PROPOSAL:

Approve Research and Development and TCM Projects within FY 1997-99 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program; Authorize MSRC the Ability to Adjust Up to An Additional 5% the Funding of Individual Projects; Authorize Execution of Agreements

SYNOPSIS:

The Board’s April 11, 1997, approval in concept of the FY 1997-99 Discretionary Fund Work Program included a $500,000 million Research and Development (R&D) Program and a $2.5 million TCM Program. Following this approval, one R&D and three TCM RFPs were released. The TCM RFPs solicited proposals for projects in the areas of market incentive, student education and smart shuttles. Thirty-one proposals were received by the 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 24 deadline. At its August 28 and September 25, 1997 meetings, the MSRC reviewed its Technical Advisory Committee’s recommendations for these proposals as part of the FY 1997-99 Work Program. The MSRC requests Board approval of these Work Program projects; authority to adjust up to an additional 5%, as necessary, the funding of individual projects; and authority to execute agreements.

COMMITTEE:

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review,
September 25, 1997, Approved Unanimously

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Approve Research and Development and Transportation Control Measure pro- jects, as stipulated in attached, within the FY 1997-99 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program.

2. Authorize MSRC the ability to adjust up to an additional 5%, as necessary, the funding of individual projects included in the attached; and authorize MSRC to withdraw approval of individual projects in cases where bidders are not able to successfully negotiate a contract, the funds saved to apply to other components of the FY 1997-99 Work Program.

3. Authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute agreements with the proposers as set forth in the attached for the FY 1997-99 Work Program.

Mayor John Longville
Chair, MSRC

Background

In September 1990 Assembly Bill 2766 was signed into law (Health & Safety Code Sections 44220-44247) authorizing the imposition of an annual $4 motor vehicle registration fee to fund the implementation of programs exclusively to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles. AB 2766 provides that 30 percent of the annual $4 vehicle registration fee subvened to the AQMD be placed into an account to be allocated pursuant to a work program developed and adopted by the MSRC and approved by the AQMD Governing Board. It is estimated that approximately $13 million, including projected interest and revenue carryover, will be available in the Discretionary Fund in FYs 1997-98 and 1998-99, respectively.

On April 11, 1997, the Governing Board approved in concept the two-year, $26 million FY 1997-99 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program, including a $.5 million R&D component and a $2.5 million TCM component, as follows:

2) R&D Program ($.5 million) - provides 50% co-funding for the design, development, and certification of a low-emission LPG engine or conversion kit suitable for medium- and/or heavy-duty fleet vehicles, including most local delivery trucks (to be funded in FY 1997-98).

5) TCM Program ($2.5 million) ($1.5 million to be funded in FY 1997-98; $1 million to be funded in FY 1998-99):

• Market Incentives - provides 50% co-funding for cost-effective, innovative solutions to reducing mobile source emissions through market-based incentive programs that utilize the market to reduce travel demand.
• Student Education - provides 75% co-funding for cost-effective, innovative solutions to reducing mobile source emissions through student education projects that educate pre-driving youth about the social and environmental impacts of traffic congestion and unhealthful air quality.
• Smart Shuttles - provides 25% co-funding for smart shuttle services and technology enhancements to existing transit services to establish non-fixed route services supporting fixed route transit and increase transit ridership.
• Bicycle - provides 50% co-funding for projects promoting bicycling as an alternative mode to driving alone, such as on-site bicycle facilities (e.g., showers, lockers), off-site bicycle facilities (e.g., bicycle lanes, paths, loop detectors), and other bicycle programs that reduce vehicle miles traveled.
• Video Conferencing - provides 50% co-funding for construction of video-conferencing facilities whereby vehicle miles traveled are reduced.
• ITS - provides 25% co-funding for projects reducing mobile source emissions by increased transportation efficiency through information and technology enhancements, such as pavement-based or non-intrusive traffic detectors and traffic control/management projects.

  On April 11, 1997, the MSRC obtained Governing Board approval to issue RFP #9697-46 to solicit R&D proposals and RFP #9697-47 to solicit Smart Shuttle Services/Transit Systems Enhancements proposals. Subsequently, on May 9, 1997, the MSRC obtained approval to issue RFP #9697-49 to solicit Market-Based Incentive proposals and RFP #9697-50 to solicit Student Education proposals. These RFPs are provided for informational purposes as Attachments 1-4.

Outreach

In accordance with the AQMD’s consulting and contracting policies, a public notice advertising the RFPs and soliciting proposals was published in the following publications:

1. The Antelope Valley Press	10. Korea Central Daily	19. Philippine News
2. Black Voice News	11. La Opinion	20. Precinct Reporter
3. Chinese Daily News	12. La Voz	21. Rafu Shimpo
4. Daily News	13. Los Angeles Daily News	22. Riverside Press Enterprise
5. Eastern Group Publications	14. Los Angeles Sentinel	23. San Bernardino Sun
6. El Chicano	15. Los Angeles Times	24. Santa Clarita Signal
7. El Chicano	16. M/W/DVBE Source	25. State of California Contracts
8. Inland Empire Hispanic News	17. Orange County Register	Register
9. Inland Valley Daily Bulletin	18. Palm Springs Desert Sun

Additionally, potential bidders were identified using the AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors and the AQMD’s Purchasing mailing list. Copies of the RFP/RFQ were mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations; and placed on the Internet at AQMD’s Web site [http://www.aqmd.gov/rfp/] and AQMD’s 24-hour telephone message line for bidders at (909) 396-2724.

