2005 Idaho Code - 39-7211 — IDAHO COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PILOT INITIATIVE

                                  TITLE  39
                              HEALTH AND SAFETY
                                  CHAPTER 72
                          IDAHO LAND REMEDIATION ACT
    39-7211.  IDAHO COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT PILOT INITIATIVE. [EFFECTIVE UNTIL
CERTIFICATION TO SECRETARY OF STATE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
THAT CERTAIN EVENTS HAVE OCCURRED] (1) There is hereby established in the
state treasury a fund to be known as the Idaho community reinvestment pilot
initiative fund which shall consist of moneys appropriated to the fund,
donations, gifts and grants from any source and any other moneys which may
hereafter be provided by law. The state treasurer shall be the custodian of
the fund and shall invest said moneys in accordance with law. Any interest
earned on the moneys in the fund shall be deposited in the fund. Moneys in the
fund shall be disbursed in accordance with the directions of the director of
the department of environmental quality. All moneys in the fund are
perpetually appropriated to the director for expenditure in accordance with
the provisions of this section.
    (2)  The state of Idaho hereby authorizes financial assistance to eligible
property owners conducting voluntary cleanup actions pursuant to this chapter.
The financial assistance authorized by this section shall not exceed one
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) per project and shall be limited to,
subject to the one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) maximum,
seventy-percent (70%) of a project's qualifying remediation costs certified by
the department pursuant to this section.
    (3)  Pursuant to general fund appropriation, the maximum overall financial
assistance authorized by this section is one million five hundred thousand
dollars ($1,500,000) in qualified remediation cost expenditures. A maximum of
ten (10) projects may participate in the initiative.
    (4)  The department shall establish an annual priority list for community
revitalization projects. The priority list shall be used as the method for
allocating funds under this initiative.
    (a)  On an annual basis, the department shall establish, at a minimum, a
    continuous three (3) month calendar period in which eligible property
    owners may submit a written request, on a standard form developed by the
    department, to participate.
    (b)  On an annual basis, the department shall develop a priority list
    based on a weighted numerical points system established by the department.
    The rating system shall consider the following criteria wherein the
    department shall weigh each succeeding criteria less heavily than the
    preceding criteria:
         (i)   Whether the project is located in a city with a population of
         under twenty thousand (20,000) residents;
         (ii)  The level of social and economic benefit expected from the
         proposed reuse plan;
         (iii) Whether contamination is preventing or complicating
         redevelopment;
         (iv)  Whether a reuse plan meets local planning and reuse goals, is
         compatible with long-term plans, and is ready to proceed;
         (v)   The level of human health risks the cleanup will remedy;
         (vi)  Current property conditions, including building safety
         concerns, vacancy rates and the level of negative visual impact the
         property has on the community.
    (c)  The department shall maintain annual priority lists of the
    twenty-five (25) highest priority projects.
    (d)  After finalizing the priority list, the department shall contact, in
    writing, the eligible property owners that submitted the ten (10) highest
    ranked priority projects and will set a target date for the eligible
    property owners to enter into a voluntary remediation agreement as
    described in subsection (1) of section 39-7205, Idaho Code.
    (e)  The department may bypass a project, and submit in its place the next
    highest priority project on the project list, for any of the following
    reasons:
         (i)   The eligible property owner fails to enter into a voluntary
         remediation agreement by the target date established by the
         department;
         (ii)  The eligible property owner, in writing, withdraws its request
         to participate; or
         (iii) The voluntary remediation agreement is terminated or rescinded
         by the department prior to commencement of remediation as described
         in the voluntary remediation agreement approved by the department.
    The department shall notify the bypassed eligible property owner of the
    reason or reasons for the bypass.
    (5)  Eligible property owners may request a community investment rebate by
submitting documentation and certifications enumerated in paragraphs (a)
through (c) of this subsection to the department. Eligible property owners
shall submit this information no more than sixty (60) days after the
department issues a certificate of completion for the project. Eligible
property owners must receive a written certificate of completion from the
department before the department may certify qualifying remediation costs or
provide a community reinvestment rebate. Information to be submitted includes:
    (a)  Copies of contracts and documentation of contract negotiations,
    accounts, invoices, sales tickets, or other payment records from
    purchases, sales, leases, or other transactions involving actual costs
    incurred completing remediation activities in accordance with the work
    plan approved by the department;
    (b)  Notarized documentation completed and signed by the participant
    certifying that all information contained in the application, including
    all records of claims, costs incurred, and costs paid, are true and
    correct and constitute qualifying remediation costs;
    (c)  Notarized documentation completed and signed by a technical
    professional certifying that a technical professional oversaw all
    remediation work plan activities and that all costs associated with
    documents submitted pursuant to this subsection constitute qualifying
    remediation costs.
    (6)  Community reinvestment rebate requests shall be reviewed and
certified as follows:
    (a)  The department shall review each community reinvestment rebate
    request and determine whether the request is complete. If the department
    determines the request is incomplete, the department shall return the
    request, with the deficiencies indicated, to the eligible property owner
    by certified mail;
    (b)  Once a community reinvestment rebate request is deemed complete, the
    department shall review the request and determine the project's qualifying
    remediation costs. The department shall then issue a certification of the
    qualifying remediation costs for all those costs found to be reasonable by
    the department;
    (c)  The department shall issue the eligible property owner a community
    reinvestment  rebate in the amount it certified as qualified remediation
    costs no more than thirty (30) days after department certification;
    (d)  Any eligible property owner or technical professional determined in a
    civil enforcement action to have submitted a false statement,
    representation or certification in any application, record, report, plan
    or other document submitted to the department, shall reimburse the state
    of Idaho for moneys wrongfully rebated and shall be liable for civil
    penalties and expenses incurred by the department in accordance with
    chapter 1, title 39, Idaho Code.
    (7)  Eligible property owners that receive a community investment rebate
are not eligible to receive the property tax exemption established under
section 63-602BB, Idaho Code.