Park Bond Funds Increase Playground Accessibility, Make Recycling Fun

SACRAMENTO--California’s playgrounds of the future may one day stand as colorful, crowded testimonials to how fun recycling can actually be. Grants to upgrade and replace aging playground structures with new equipment made from recycled-content materials were approved today by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, a part of the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). The Board today approved $2.5 million for 56 projects throughout the state.

"We are helping cities, counties, park districts, and special districts improve their public playgrounds and, at the same time, boosting markets for products made from recyclables," said Waste Board Chair Linda Moulton-Patterson. "The most immediate and direct benefactors are our children. As far as the kids are concerned, these grants are 'just for the fun of it'."

The money is available from the Waste Board to help local public agencies upgrade playgrounds with recycled-content materials to ensure that playgrounds comply with State regulations and are accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Safety mats made from old tires and decks and slides made from recycled plastic--including wheelchair accessible platforms, horizontal ladders, rings, and steering wheels, as well as interactive panels, signs, and related play equipment--are examples of recycled-content products already used in some public parks and playgrounds in California.

Established by the Safe Neighborhoods, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 (Villaraigosa-Keeley Act), the Board’s Park Playground Accessibility and Recycling Grant Program requires that local agencies use 50 percent of the grant funds for the improvement or replacement of playground equipment or facilities using recycled-content materials.

The terms of the grants approved by the Waste Board today run from June 2001 to February 2003. Grantees have almost two years to complete their projects.

The Board will begin accepting applications for the second cycle of this grant program from June 2001 to August 31, 2001.  Applications will be available on the Board's Playground Grant Web page at www.ciwmb.ca.gov/Playgrounds/Parks/ or by e-mailing a request to parkbond@ciwmb.ca.gov. Applicants may call the grants hotline at (916) 341-6441 and leave a message requesting that an application be mailed.

Cities, counties, park districts, special districts, and federally recognized California Indian tribes may apply. Eligible applicants must operate a public park playground.

Grants will go to the following applicants:

The six-member Integrated Waste Management Board is responsible for protecting public health and safety and the environment through management of the estimated 66 million tons of solid waste generated in California each year. The Board works in partnership with local government, industry, and the public to reduce waste disposal and ensure environmentally safe landfills. California now diverts 42 percent of its solid waste away from disposal.

The Waste Board is one of six boards and departments within the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA).

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