Section 122.653. Application approval

(A) Upon receipt of an application from an integrating committee, the clean Ohio council shall examine the application and all accompanying information to determine if the application is complete. If the council determines that the application is not complete, the council immediately shall notify the applicant that the application is not complete, provide a description of the information that is missing from the application, and return the application and all accompanying information to the applicant. The applicant may resubmit the application directly to the council.

(B) The council shall approve or disapprove in writing applications submitted to it by integrating committees or executive committees of integrating committees for grants or loans from the clean Ohio revitalization fund. The council shall not approve a project that fails to comply with the requirements established in sections 122.65 to 122.658 of the Revised Code and policies and requirements established under section 122.657 of the Revised Code. The council also shall not approve a project if the applicant caused or contributed to the contamination at the property. In approving or disapproving applications, the council shall use the selection process established in policies and requirements established under section 122.657 of the Revised Code.

(C) If the council approves an application under this section, the council shall enter into an agreement with the applicant to award a grant or make a loan for the applicant's brownfield cleanup or remediation project. The agreement shall be executed prior to the payment or disbursement of any funds approved by the council under this section. The agreement shall contain, at a minimum, all of the following:

(1) The designation of a single officer or employee of the applicant who will serve as project manager;

(2) Procedures for the payment or disbursement of funds from the grant or loan to the applicant;

(3) A designation of the percentage of the estimated total cost of the project for which the grant or loan will provide funding, which shall not exceed seventy-five per cent of that cost as provided in section 122.658 of the Revised Code;

(4) A description of the manner by which the applicant will provide the remainder of the estimated total cost of the project, which shall equal at least twenty-five per cent of that cost as provided in section 122.658 of the Revised Code;

(5) An assurance that the applicant will clean up or remediate the brownfield to the applicable cleanup standards;

(6) A provision for the reimbursement of grant moneys or immediate repayment of the loan, as applicable, if the completed project does not comply with the applicable cleanup standards;

(7) Any other provisions that the council considers necessary in order to ensure that the project's implementation will comply with the requirements established in sections 122.65 to 122.658 of the Revised Code and policies and requirements established under section 122.657 of the Revised Code.

(D) If the council executes an agreement under this section, the council shall forward a copy of the agreement to the department of development for the purposes of section 122.658 of the Revised Code.

(E) A grant may be awarded or a loan may be made for a project under this section to an applicant to pay the costs of cleanup or remediation of a brownfield in order to comply with applicable cleanup standards.

Effective Date: 07-26-2001