6117 - County Environmental Initiative Program.
§ 6117. County Environmental Initiative Program. (a) Establishment.--There is established the County Environmental Initiative Program. From within the amounts allocated in section 6116(c)(1), (2), (3) and (4) (relating to establishment of bond fund and allocation and use of bond proceeds), $90,000,000 shall be available for capital improvement projects designated by counties as set forth in this section. (b) Amount of funding.--Each county shall be provided with an annual funding amount according to its class as designated by the laws of this Commonwealth. Amounts shall be annually determined by the Secretary of the Budget, who shall notify the counties of the same on or before October 1 of each year. Within the first six fiscal years after the effective date of this section, each county shall receive the following amounts: (1) Counties of the first, second and second A class - $2,700,000. (2) Counties of the third class - $1,750,000. (3) Counties of the fourth and fifth class - $1,390,000. (4) Counties of the sixth, seventh and eighth class - $1,000,000. (c) Capital improvement project designation.--Each county, in consultation with the county conservation district where one exists, shall annually be permitted to designate capital improvement projects that are eligible to be funded under section 6116 up to its funding amount established pursuant to subsection (b). If a county's proposed project complies with all laws, regulations and procedures that apply to the program category for which funding is designated, the applicable department receiving an allocation under section 6116 shall fund the project. The applicable department shall consider a county's recurring environmental and conservation funding levels to ensure the project supplements existing efforts. (d) Application of funding.--Funding provided to capital improvement projects under this section shall be applied against the total allocations made to the departments under section 6116(c)(1), (2), (3) and (4). Designation of a capital improvement project by a county under this section shall not obligate a department to provide funds to the project in excess of the amount of county environmental initiative funds so allocated. (e) Reallocation.--If a county fails to designate capital improvement projects that will use the entirety of its funding amount for a fiscal year, the department shall allocate the remaining funds to other eligible projects. (f) Definition.--As used in this section, the term "capital improvement project" or "project" means a project eligible for tax-exempt financing under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Public Law 99-514, 26 U.S.C.