The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has announced the award of $202,380 in grants to help agricultural property owners clean up illegally dumped waste on their land and return it to productive use.

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The Farm and Ranch Solid Waste Cleanup and Abatement Grant Program funding is intended to pay for the removal and disposal of small illegal dump sites and for site security measures to prevent new dumping after the cleanups are complete.

“The Farm and Ranch Cleanup grants help property owners put their land back to beneficial use and protect surrounding areas from environmental degradation,” CalRecycle Director Scott Smithline said. “Illegal dumping encourages more dumping, and it’s a burden for landowners to put a stop to it once it’s started.”

Individual property owners are not eligible to apply for funding, but rather must work with a local public entity such as a city, county or resource conservation district. The property owner must sign an affidavit stating they were not responsible for, and did not consent to, disposal of the waste on their property.

As part of the award, the Coursegold Resource Conservation District will receive $44,175 and the City of Visalia will get $17,309.