Section 549.17. Termination.

  The department may initiate the termination of a grant award provided under this chapter with 30 days advance written notice to the grant recipient. Notice of termination shall be served on the grant recipient personally or by mail.

(1)   Action to initiate. Any action undertaken by the department to terminate a grant award shall include the effective date of termination of the grant award, the basis for settlement of award termination costs, and the amount and date of payment of any sums due either party.

(b) The department may terminate awards, in whole or in part, upon a finding of one of the grounds specified in par. (c) and in accordance with the following procedure:

1. The department shall attempt to consult with the grant recipient prior to initiating any termination action. After the department has received and considered the views of the grant recipient, or 30 days after the grant recipient has been notified of the department's intent to terminate the recycling efficiency incentive grant, the department may terminate the grant award in whole or in part.

2. Any termination action taken by the department shall be made in writing and shall state the reasons for termination.

(c) The department may terminate a grant, in whole or in part, if the department determines any of the following:

1. There has been no substantial performance under the terms of the grant by the grant recipient, without good cause.

2. There is clear and convincing evidence that the grant was obtained by fraud.

3. There is clear and convincing evidence of gross abuse or corrupt practices in the administration of the grant.

(2)   Grant refund. Upon termination, the grant recipient shall refund to the department all funds provided by the department under this chapter that have not been spent as of the date of termination without written approval from the department, except an amount as may be required to meet commitments which had become enforceable prior to the date of termination. The grant recipient shall reduce the amount of outstanding commitments as much as possible and remit to the department any uncommitted balance of grant funds awarded. A grant recipient may spend funds otherwise required to be refunded under this subsection only with the written approval from the department.

(3)   Review. Any responsible unit that is dissatisfied with any determination made by the department under this section may request review by the chief of the department's environmental financial assistance section. If the matter is still not resolved, review may be sought from the director of the department's bureau of community financial assistance. All requests for review of termination actions shall be made in writing by the grant recipient, be addressed to the appropriate department staff, and shall contain factual information explaining the basis for requesting review. The department shall issue all decisions under this subsection in writing.

History: CR 02-060 : cr. Register March 2003 No. 567 , eff. 4-1-03.