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Residential Sharps Collection Program
Sharps Collection Site Location List
Announcement of Residential Sharps Collection Program Funding Opportunity: NEW YEAR
Round 1: Illinois EPA approved 20 grantees totaling $394,133.92.
Round 2: Illinois EPA approved 8 grantees and 1 amendment, with awards totaling $150,458.49.
From the first year of operating, the sharps program has funded programs in 25 out of 102 counties in Illinois (24.5%, with potential for programmatic expansion under the posted Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
The New Year Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announces the availability of $600,000 in funding from the Illinois Solid Waste Management Fund (SWMF), administered by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA or Agency) Materials Management and Compliance Section (MMCS). The SWMF provides funding for conducting household waste collection and disposal programs. See 415 ILCS 5/22.15(i). Sharps collected from private citizens are a household waste. Illinois EPA MMCS intends to reimburse units of local government that operate a sharps collection station, as defined in Section 3.458 of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act, for expenses incurred in collection, storing, and disposing of used sharps. Eligible expenses include costs to obtain collection containers for use by individual residents (if not otherwise available from the Agency), collection receptacles to store sharps at the sharps collection station, mobilization fees assessed by an appropriately permitted potentially infectious medical waste (PIMW) transporter to pick up collected sharps, and disposal fees for the collected sharps. Each unit of local government is eligible for the actual costs of sharps collection and disposal, up to $35,000.00. Eligibility criteria and more information can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
Applications will be accepted until funding is expended or until June 30, 2025.
APPLICANT FORMS:
Grantee Conflict of Interest Disclosure (IL444-5205)
REPORTING FORMS:
Question and Answer Assistance:
1. How will the reimbursement process work?
Applicants will be reimbursed monthly and should include the following information:
- Grantee Name/Address
- Date Submitted
- Service Dates
- Invoice Amount
- Provide Backup documentation
2. Are the Anticipated Dates on page 5 drop-dead dates?
Applicants are able to apply untl the total allotted funding has been exhaused. Anticipated announcement dates are receipt of a Notice of State Award (NOSA) approximately 30 days after the receipt of an eligible application and a fully executed Grant Agreement approximately 60 days after the receipt of a signed NOSA. Remaining drop-dead dates are the June 30, 2025 final eligible collection date for sharps reimbursed under this award and July 31, 2025 submission of final reports to the Illinois EPA.
3. Will Illinois EPA provide reporting forms for the end of grant period final report?
A Quarterly Report will be due within 30 days of March 31, June 30, September 30, and December 31, 2023. A final Periodic Performance Report and Periodic Financial Report will be due within 60 days of the end of the agreement period and will be specified in the grant agreement. These are the same reporting forms to use for the quarterly reports, just marked as “final”. The Final Report should be a basic and clear accounting and documentation of the grant funds expenditures. These forms are posted at the top of the page under FORMS.
4. Section A states “Eligible costs include: costs to obtain collection containers for use by individual residents if not otherwise available from the Agency…” (emphasis added). Will the Agency reimburse costs of collection containers procured for our program only if containers are not available from IEPA, or will you reimburse container costs regardless of IEPA availability?
The language in the application was intended to allow flexibility for the sites to either pull from any remaining the Agency may have in stock or procure their own supply, depending on the unique needs of their individual collection options. For simplicity, the sites can purchase their own and include those costs in the budget. Once the Agency supply of containers is depleted, it is not likely that we will accumulate any additional inventory.
Another question was asked about size of containers that the Agency has available: quart-size, autoclavable containers, we have a little less than 425 as of March 2024.
5. Does the Illinois EPA plan for this program to be an annual occurrence, with this same process EVERY year, or multiple years?
The Illinois EPA has published a NOFO for a second year the Sharps Grant. Illinois EPA hopes that this will become a permanent program and the details of the grant application are continually being sorted out. Please note: all grant funding is subject to appropriation.
6. Please clarify whether the criteria listed in Section E.1 on page 4 of 9 of the NOFO are the correct criteria that applications will be reviewed against? Also, does the applicant check these?
These questions and the need, capacity, and quality questions necessary in the narrative are the criteria applicants will be evaluated on. A contingency for approval is meeting all criteria and the applicant should check these items and include them in their application.
7. For a facility, such as a Health Department, that generates their own sharps with a vendor already AND holds collections for citizens, is it necessary to have separate vendor contracts to document what is separate, or can we “estimate” based upon past collections what is department-generated and then what is citizen-related and eligible for the grant?
For grant reimbursement purposes, an estimation would not be acceptable, the contractor should be able to apportion this for you with separate invoices.
8. Does Illinois EPA need to see the contract that is procured with a vendor with the application, or just the information within the application?
Only the information in the application is needed. As part of the grant reporting process, the contract information should be provided.
9. I’m having problems opening the budget forms, is there an alternative?
If you get the following message, right click on the document, and save to your computer. Then, open the forms outside of the browser or in the desktop application. If this doesn’t work, you can email epa.gata@illinois.gov.:
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10. Do all disposal facilities, in and out of state, need an IEPA facility ID Number?
Yes. The application can be found here:
https://epa.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/epa/documents/epa-forms/land/inventory-identification-number-application.pdf
11. Are “indirect costs” reimbursable?
Yes.
12. Are kiosks purchased from vendors reimbursable?
Yes.
If you have any questions regarding the program, sharps issues, or current or future grant applications/reporting contact:
Materials Management and Compliance Section
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Bureau of Land
Email: epa.recycling@illinois.gov
Phone: (217) 524-3300