Section 096-428-18 - InvestmentsA.Investment Criteria. Investment proposals must meet the criteria below to be eligible for approval from the Department. The primary objective of an investment must be to improve the management of packaging material. Proposals that improve the management of material other than packaging material must be supported with a commensurate source of outside funding that reflects the extent to which the investment will be used to manage material other than packaging material. (1) The proposal must be either: (a) A proven solution for improving the management of packaging material; or(b) A pilot project that is designed to collect information on its efficiency as a solution for improving the management of packaging material.(2) In the case of a proposal for new infrastructure, the proposal must designate the infrastructure as the property of a municipality, group of municipalities, tribe, school administrative unit, career and technical region set forth in 20-A M.R.S. §8451, nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 501(c)(3), or a business that realized less than $5,000,000 in total gross revenue during the prior calendar year. These conditions do not apply to proposals for investments in education, improvements to existing infrastructure, or major investment needs.(3) An investment proposal must be offered by either:(a) An entity that has demonstrated responsible use of, and completed reporting requirements for, any previous program funding received; or(b) An entity that does not meet the criteria set forth in Section 18(A)(3)(a) but has not received funding in 10 years and includes a detailed plan for responsible use of funding and completion of reporting requirements.(4) The proposal must be offered by an entity that has the capacity to execute the project or identifies third-party subcontractors with that capacity, as shown by relevant experience.(5) In the case of proposals for infrastructure, operation of the proposed infrastructure must be sustainable, as shown by projected revenues, or other ongoing funding sources equal to, or in excess of, the funding required for operation. This criterion does not apply to pilot projects as described in Section 18(A)(1)(b).(6) In the case of proposals for infrastructure that are not pilot projects as described in Section 18(A)(1)(b), the proposal must fulfill an unmet need and be cost effective, as shown by: (a) An analysis of current resources and throughput demonstrating that current resources are insufficient or expected to be so; or(b) An analysis of realized municipal costs showing that current resources are not cost competitive; and(c) For proposals for infrastructure that facilitate recycling, the investment will not result in a total cost of more than $2,000 per ton, expressed in January 2021 dollars and adjusted according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index.B.Acceptance of Investment Proposals. Investment proposals must be accepted by the SO using a form designed by the SO and approved by the Department.(1) The SO must provide a mechanism for accepting investment proposals from interested entities on an ongoing basis.(2) The Department may work on the development of an investment proposal and may issue an informal request for investment proposals to meet an identified need.C.Annual Evaluation of Investment Proposals.(1) Public comment. The SO must include summaries of the investment proposals it received during the previous calendar year in its annual report and provide a mechanism for requesting and receiving a full investment proposal. If an investment proposal contains proprietary information identified as proprietary by the submitter, it will be managed as confidential information in accordance with 38 M.R.S. §1310-B.
A summary must include the submitter's name, the purpose of the investment, a brief description of the work plan and proposed services, and the cost of the investment proposal.
For a period of 30 days after the Department posts the SO's annual report, the Department will accept comments on the investment proposal summaries. Following the comment period, the Department will share comments received on its website.
