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If your organization is a (municipal fire department, county health department, city public works, etc.) you may have heard of an EPA program that reimburses local governments for costs incurred during response activities, whether they involved overpacking a leaking container, providing communication equipment, or sampling and analysis.
Since, 1987, EPA has provided reimbursement to local governments through its Local Governments Reimbursement (LGR) program. By documenting costs and cost recovery work and completing an application, local governments can receive up to $25,000 as reimbursement.
Initial experiences with the application process were mixed and often the local governments weren't prepared for the paperwork part of the required submittal. In 1998, EPA revised the LGR program, making reimbursement funds more available, reducing the waiting time for reimbursement and reducing the reporting requirements and in general, streamlining the entire process.
Now, local government applicants fill out a simple
form with basic information about the incident, and document response costs
by attaching copies of receipts. The
application must be certified by the highest ranking local government official
or their authorized representative. The
applicant may receive a reimbursement check from the federal government
in as little as three months after EPA receives the application. To make the process easier, the EPA has also
established a 24-hour HelpLine (800-431-9209), to assist applicants with
completing the form.
The eligibility requirements for
the LGR Program consist of the following.
- The applicant must be general purpose unit of a local government. Local governments would include a county,
parish, city, town, township, and municipality.
Federally-recognized Indian Tribes would also meet this eligibility
requirement.
- States are not eligible for reimbursement under the LGR program, nor are they allowed to request reimbursement on behalf of a local government or Indian Tribe.
- The applicant must have legal jurisdiction over the site where the incident occurred. If more
than one local government is involved in the response, only one application may
be submitted and it must be submitted by the local government with jurisdiction
over the response.
- Reimbursement cannot be made to a responsible party. If
the local government applying for reimbursement is also the responsible party,
the application will be denied.
- The substance involved in the response must be a CERCLA hazardous substance. Petroleum, petroleum products or oils are not considered a hazardous substance.
EPA also requires that the following
conditions be met:
- Reimbursement cannot be used to replace local funds normally provided for a response. If a
local government has budgeted for emergency response activities, money spent
during response actions should come from that budget.
- Local governments must make an effort to conduct cost recovery actions before applying to EPA for reimbursement. The Cost Recovery Summary Table, included in
the LGR application, must be completed to document cost recovery efforts made
by the local government.
- Detailed cost documentation must be submitted with the application. The applicant must complete the detailed Cost
Breakdown Table, included in the application.
- The application must be signed by the local government's highest ranking official. Examples of the highest ranking official
include: Mayor, City Manager, Board of Commissioners Chair, County Judge, or
head of a federally recognized Indian Tribe.
- Applications must be submitted to EPA within one year of the "date of response completion" of the response. For
the LGR program, the date of completion is the date when all field work has
been completed and all project deliverables (such as lab results, technical
expert reports, or invoices) have been received by the local government. EPA will consider late applications on a
case-by-case basis.
You are required to keep a copy to the application and all records
associated with it, for a period of three (3) years, in case EPA needs the
information for recovering costs from a responsible party. After three years, you can dispose of the
records and application.
[For detailed information, go
to: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/er/lgr/index.htm ], or refer to 40 CFR 310.]
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