From the base fee levied in Section 22-30B-2(c)(1) by this act, $500,000 shall annually be deposited into a trust fund which shall be known as "The Alabama Legacy for Environmental Research Trust (ALERT)." Such funds shall be available for funding of environmental research, public awareness, and industrial/business environmental education in the areas of hazardous waste production, reduction, transportation, and disposal.
Funds deposited into the Alabama Legacy for Environmental Research Trust (ALERT) shall be available to all Alabama public institutions of higher education which presently have established programs in research and service.
Said trust fund shall be administered by the Alabama Department of Public Health. Such authority, as is necessary, is granted to the Alabama Department of Public Health to establish a matching grant program and to promulgate rules and regulations to implement said grant program and the provisions of this section. It is further provided that grants approved under said grant program shall require at least a fifty (50) percent match.