Quality Control Plant.
Yes, this is an allowable expense under this grant program. - Could we create a standalone app or webpage that tracks food from the generators and matches that to a user that needs food?
Yes, however the app or webpage must be up and running during the grant term. Additionally, any costs associated to website hosting or webpage domains are ineligible. - For jurisdictions that have been granted a waiver from SB 1383 requirements, will they still be eligible for funds since they have to meet some of the requirements such as edible food recovery?
- If a JPA or Regional Application is submitted and one member is unable to adopt an ordinance by the June 14, 2022 second secondary due date, will the application be denied?
No. The member who is unable to adopt an ordinance by June 14th will be removed from the application. - Would a Desk Top Modeling Assessment be an eligible cost?
No. - We would like to create a compost space for residents to pick up compost at their leisure. Is this an eligible expense?
Yes.
Yes. As a reminder, they will still need an enforceable ordinance for the edible food recovery requirements.
Funding
- How much funding is available?
The Circular Economy Package allocated $60 million for the SB 1383 Local Assistance Grant Program, minus five percent for administration costs. - Will this be an ongoing grant program?
No, this is a one-time allocation and grant program. - How will funds be distributed?
Base award amounts will be set at $20,000 for eligible entities. The remaining funds will then be distributed to eligible entities based on per capita calculations using the Department of Finance’s January 2021 population statistics. SB 1383 Local Assistance Grant Program Estimates are available on the NOFA and in GMS. - Can you please explain first and second round funding?
First round funding will go to applicants who certify that they will have an enforceable ordinance(s), or similarly enforceable mechanism (Title 14, CCR, section 18981.2) submitted to CalRecycle by April 1, 2022 and will have their Resolution(s) with, if applicable, Letters of Authorization submitted by the March 1, 2022 due date. All other applicants will have until June 14, 2022 to submit the aforementioned documentation and will receive second round funding. - If we submit a regional application with four total participants, what is the base amount that we qualify for?
The base award for each eligible jurisdiction is $20,000. For Regional Applications, each jurisdiction is eligible for the base award amount. In this case, the application will receive a base award amount of $80,000. - Are grant funds released in arrears or upfront?
Upfront. - If a Joint Powers Authority (JPA) is the applicant, will the funds be distributed to the JPA or to the member agencies directly?
Funds would be sent to the JPA. - We are currently drafting our ordinance and the planned date for adoption is March 15, 2022. Ordinances do not go into effect for 30 days. Would this be sufficient for the first round funding?
Yes, as long as the ordinance is adopted and all other application requirements are met, you will be eligible for first round funding. - If we cannot meet the April 1, 2022 ordinance deadline, what is the deadline in order to receive second round funding?
In order to received second round funding, an ordinance would need to be adopted by the June 14, 2022 secondary due date.
Application
- Do I need to submit resolutions from each participating entity if we have an existing Joint Powers Authority Agreement (JPA)?
The JPA will need to submit a Resolution and each participating entity will need to provide a Letter of Authorization (LOA). Samples are located on the CalRecycle Resolution and Letter Examples webpage. - Do we submit a Regional Application if we want to pool our funds together to purchase bins and educational materials, but spend the rest of our grant funds separate from the joint purchases?
No, a Regional Application is not required if applicants want to pool funds to do bulk purchases. A Regional Application is needed when authority is given to a lead entity to spend the entire grant allocation. - Would an existing “catchall” resolution be accepted or do applicants need to have a separate resolution specific to this funding?
An existing “catchall” resolution is acceptable if it meets the following criteria:- Authorizes submittal of an application for all CalRecycle grants for which the applicant is eligible.
- Identifies the period, up to five years (five years is encouraged but not required), during which the authorizations are valid.
- Identifies the Signature Authority by listing the job title of the person(s) authorized to sign all grant-related documents necessary to implement and close-out the grant(s).
- (Optional but encouraged) Authorizes the Signature Authority to delegate their signature authority to another person identified by job title. Applicants can only submit a Letter of Designation if the corresponding Resolution includes designee language.
- Is a city eligible to apply on its own and be a part of a regional grant application?
No, an eligible entity can either apply individually or as part of a regional application, but not both. - Is a county eligible to apply as a regional applicant if not every city within its jurisdiction decides to participate?
Yes. - Could a Joint Powers Authorities (JPA) apply for funds on behalf of its member agencies and what is required for this submittal?
A JPA may submit a grant application as an individual applicant. The JPA must upload a copy of its JPA Agreement that:-
- Gives authority over solid waste management.
- Lists all member entities.
- Contains the signature of all members.
Note: An entity may not submit an individual application if that entity is also a member of an applicant JPA.
The JPA will also need to provide a Resolution along with Letters of Authorization for all participants. -
- What budget information will we need to provide in the application?
Applicants will need to enter the Budget amount in each of the Budget Categories (in the Budgets tab in GMS) and include a detailed description on how funds will be used in the Budget Detail fields. - Can a JPA apply that is not directly responsible for solid waste collection services and does not enforce SB 1383 regulations?
No, however the members may submit a Regional Application. Please refer to the Application Guidelines and Instructions for more information. - Can a JPA apply as lead agency for this grant when only part of its total JPA membership wishes to participate in our regional application?
No. If all the members are not applying under the JPA, the JPA may not apply. - Do members that opt out of applying as a part of a JPA retain their individual eligibility to apply if they don’t participate in a regional application?
If any members of a JPA opt out of applying as part of a JPA, then the JPA is no longer an eligible applicant. Any combination of member entities can join together and submit a Regional application, but the JPA cannot be included in that Regional application. Please refer to the Application Guidelines and Instructions for more information on how to submit a Regional Application. - What would happen if a JPA doesn’t let the other member know that one member has opted out to apply as an individual and the JPA goes ahead applies with the remaining jurisdictions?
If a JPA applies without documentation (Letter of Authorization) from all members, the application will be disqualified. If the members of the JPA have not applied individually or as a regional application, and the due date has past, then the members will not be eligible to receive funding.
Reporting
- How often are grantees required to submit a report?
An Expenditure Itemization Summary (EIS) is required every six months and a Final Report is due at the end of the grant term. For grantees with awards over $1 million additional reporting may be required.
For more information contact: Short-Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCP), Organic Waste Methane Emissions Reductions, SLCP.organics@calrecycle.ca.gov