| DEP ANNOUNCES CLEAN COMMUNITIES
GRANTS FOR 2006
(06/24) TRENTON -- Department of Environmental
Protection Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson today announced 559 New
Jersey municipalities and 21 counties will receive more than $9.5
million in Clean Communities funding for litter prevention and public
education, adopt-a-highway campaigns and graffiti cleanups.
The grants to municipalities and counties are made possible by
the Clean Communities legislation, enacted in 2002. The law imposes
a fee on companies manufacturing products that generate litter.
"Cleaning up litter not only protects the quality of natural
resources, it improves the quality of life in New Jersey and strengthens
residents' pride in their neighborhoods," Commissioner Jackson
said.
Municipalities will receive $8,460,000, and counties will receive
$1,057,500. Recipients can use the funds on projects and equipment
that would advance litter prevention, public education or both.
The Clean Communities funding distribution is based on an established
formula that includes housing units and road-mileage numbers. The
housing-unit numbers used for the 2006 allocations are based on
the official 2000 figures of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and
the road-mileage numbers were provided by the New Jersey Department
of Transportation.
Municipalities and counties are automatically eligible for funding,
if they meet the Clean Communities program's criteria. Seven municipalities
did not receive funding because they either were not eligible or
did not participate.
Following is a link to the list of the 2006 Clean Communities grants:
www.nj.gov/dep/esp/. For
more information on grant criteria and statistical reporting forms,
visit the Clean Communities Council Inc. Web site at www.njclean.org.
| 