In addition, a brochure announcing the R&D and TCM funding opportunities was mailed to over 1,800 interested parties on the MSRC’s mailing list.

Bidders’ Conference

Approximately 1,200 copies of the RFPs were mailed out and approximately 100 vendors attended a non-mandatory Bidders’ Conference held on May 7, 1997, at 8:30 a.m. Additionally, to provide further assistance to proposers, a technical workshop was conducted on May 28, 1997, at 1:00 p.m. The technical workshop had a larger attendance than the Bidders’ Conference and was quite successful.

Bid Evaluation

Thirty-one proposals were received in response to the RFPs when final bidding closed at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 24, 1997, as follows:

The MSRC directed its Technical Advisory Committee to form two separate evaluation subcommittees to review, evaluate, score and rank the 31 proposals, using the guidelines and evaluation criteria within each RFP, and develop a funding recommendation for its consideration in the form of two lists. One list included all fundable proposals and the second list included all proposals not recommended for funding (regardless of monies available). In addition, a backup list of eligible proposals was developed in case additional monies became available in FY 1997-98. On August 28 and September 25, 1997, the TAC presented its recommendations to the MSRC, and the MSRC received public comment from prospective bidders. By the conclusion of the September 25, 1997 meeting, the MSRC adopted the R&D and three TCM portions of the FY 1997-99 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program.

Panel Composition

The two evaluation subcommittees consisted of the following individuals:

• TCM Evaluation Subcommittee: Doug Kim, representing Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Melinda Stewart, representing County of Orange Board of Supervisors; Ken Pierce, representing County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors; Catherine Wasikowski, representing SCAQMD; John Ristow, representing County of Riverside Board of Supervisors; Gretchen Holmblad, representing City of Los Angeles; and Dr. DeWayne Mason, Assistant Professor of Education at UCR, who has considerable experience in the development of curriculum, and assisted as an independent reviewer for the student education proposals;.

• R&D Evaluation Subcommittee: David Cowardin, representing County of Los Angeles; Dan Fong, representing CEC; and Judith Gilbert, representing County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors.

The Subcommittees included eight Caucasians (four females/four males) and two Asian-Pacific Americans (two males).

Proposition 209 Compliance

On August 28, 1997, Proposition 209 went into effect when a stay of enforcement was lifted. Proposition 209 prohibits granting of preferential treatment based upon race, ethnicity, color, sex or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. On September 19, 1997, the Administrative Committee considered options for amendment of the District’s contracting policies to conform with the Proposition. The matter will be further considered at the Committee’s next meeting. In the meantime to ensure compliance with the Proposition, the Committee recommended for adoption an Interim Contracting Policy. This policy will be considered for adoption as part of another agenda item at the October 10, 1997, Board meeting. The proposed Interim Policy eliminates the granting of preference points upon race or gender and only requires a good faith effort to subcontract with minority- and women-owned businesses if subcontracts are to be let, when contracts are funded in whole or in part by EPA grant funds. (Proposition 209 does not prohibit actions necessary to maintain eligibility for federal funding.) In addition, in compliance with federal requirements, local preference points are allowed only if the contract does not involve federal funding. If the Interim Policy is adopted by the Board, this contract award will be based on that policy. The remainder of the District’s Contracting and Purchasing Policy and Consultation Selection Policy remains unchanged. The projects recommended for approval in this Work Program where not affected by any preference points, so these projects can be awarded whether or not the Interim Policy is approved.

Proposal

This action is to request Board approval of the R&D and three TCM proposals, as stipulated in the attached spreadsheet, within the FY 1997-99 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program. The MSRC is recommending funding one (1) R&D proposal; four (4) TCM proposals in the area of smart shuttles/transit systems enhancements; and seven (7) TCM proposals in the area of student education. (No market incentive proposals are recommended for funding.) A total of 12 projects are recommended at $1,859,674 in funding. The backup list will be presented to the Board at a future meeting if additional funding becomes available in the near future. Attachment 5 includes a spreadsheet on the projects recommended for funding, including the backup list, and summary sheets on each project.

There are cases in which the full amount requested is not recommended for funding and additional monies may not be available from other sources to the bidder, in which case a reduced scope of work will be negotiated. In those cases where the proposed funding level was reduced by the MRSC, and the proposer cannot come to terms on a reduced scope of work, the MSRC requests the authority to rescind the funding commitment for that proposer and retain that portion of the AB 2766 discretionary funds in the Discretionary Fund account.

The MSRC also requests the authority to adjust funds allocated to each project by up to 5% of the project funding specified in this portion of the FY 1997-99 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program. This authority was previously granted by the AQMD Board for prior work programs.

Finally, the MSRC requests the Board’s approval to authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute agreements with the proposers as set forth in the attached spreadsheet (excluding the backup list).

Resource Impacts

Health & Safety Code Section 44243(2)(c) requires the AQMD to deposit the discretionary fund revenues "in an account to be used, pursuant to Section 44244, to provide grants to fund projects for the exclusive purpose of reducing air pollution from motor vehicles." Since the monies for these RFPs will be drawn from this special fund, there would be no fiscal impact on the AQMD’s operational budget.

Attachments

1 - R&D RFP #9697-46

2 - Student Education RFP #9697-50

3 - Smart Shuttle Services/Transit Systems Enhancements RFP #9697-47

4 - Market Incentives RFP #9697-49

5 - Work Program spreadsheet and project summary sheets

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