Household Hazardous Waste Grant Program Guidance

To help communities better manage their household hazardous wastes, the State of New Hampshire offers a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) grant program. Eligible sponsors are awarded grant monies at a designated per capita rate, or up to half the cost of the collection. Specific requirements of the program can be found in the New Hampshire Hazardous Waste Rules, Part Env-Wm 1003.

How to Obtain an Application

Applications for Household Hazardous Waste Collection Grants can be obtained by contacting the Household Hazardous Waste program at the Department of Environmental Services at (603) 271-2047 or hhw@des.nh.gov, or download the application packet from www.des.nh.gov/hhw/hhwgrant.htm. The packet contains the application form, example forms, a link to applicable hazardous waste rules, a list of hazardous waste contractors and other useful information. Please read this material carefully.

How to Obtain a Grant

Submit a completed application to the Department of Environmental Services by the grant deadline of February 1. The application must include letters of commitment from all towns participating in the event.

DES will mail you an original contract agreement following receipt of your application. A municipal official must complete and sign the contract before having it notarized, and then return it to DES at least 10 weeks prior to the event for processing. The contract must include a notarized Certificate of Authority indicating who has legal right to accept and expend funds under the grant contract.

Following approval, your town will be provided a single, signed contract for town files.

Educational Component

The educational component is an extremely important part of the grant program. The law under which this grant program is authorized requires the grantee to include in their proposal “a significant public education component.” Regulations require the applicant to “assure the division that it will conduct public educational activities regarding household hazardous waste, including education about its potential dangers and the proper means for its disposal, as well as information about ways to reduce its generation.”

You may start your educational campaign any time after your contract has been approved. Your educational components must include all three parts in order to be eligible for funds. This means that simply advertising your collection is not enough.

Please call the Household Hazardous Waste Program at (603) 271-2047 if you need assistance during this process. To help communities with the educational component, the DES maintains examples of flyers, press releases, advertisements, videos and other informational materials. A brief list of some of these materials is available on-line at www.des.nh.gov/hhw/hhwedu.htm. Additional materials may also be available. Please contact the DES for more information or for help with your educational program.

After the Event

Before monies for household hazardous waste collections can be awarded, the following items must be submitted to DES.

1. A cover letter on town letterhead requesting the specific amount of state grant monies.
2. An income/expense sheet detailing:
   1. All sources of revenue for the collection day.
   2. All costs incurred to conduct the collection day, including:
      1. The hazardous waste contractor's fixed costs and disposal costs with copies of all information detailing the disposal costs of different waste types.
      2. The public education component and announcement of the collection day.
3. Copies of all major invoices used to calculate reimbursement amount.
4. Tallied survey results from participating households.
5. The completed DES Household Hazardous Waste Report Form.
6. Readable copies of the project’s completed hazardous waste manifest forms that include the appropriate signature in “block 20.”

Once all the required information has been submitted, DES will award the funds to help pay for disposal costs and costs associated with the educational campaign.

For more information, please see “Guidelines For Organizing a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event in Your Community,” or contact the Household Hazardous Waste Coordinator at (603) 271-2047, hhw@des.nh.gov; or at NH Department of Environmental Services, PO Box 95, Concord, NH 03302-0095; TDD Access: Relay NH 1-800-735-2964; www.des.nh.gov/hhw/.