The purpose of the Radium Pilot Grant Program is to provide financial assistance, together with a participating county, to eligible residential well owners who incur the cost of adding a water treatment system to remove radium or gross alpha from well water. In this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated. Terms Defined. “Act” means Housing and Community Development Article, Title 4, Subtitle 13, Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended. “Agency” means a local administering agency, including a governmental unit, or other agent of a participating county that is designated to administer the Program. “Annual income” means annual income as defined by the United State Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 24 CFR §5.609 as amended. “Area median income” means the Statewide or Washington, D.C. metropolitan statistical area median income as established by HUD. “Business day” means Monday through Friday excluding State holidays. “County” means any of the 23 counties of this State and the city of Baltimore. “Department” means the Department of Housing and Community Development. “Effective date” means the effective date of this chapter. “Eligible resident” means a resident of a participating county that meets the requirements set forth in Regulation .04 of this chapter. “EPA” means the United States Environmental Protection Agency. “EPA threshold levels” means the following levels of radium and gross alpha above which the EPA has determined quantities are unsafe for household use and consumption: 5 picocuries per liter (5 pCi/L) for combined radium 226 and 228; and 15 picocuries per liter (15 pCi/L) for gross alpha. “HUD” means the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. “Participating county” means a county that has agreed to participate in the Program and has executed a memorandum of understanding with the Department in accordance with Regulation .04 of this chapter. “Program” means the Radium Pilot Grant Program. “Secretary” means the Secretary of the Department. Any county may participate in the Program after it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Department on a form provided by the Department which shall provide, without limitation, that the county shall: Process grant applications from well owners; Make determinations for eligible residents; Fund 50 percent of the grants to eligible residents; and Issue funds to eligible residents for the full amount of the grant, subject to reimbursement from the Department of 50 percent of the grant amount. To be eligible for a grant under the Program, a resident shall: Reside on and own property in a participating county on which a well is situated; Have test results acceptable to the Agency indicating radium or gross alpha levels above the EPA threshold levels; Have installed, after the effective date, a water treatment system for the purpose of removing excess levels of radium or gross alpha from the resident's well water; and Have annual income that does not exceed 110 percent of the area median income. An agency shall provide prospective well owners with information on the Program and application forms. An applicant shall submit a completed application to the agency in accordance with the agency's procedures. A completed application shall include: A completed application form provided by the agency; Certification with respect to annual income; Proof of home ownership of the property on which the well is situated; Test results indicating the presence of radium or gross alpha above the EPA threshold levels; and A paid invoice or receipt, dated after the effective date, indicating that payment has been made for installation of a water treatment system for the purpose of removing radium or gross alpha from the well water. If the application is not complete, the agency shall promptly notify the applicant. The notice shall inform the applicant: Of what items are required to complete the application; and That the application will be denied if the required information is not provided within 30 calendar days after the notice. If the application is complete and the resident is determined to be eligible, the agency shall promptly: Notify the applicant that the application has been accepted; and Indicate the amount of the grant to be awarded in accordance with §D of this regulation. If the applicant is determined to be ineligible for the Program, the agency shall notify the applicant, within 5 business days, that: The applicant is ineligible for the Program; and The reason for that determination. Grants shall be awarded to eligible residents based on the following formulas: Eligible residents with an annual income of 80 percent or less of area median income shall receive a grant of 25 percent of the cost of the water treatment system; Eligible residents with an annual income between 81 percent and 100 percent of area median income shall receive a grant of 15 percent of the cost of the water treatment system; and Eligible residents with an annual income between 100 percent and 110 percent of area median income shall receive a grant of 10 percent of the cost of the water treatment system. Funding for each Program grant shall be provided in equal parts by: The participating county in which the eligible resident resides; and The Department. The participating county or the agency representing the county shall issue one check in the amount of the aggregate Program grant to each eligible resident. The Department shall reimburse the participating county or agency for 50 percent of each Program grant in accordance with the memorandum of understanding between the Department and the participating county. An applicant that is determined to be ineligible for a grant may make a written request for reconsideration. The request shall be: Made within 30 days of the date of the notice of ineligibility from the agency; and Delivered to the agency in accordance with the agency's procedures. An initial decision or reconsideration of a decision is not a contested case within the meaning of the Administrative Procedure Act and COMAR 05.01.01.02. An agency and each grant recipient shall: Maintain accurate financial records of : All transactions which relate to the grant; and Any other books, accounts, and records the Department may require; File with the Department any reports the Department may require; and Make their records relating to the grant available to the Department for review on request for a period of not less than 3 years from the date of the grant. Grant recipients, contractors, agencies, or subcontractors may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or age, except with regard to age as permitted under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act, as amended from time to time, or other similar federal laws, in any aspect of the Program, or in any aspect of employment by any grant recipient, contractor, agency, local administrator, and subcontractor in connection with any property assisted under the Program. Each grant recipient, contractor, agency, local administrator, and subcontractor shall comply with all applicable federal, State, and local laws and the Department policies and programs regarding discrimination, equal opportunity in employment, housing and credit practices, and drug and alcohol free workplaces, including: Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended; The Department’s Minority Business Enterprise Program, as amended; Executive Order 01.01.1989.18, Drug and Alcohol Free Workplace, and any Department or State regulations adopted or to be adopted to carry out the requirements of that Order; The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, as amended; The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended; and State Government Article, Title 20, Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended. Covenants implementing these requirements, including affirmative action measures, shall be included in appropriate agreements between the Department and other parties. A person may not knowingly make or cause to be made any false statement or report in any documents required to be furnished to the agency or the Department in connection with the Program. The Secretary may waive or vary particular provisions of this chapter to the extent that the waiver is consistent with the Act, if, in the determination of the Secretary, the application of a regulation in a specific case, or in an emergency situation, would be inequitable or contrary to the purposes of the Act. The Department or an agency may establish detailed Program guidelines or procedures. Copies of these guidelines or procedures, if any, shall be available for examination at the Department or the agency's principal office, as applicable. The Department and the agency shall, upon request, provide copies to the public for a reasonable charge. Except for a waiver under Regulation .11 of this chapter, any action or decision required or permitted to be taken or made by the Department under these regulations may be made by the Director of the Division of Development Finance or the Director's designee. This chapter expires and is void when the Act expires. Housing and Community Development Article, Title 4, Subtitle 13, Annotated Code of Maryland Effective date: July 18, 2005 (32:14 Md. R. 1275) Regulation .09 amended effective March 16, 2015 (42:5 Md. R. 485)