Ohio Code 3734.25 – Paying portion of costs of closing facility or abating pollution
(A) The director of environmental protection may make grants of moneys from the hazardous waste facility management fund created in section 3734.18 of the Revised Code or the hazardous waste clean-up fund created in section 3734.28 of the Revised Code for payment by the state of up to two-thirds of the reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by a municipal corporation, county, or township for the proper closure of or abatement of air or water pollution or soil contamination from a solid waste facility in which significant quantities of hazardous waste were disposed of and that the political subdivision owns and once operated.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3734.25
- Agency: means the environmental protection agency. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Board of health: means the board of health of a city or general health district or the authority having the duties of a board of health in any city as authorized by section 3709. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Closure: includes measures performed to protect public health or safety, to prevent air or water pollution, or to make the facility suitable for other uses, if any, including, but not limited to, the removal of processing residues resulting from solid wastes that consist of scrap tires; the establishment and maintenance of a suitable cover of soil and vegetation over cells in which hazardous waste or solid wastes are buried; minimization of erosion, the infiltration of surface water into such cells, the production of leachate, and the accumulation and runoff of contaminated surface water; the final construction of facilities for the collection and treatment of leachate and contaminated surface water runoff, except as otherwise provided in this division; the final construction of air and water quality monitoring facilities, except as otherwise provided in this division; the final construction of methane gas extraction and treatment systems; or the removal and proper disposal of hazardous waste or solid wastes from a facility when necessary to protect public health or safety or to abate or prevent air or water pollution. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Director: means the director of environmental protection. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Disposal: means the discharge, deposit, injection, dumping, spilling, leaking, emitting, or placing of any solid wastes or hazardous waste into or on any land or ground or surface water or into the air. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Hazardous waste: includes any substance identified by regulation as hazardous waste under the "Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976" 90 Stat. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- Health district: means a city or general health district as created by or under authority of Chapter 3709 of the Revised Code. See Ohio Code 3734.01
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
(B) A municipal corporation, county, or township shall submit an application for a grant on forms provided by the director, together with detail plans and specifications indicating the measures to be performed, an itemized estimate of the project’s cost, a description of the project’s benefits, and such other information as the director prescribes. The plan for closure or abatement of air or water pollution or soil contamination may be prepared in consultation with the director or the board of health of the city or general health district in which the facility is located. The director may award the applicant a grant only if the director finds that the proposed measures will provide for the proper closure of the facility and will abate or prevent air or water pollution or soil contamination, including, but not limited to, those measures necessary or desirable to:
(1) In the case of a facility at which land burial of hazardous waste occurred, establish and maintain a suitable cover of soil and vegetation over the cells in which waste is buried in order to minimize erosion, the infiltration of surface water into the cells, the production of leachate, and the accumulation or runoff of contaminated surface waters and to prevent air emissions of hazardous waste from the facility;
(2) Collect and treat contaminated surface water runoff from the facility;
(3) Collect and treat leachate produced at the facility;
(4) Install test wells and other equipment or facilities to monitor the quality of surface waters receiving runoff from the facility or to monitor air emissions of hazardous waste from the facility;
(5) Regularly monitor and analyze surface water runoff from the facility, the quality of waters receiving the runoff, and ground water quality in the vicinity of the facility, and regularly monitor leachate collection and treatment systems installed under the grant and analyze samples from them;
(6) Remove and dispose of hazardous waste from the facility at a suitable hazardous waste disposal facility where necessary to protect public health or safety or to prevent or abate air or water pollution or soil contamination.
(C) The director shall determine the amount of the grant based upon the director’s determination of what constitutes reasonable and necessary expenses for the proper closure of the facility or for the prevention or elimination of air or water pollution or soil contamination from the facility. In making a grant, the director shall enter into a contract with the municipal corporation, county, or township that owns the facility to ensure that the moneys granted are used for the purposes of this section and that measures performed are properly done. The final payment under a grant may not be made until the director inspects and approves the completed cleanup.
The contract shall require the municipal corporation, county, or township to execute an easement whereby the director, an authorized employee of the agency, or a contractor employed by the director may enter upon the facility to sample, repair, or reconstruct air and water quality monitoring equipment constructed under the contract. Such easements shall be for a specified period of years and may be extinguished by agreement between the political subdivision and the director.
When necessary to protect public health or safety, the contract may require the municipal corporation, county, or township to enter into an environmental covenant with the director in accordance with sections 5301.80 to 5301.92 of the Revised Code.