The East Texas Council of Governments (ETCOG) announces the availability of fiscal year 2000 funding for eligible local and regional municipal solid waste management projects in support of the goals and objectives of the ETCOG Regional Solid Waste Management Plan. Funding for this program is provided through a grant from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC). The approximate expected total amount of funding is $256,000. Eligible public entities are: 1) Cities; 2) Counties; 3) Public schools and school districts (excluding universities and other post-secondary educational institutions); and 4) General and special law districts created as political subdivisions of the state, with the authority and responsibility for water quality protection or municipal solid waste management, to include river authorities.

Eligible project categories are: 1) Local Enforcement (This category consists of projects which contribute to the prevention of illegal dumping. These projects may include programs to investigate illegal dumping problems, educate the public on illegal dumping laws, and prosecute violators. These programs may also include activities such as monitoring collection and transport through a manifest system to enforce laws pertaining to the illegal disposal of liquid wastes); 2) Source Reduction and Recycling; 3) Citizen’s Collection Stations and "Small" Registered Transfer Stations; 4) Educational and Training Projects (Educational components are encouraged under the other categories in order to better ensure public participation in projects; those educational components should be funded as part of those projects and not separately under this category. This category may include "stand-alone" educational projects dealing with a variety of solid waste management topics); 5) Community Cleanup Events; 6) Technical Studies; 7) Household Hazardous Waste Management; 8) Local Solid Waste Management Plans; and 9) Installation of Scales at Municipal Solid Waste Landfills.

Please contact ETCOG for a request for proposals (RFP) and application form if your organization is interested in performing a project. You can reach Mark Sweeney, Director of Regional Development & Services, or Rebekah Martinez, Environmental Resources Assistant at (903) 984-8641 for more information or assistance with the application process. You can also reach us via email at mark.sweeney@etcog.org or rebekah.martinez@twc.state.tx.us, respectively. We will also post the RFP and application form on ETCOG's web page at www.etcog.org.

ETCOG will also hold a pre-application workshop on Monday, September 20, 1999 at 10:00 A.M. in the ETCOG Conference Room at 3800 Stone Rd., Kilgore. The deadline for application submittal is Wednesday, October 13, 1999.