BOARD MEETING DATE: April 12, 1996

AGENDA NO. 31

Report:

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee

Synopsis:

The MSRC met on Thursday, March 28, 1996. For your information below is a summary of key issues addressed at that meeting. The next MSRC meeting is Thursday, April 25, 1996, at 1:30 p.m. in Conference Room CC8.

Recommended Action:

Receive and file the attached report.

Leonard Paulitz
District Board Representative on
Mobile Source Air Pollution
Reduction Review Committee

LP:LRB:LR:DAR

Attachment (Down Load self-extracting compressed attachment package for this letter in M.S. Office 4.2. You may need to hold SHIFT key down while chicking on "Attachment")

(a:msrcbdlt.doc)

Minutes

The minutes of the November 9, 1995, and February 22, 1996, monthly meetings were approved, as submitted, and are provided for your information as Attachments 1 & 2.

Supplement to Fiscal Year 1995-97 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program

Because of an unprecedented amount of turn-back funds in excess of $2 million, higher interest income than projected, the delay in the schedule of several high-priced contracts, and using monies previously set aside in FY 1995-97 to fund focused areas, the MSRC has identified approximately $6.5 million for a supplement to the Fiscal Year 1995-97 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program. The MSRC's Lessons Learned Subcommittee, on which I have been participating periodically, has been formulating this supplement to the Work Program. At its March 28 meeting, the MSRC approved the supplemental work program consisting of the following five elements:

1. Three transportation control measure RFPs to share $725,000 in the areas of land-use education and training, market incentives, and bicycle transportation, with a minimum target of $125,000 allocated to each RFP. (Although I remain skeptical of the quantifiable emissions benefits of certain projects in this area, there are a few worthwhile efforts that can be accomplished, and I believe the funding target for this element is balanced appropriately.)

2. A research and development RFP with a funding target of $900,000.

3. An alternative-fueled heavy-duty vehicle RFP with a funding target of $1.8 million, targeting refuse and interstate trucks, and excluding transit and school buses, with a $250,000 1-1 match minimum.

4. An augmentation of $850,000 to the Electric Vehicle Corridor Communities Program, with an increased minimum funding level for each of the four counties of $150,000. (We approved the EV Corridor Communities Program RFP at our last meeting on March 8.)

5. An advanced battery demonstration program with a funding target of $1.8 million. This program will solicit responses through the release of either an RFP or PON after financial partnerships have been explored with the Technology Advancement office and other agencies.

When the EV Corridor Communities Program was developed by the MSRC, it included a minimum funding target for each of the four counties at $75,000, with a portion of the monies in a reserve exclusive of the RFP, so that underserved areas could be allocated funds where needed. In response to Chairman Mikels and the IAIC's concerns at its March 28 meeting that $75,000 was too low to accomplish anything relative to EV infrastructure, the MSRC revised this Program to include a minimum funding target for each of the four counties at $150,000. However, the MSRC anticipates that each county will submit proposals seeking considerably more than this amount.

Since we will be considering the Supplemental FY 1995-97 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program at our April 12 Board meeting, I have not included copies of the five RFPs mentioned above to this report. The submittal deadline for these five RFPs is Tuesday, May 21, 1996, by 5 p.m.

Zero-Emission Vehicle "Quick Charge" Program

This $7 million, three-part Zero-Emission Vehicle "Quick Charge" Program is progressing well, with considerable interest from communities, local government, and auto manufacturers. The MSRC has been coordinating workshops and focus groups to assist these entities in participating in the Program. In fact, on Tuesday, April 2, the City of Fontana, in conjunction with the MSRC and SANBAG, hosted an EV Ready Workshop for communities in that area. In addition, a "Quick Charge" Bidders' Conference will be held at the AQMD on Tuesday, April 9, and technical workshops will also be held at the AQMD on Friday, April 26, and Friday, May 17.

Report to the Air Resources Board on the Fiscal Year 1994-95 AB 2766 Discretionary Work Program

The MSRC received and approved its portion of the Report to the ARB on the FY 1994-95 AB 2766 Program. Technical staff assured the MSRC that the report reflects well on the Committee's work and that project cost-effectiveness appears well within the guidelines set forth by the ARB. This Report, detailing two of the three parts of the AB 2766 Program--the AQMD and the Discretionary Program portions--is also included on our April 12 Board agenda for consideration.

Long-Term Funding Sources for SCAG's Rideshare Department Program

The MSRC discussed this issue relative to SCAG's efforts to identify funding for its Rideshare Department (formerly Commuter Transportation Services which merged with SCAG). Proposed amendments to Assembly Bill 836 (Lewis) includes language regarding voluntary ridesharing programs, and could result in SCAG assuming responsibility for the AQMD's Rule 2202. In addition, the Regional Transportation Advisory Coalition (RTAC--formerly the AB 1246 Committee) recently discussed what long-term sources may be available for SCAG's Rideshare Program, and in particular focused on the use of AB 2766 monies as a funding source.

For your information, the IAIC also discussed this issue in length at its March 28 meeting, at which I was present. Without Rule 2202, AQMD staff believes that the State Implementation Plan would be deficient. Consequently, considerable concern was expressed that federal transportation sanctions against this Basin could be the end result.

Contract Modification Requests

As recommended by its Technical Advisory Committee, the MSRC approved the following contract modifications:

1. Six-month contractual term extension on City of Glendale Contract #C94006, which provides $208,000 to develop an LNX Systems Electronic Banking project;

2. Eighteen-month contractual term extension, with a one-year performance monitoring period, for Los Angeles/Department of Transportation Contract #C94016, which provides $296,000 for the purchase of three electric buses for The Hollywood Dash System;

3. Five and one-half month contractual term extension and adjustment from monthly to quarterly reporting on Orange County Transportation Authority Contract #C94039, which provides $100,000 for the development of a Transportation Analysis Model; and

4. Two-month contractual term extension and a task modification for Southern California Association of Governments Contract #C95003, which provides $67,500 for local government workshops on land-use, transportation, and air quality planning.

The MSRC also denied two requests. First, the Baytech Corporation discovered an arithmetical error in its heavy-duty vehicle proposal (#4-2) which resulted in a project cost error of approximately $54,000. The MSRC was reluctant to award additional funds which were for the administrative portion of the project, and denied the request. (The MSRC's award remains at $390,728 for this project.) Baytech Corporation intends to seek additional co-funding to make up the deficit, and the project will move forward once under contract. Second, Acurex Corporation was awarded $489,000 for the purchase and demonstration of five heavy-duty trucks. Acurex proposed that the mix of vehicles for this project be changed. However, the MSRC was reluctant to agree to such a change, such that it would be considered a major scope change and could have resulted in Acurex having scored lower during the evaluation process. Therefore, the MSRC denied the request. Acurex has agreed to complete the project as originally proposed.

The MSRC also received and filed a report on "Scope Changes Handled Administratively by the AQMD Contract Administrator" for March which included three minor contract modifications for US Electricar Contract #C94036, which provides $155,000 for an Electric Vehicle Program with USPS, MRK Planning Consultants Contract #C95010, which provides $135,965 for the development of a Parking Management Program, and Diversified Paratransit Contract #C95023, which provides $150,000 for a taxi link.

Contract Administrator Report

The MSRC's AB 2766 Contract Administrator provided a written status report on all fiscal year contracts. This Contract Administrator Report is provided for your information (Attachment 3).