or waste reduction projects.

1. State assistance payments toward the cost of municipal recycling or waste reduction projects shall be made pursuant to this title with the approval of the commissioner pursuant to an approved contract or contracts.

2. In reviewing applications for state assistance payments for municipal recycling or waste reduction projects, the commissioner shall give due consideration to:

a. the adequacy of the municipality's waste reduction or recycling program and its relationship to the needs and plans of other municipalities; provided, however, that such adequacy shall be determined in part by the efforts undertaken to date by the municipality to implement a mandatory source separation law or ordinance required pursuant to section one hundred twenty-aa of the general municipal law;

b. the suitability and feasibility of the project in relation to the recycling program and the area to be served;

c. the proportion of solid waste for which waste reduction or recyclables recovery is contemplated and the extent to which the project is consistent with the statewide solid waste reduction and recycling goals established under the state solid waste management plan, pursuant to section 27-0103 of this chapter;

d. the potential for coordination and consolidation of solid waste management practices among municipalities within specified areas, regions or planning units;

e. the implementation of the system or components thereof and their expected terms of usefulness, singly or in combination;

f. the present and projected population, land use, and rates and composition of solid waste generation;

g. the potential or contemplated markets for recovered recyclables and the extent to which the full avoided costs of proper collection, transportation and disposal of source separated recyclables are, or are projected to be, greater than the cost of collection, transportation and sale of said recyclables less the amount received from the sale of said recyclables;

h. the intergovernmental arrangements integral to the project;

i. the non-governmental arrangements integral to the project;

j. the urgency of the project, in relationship to all recyclables recovery program needs in the state; and

k. the environmental soundness of the project, including assurance that the project will meet all applicable laws, criteria, and rules and regulations.

3. State assistance payments toward the cost of a waste reduction or municipal recycling project shall not exceed fifty percent of the cost, and in the aggregate such payments shall in no event exceed two million dollars. Such costs are subject to final computation and determination by the commissioner upon completion of the project, and shall not exceed the maximum eligible cost set forth in the contract.