Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) Director John J. Kim announced the latest funding opportunity to assist counties and other units of local government in implementing their solid waste planning obligations under the Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act (SWPRA). A Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) has been posted to the Illinois EPA website.
“In the first two funding cycles, Illinois EPA already provided over $178,000 in funding to local entities working to meet the requirements of the Illinois Solid Waste Planning and Recycling Act,” said Director Kim. “The Illinois EPA is pleased to continue offering funding to counties and units of local governments to update their plans for managing solid waste disposal and recycling.”
Under the SWPRA, counties and units of local government are obligated to revisit their Illinois Solid Waste Management Plans every five years and, if necessary, submit plans with significant updates to the Illinois EPA. The Illinois EPA Material Management and Compliance Section is responsible for reviewing any solid waste management plans with significant updates submitted pursuant to the SWPRA. Through this funding opportunity, Illinois EPA intends to provide interested counties, and other units of local government required to develop a county solid waste management plan, financial assistance to help prepare the next plan update.
Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, conducting a local solid waste and materials management needs assessment, surveying local solid waste and materials management stakeholders to determine programmatic expansion viability, internally authoring solid waste management plan updates, or procuring consulting services to prepare solid waste management plan updates. Each county or unit of local government is eligible for up to $10,000 in funding. Applications for the County Solid Waste Planning Grants will be accepted November 30, 2023, through 5:00 PM (CST) on January 20, 2024.