(1) A municipality may submit only one application for State assistance for each calendar year for all eligible municipal waste reduction and recycling education, promotion, planning and coordination costs expected to be incurred during that year.

(2) Applications will be accepted by the department during the months of August, September and October of each calendar year for the following calendar year period. All applications must be postmarked during this three-month period. Applications postmarked after October 31st of each calendar year, other than those submitted pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subdivision, will not be accepted and will be returned to the applicant. All complete applications received by the department during the three-month period specified in this paragraph will be considered to have been received simultaneously.

(3) If an application is determined by the department to be incomplete, the applicant will be notified by the department, and the application may be revised and resubmitted at the discretion of the department. The department, at its own discretion, will establish a deadline for resubmission of the application, which in no instance will exceed 30 calendar days after notification that an application is incomplete.

(4) The department is authorized, at its own discretion, to combine applications from municipalities in overlapping jurisdictions.

(5) Only applicants who submit complete applications, as determined by the department, will be eligible for State assistance contracts and payments.

(6) Acceptance of an application or determination by the department that an application is complete is not to be interpreted as a guarantee or promise of funding from the department.

(7) Complete applications will be evaluated by the department and, if acceptable, will be approved for State assistance for up to 50 percent of eligible costs. If there are insufficient funds to provide 50 percent reimbursement to all applications, the department may either lower the percentage or set a dollar maximum on the level of funding to be provided to each municipality. In the event the department lowers the maximum reimbursement percentage, the lowered percentage or dollar maximum will be the same for all municipalities that submit a complete application during the application period specified in paragraph (2) of this subdivision.