(2) Stakeholder input. During annual reporting, the SO must include an optional survey that asks participating municipalities, their affiliated contractors, producers, and their authorized third-party reporters to comment on and rank investment proposals included in its annual report. Comments and ranking received via this mechanism must be submitted to the Department with investment proposals by the second Monday in July of each calendar year.(3) SO evaluation. The SO must provide an evaluation of each investment proposal that includes a determination on whether the proposal meets each investment criterion. The SO must include its evaluations when it submits investment proposals to the Department by the second Monday in July of each calendar year.(4) Department evaluation. The Department will evaluate each investment proposal to determine whether the proposal meets each investment criterion.(5) SO and Department discussion. The Department will meet with the SO to discuss investment proposals including any differences between the SO's and Department's evaluations of investment criteria and the SO's priorities for investment. If after discussion, the SO's and the Department's evaluations of an investment proposal still differ, the Department's decision will determine an investment proposal's eligibility for funding.D.Major Investment Needs. In addition to accepting investment proposals in accordance with Section 18(B), the SO must collaborate with the Department to identify major investment needs and plan for their funding using a savings plan.(1) The SO or the Department may propose a major investment need. When proposing a major investment need, the SO or the Department will identify the investment need, estimate its cost, and project the year in which the major investment need should be funded. A proposed major investment need must be included with investment proposals in the SO's annual report as described in Section 18(C)(1) and in the optional survey described in Section 18(C)(2). The SO and the Department will consider comments provided, discuss, and make adjustments as appropriate before adding a major investment need to the savings plan.(2) The SO must develop and maintain a savings plan to fund major investment needs. The SO must review the savings plan on an annual basis to suggest allocation of new funds to major investment needs and reallocation of funds among major investment needs to accommodate any changes to priorities or timelines that arose during the previous calendar year. Initial creation of and any changes to the savings plan require Department approval.(3) The SO must maintain a copy of the savings plan on its website. The savings plan must include the list of major investment needs, their estimated costs, and the years in which the SO plans to fund them.(4) Three years prior to a projected investment year, the Department will issue an informal request for investment proposals to meet the identified major investment need. Proposals to fulfill a major investment need must follow the process described in Section 18(C) and investment proposals that will designate new infrastructure as property of a municipality, group of municipalities, tribe, school administrative unit, or career and technical region set forth in 20-A M.R.S. §8451 must be preferred. A pilot project cannot fulfill a major investment need. If no such qualified investment proposals are received in time to be included in one of the SO's next two annual reports, investment proposals designating new infrastructure as property of a nonprofit organization exempt from taxation under the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 501(c)(3), or a business that realized less than $5,000,000 in total gross revenue during the prior calendar year are eligible. If no qualified investment proposal is received in time to be included in the SO's next annual report, any qualified investment proposal may be eligible, regardless of ownership of new infrastructure. The SO must submit and the Department may approve an investment proposal that meets the identified need and the investment criteria. The SO may disperse partial funding for use before all requisite state and local permits are obtained, as described in the approved investment proposal, but the SO must not disperse remaining funding until after all relevant permitting has been completed.
(5) If an investment proposal meeting the identified major investment need and the investment criteria is not received by the year following that in which the SO planned to fully fund a major investment need, the SO may suggest reallocation of funding to other major investment needs listed in the savings plan.E.Available Funding.(1) Defining available funding. The fees paid by producers that are not used for reimbursements to participating municipalities, the SO's operational costs, or the administrative fee to the Department are available to fund investments. (a) The Department will not approve, and the SO must not disperse, funding for investments such that expenditures would leave the stewardship fund with less than the required funding for two years of municipal reimbursements, as estimated from the prior year's expenditures; the SO's operational costs; and the administrative fee to the Department.(b) The Department will approve investment proposals such that any increases to funding in response to unmet goals required by Section 3(A) are met.(c) After the requirements of Sections 18(E)(1)(a) and 18(E)(1)(b) are met, the SO must suggest, and the Department may approve, allocation of funding in accordance with the savings plan.(d) After allocating funding in accordance with the savings plan, the Department may approve, and, if approved, the SO must disperse funding for investment proposals that do not fulfill a major investment need.(2) Preferences for funding. When available funding does not allow for the approval of all proposals that meet the investment criteria, proposals must be prioritized based on the funding preferences set forth in 38 M.R.S. §2146(11)(C), in the order in which those preferences are listed.F.Department Approval of Investment Proposals. The Department will approve or deny each investment proposal within 90 days of its submittal by the SO. Following approval, the SO must enter into a contract with a recipient that requires: (1) The funding be used for its intended purpose and specifying that any funding not so used must be refunded to the SO in proportion to its misuse. Infrastructure sold or used for another purpose prior to its full depreciation is an example of funding not being used for its intended purpose; and,(2) The recipient to report data to the SO and the Department, in accordance with its proposal and the Department's approval.G.Communication of Investments. The SO's annual report must include any reported results from ongoing pilot projects and pilot projects completed during the prior calendar year.06-096 C.M.R. ch. 428, § 18