(A) The director has determined that the Ohio maritime assistance program, as described in section 5501.91 of the Revised Code, shall be administered by a program manager within the department.
(B) The director shall maintain oversight duties and responsibilities. The program manager shall implement and carry out the program.
(C) The grant recipient shall pay a matching amount of a least one dollar for each maritime assistance program grant dollar received.
(D) The director will solicit potential applicants by issuing a request for applications. The evaluation criteria used to evaluate applications will be included in the request for applications. The application period for the request for applications will be sixty days from the date of posting. The program manager will notify each eligible port authority in Ohio in writing of the beginning of the application period. The application period start date will also be posted on the department's website. Applications shall only be for the purposes listed in division (D) of section 5501.91 of the Revised Code.
(E) Applicants may submit questions to the department during the application period. All questions submitted to the department during the application period will be made public.
(F) The applicant shall submit the application in a manner prescribed by the request for applications.
(G) Applications will be evaluated by a selection committe that includes:
(1) Three representatives from the department;
(2) One representative from JobsOhio; and,
(3) One representative from the Ohio rail development commission.
(H) After the applications have been evaluated by the selection committee, a list of recommended grant recipients, projects and funding amounts will be submitted to the director. The director will approve or disapprove each of the recommendations.
(I) Grant recipients are required to execute a grant agreement with the department. The grant agreement template will be included in the request for applications.