In administering the urban and rural initiative grant program created under section 122.20 of the Revised Code, the director of development services shall do all of the following:

(A) Annually designate, by the first day of January of each year, the entities that constitute the eligible areas in this state;

(B) Adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing procedures and forms by which eligible applicants in eligible areas may apply for a grant, which procedures shall include a requirement that the applicant file a redevelopment plan; standards and procedures for reviewing applications and awarding grants; procedures for distributing grants to recipients; procedures for monitoring the use of grants by recipients; requirements, procedures, and forms by which recipients who have received grants shall report their use of that assistance; and standards and procedures for terminating and requiring repayment of grants in the event of their improper use. The rules adopted under this division shall comply with sections 122.19 to 122.22 of the Revised Code and shall include a rule requiring that an eligible applicant who receives a grant from the program provide a matching contribution of at least twenty-five per cent of the amount of the grant awarded to the eligible applicant.

The rules shall require that any eligible applicant for a grant for land acquisition demonstrate to the director that the property to be acquired meets all state environmental requirements and that utilities for that property are available and adequate. The rules shall require that any eligible applicant for a grant for property eligible for the voluntary action program created under Chapter 3746. of the Revised Code receive disbursement of grant moneys only after receiving a covenant not to sue from the director of environmental protection under section 3746.12 of the Revised Code and shall require that those moneys be disbursed only as reimbursement of actual expenses incurred in the undertaking of the voluntary action. The rules shall require that whenever any money is granted for land acquisition, infrastructure improvements, or renovation of existing structures in order to develop an industrial park site for a distressed area, labor surplus area, or situational distress area as defined in section 122.19 of the Revised Code that also is a distressed area, labor surplus area, or situational distress area as defined in section 122.23 of the Revised Code, a substantial portion of the site be used for manufacturing, distribution, high technology, research and development, or other businesses in which a majority of the product or service produced is exported out of the state. Any retail use at the site shall not constitute a primary use but only a use incidental to other eligible uses. The rules shall require that whenever any money is granted for land acquisition, infrastructure improvements, and renovation of existing structures in order to develop an industrial park site for a distressed area, labor surplus area, or situational distress area as defined in section 122.19 of the Revised Code that also is a distressed area, labor surplus area, or situational distress area as defined in section 122.23 of the Revised Code, the applicant for the grant shall verify to the development services agency the existence of a local economic development planning committee in a municipal corporation, county, or township whose territory includes the eligible area. The committee shall consist of members of the public and private sectors who live in that municipal corporation, county, or township. The local economic development planning committee shall prepare and submit to the agency a five-year economic development plan for that municipal corporation, county, or township that identifies, for the five-year period covered by the plan, the economic development strategies of a municipal corporation, county, or township whose territory includes the proposed industrial park site. The economic development plan shall describe in detail how the proposed industrial park would complement other current or planned economic development programs for that municipal corporation, county, or township, including, but not limited to, workforce development initiatives, business retention and expansion efforts, small business development programs, and technology modernization programs.

(C) Report to the governor, president of the senate, speaker of the house of representatives, and minority leaders of the senate and the house of representatives by the first day of August of each year on the activities carried out under the program during the preceding calendar year. The report shall include the total number of grants made that year, and, for each individual grant awarded, the following: the amount and recipient, the eligible applicant, the purpose for awarding the grant, the number of firms or businesses operating at the awarded site, the number of employees employed by each firm or business, any excess capacity at an industrial park site, and any additional information the director declares to be relevant.

(D) Inform local governments and others in the state of the availability of grants under section 122.20 of the Revised Code;

(E) Annually compile, pursuant to rules adopted by the director of development services in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, using pertinent information submitted by any municipal corporation, county, or township, a list of industrial parks located in the state. The list shall include the following information, expressed if possible in terms specified in the director's rules adopted under this division: location of each industrial park site, total acreage of each park site, total occupancy of each park site, total capacity for new business at each park site, total capacity of each park site for sewer, water, and electricity, a contact person for each park site, and any additional information the director declares to be relevant. Once the list is compiled, the director shall make it available to the governor, president of the senate, speaker of the house of representatives, and minority leaders of the senate and the house of representatives.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 486, §1, eff. 9/16/2014.

Effective Date: 09-29-1999 .