(a) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall have authority to receive and review applications for state grants under this chapter, and to approve any such application, or to disapprove any such application if (1) it does not comply with the requirements of the State Fire Marshal or the Department of Public Health, (2) it is not accompanied by a life-cycle cost analysis approved by the Commissioner of Administrative Services, (3) it does not comply with the provisions of sections 10-290d and 10-291, (4) it does not meet (A) the standards or requirements established in regulations adopted in accordance with § 10-287c, or (B) school building categorization requirements described in § 10-283, (5) the estimated construction cost exceeds the per square foot cost for schools established in regulations adopted by the Commissioner of Administrative Services for the county in which the project is proposed to be located, (6) on and after July 1, 2014, the application does not comply with the school safety infrastructure criteria described in § 10-292r, except the Commissioner of Administrative Services may waive any of the provisions of the school safety infrastructure criteria if the commissioner determines that the application demonstrates that the applicant has made a good faith effort to address such criteria and that compliance with such criteria would be infeasible, unreasonable or excessively expensive, (7) the Commissioner of Education determines that the proposed educational specifications for or theme of the project for which the applicant requests a state grant duplicates a program offered by a technical education and career school or an interdistrict magnet school in the same region, or (8) on and after July 1, 2018, a regional educational service center is designated as the project manager in the application.

(b) The Commissioner of Administrative Services may also disapprove a grant application if the town or regional school district has not begun construction, as defined in § 10-282, not later than two years after the effective date of the act of the General Assembly authorizing the Commissioner of Education or the Commissioner of Administrative Services to enter into grant commitments for a project as provided in sections 10-283 and 10-283a. The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall cancel any grant commitment for a project for which the General Assembly authorized such grant commitment prior to July 1, 2010, if the town or regional school district has not begun construction, as defined in § 10-282, by April 30, 2015, and such town or regional school district may make a new application for a grant in accordance with § 10-283.

(c) When any such application is approved, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall certify to the Comptroller the amount of the grant for which the town or regional school district is eligible under this chapter and the amount and time of the payment thereunder. Upon receipt of such certification, the Comptroller is authorized and directed to draw his order on the Treasurer in such amount and at such time as certified by the Commissioner of Administrative Services.