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Execute Contract for Independent Testing Support for Technology Advancement Program

SYNOPSIS:

The Technology Advancement office is seeking to develop new clean-fuel technology to assist the District in achieving ambient air quality standards. Staff is frequently asked to assess various technologies that may further reduce emissions from clean-fuel vehicles. These include various fuel compositions, additives, add-on devices, engine flushing systems and unconventional lubricants. Staff has received a proposal from the University of California, Riverside, College of Engineering-Center for Environmental
Research and Technology to provide technical support for such assessments. This proposed level-of-effort agreement shall not exceed $100,000.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, March 24, 2000. Less than a quorum was present during the discussion of this item; the Chair and Vice Chair communicated their concurrence and recommendation that this item be forwarded for Board consideration with no approval or disapproval recommendation from the Committee.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Authorize the Chairman to execute a contract with the University of California, Riverside, College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) for technical support, in an amount not to exceed $100,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Achieving clean-air standards in Southern California will require reductions from both mobile and stationary sources beyond those expected using current technologies. The AQMP therefore includes provisions for the expedited, future implementation of advanced emission-reduction technologies and clean-burning fuels. To help meet the technological needs of the AQMP, the Board adopted a Clean Fuels Program in 1988 and established AQMD’s Technology Advancement (TA) office to administer the program. Since its inception, AQMD’s TA program has co-sponsored hundreds of development, demonstration and research projects.

To optimize the effectiveness of the AQMD’s TA program, it has been advantageous to supplement in-house technical resources and expertise with outside assistance. Through the use of selected consultants, AQMD staff is best able to monitor the broad range of emerging technologies and clean-burning fuels and help facilitate their deployment in the Basin. This also ensures that the most up-to-date information can be assimilated for use in the AQMP.

A very useful type of contract for getting technical assistance on an "as-needed" basis is the level-of effort (LOE) contract that, once executed, allows staff to issue task orders to a consultant to provide specific assistance when needs and issues arise.

Proposal

Staff is frequently being asked to assess various technologies that may further reduce the emissions from clean fuel vehicles. These include various fuel compositions; fuel and lubrication-oil additives; induction (air intake), ignition and exhaust system modifications and devices; engine flushing systems; and unconventional lubricants. While many of these items can be dismissed because they have no scientific basis for emission reduction, others may have merit.

Staff has received a proposal from the University of California, Riverside, College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) to provide technical support in assessing the various technologies that are presented to the District. This proposed LOE contract will provide emission testing of vehicles and measurement of gaseous and particulate emissions. CE-CERT can emission test both passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles up to 12,000 pounds weight. CE-CERT has the capacity to speciate hydrocarbon emissions and characterize particulates including the carbonaceous and soluble fractions. CE-CERT can also analyze additives and lubricants. Specific tests and procedures that CE-CERT offers to include:

• Federal Test Procedure for vehicles under 14,000 pounds gross vehicle weight

• Particulate sampling including mass, size and full characterization

• Catalytic converter efficiency testing

• Hydrocarbon speciation

• Gas Chromatograph analysis

Benefits to AQMD

The proposed project is included in the March 2000 update of the Technology Advancement Plan under Project 2000E1-3, "Evaluation of Benefits and Emission Inventory Impact of Advanced Mobile Source Controls." The AQMP relies on the expedited implementation of advanced technologies and clean-burning fuels in southern California to achieve air quality standards. This project will allow better understanding and evaluation of the effects of various fuel compositions, additives, add-on devices, engine flushing systems and unconventional lubricants and their potential impact on emissions.

Sole Source Justification

Section VIII.B.2. of the Procurement Policy and Procedure identifies four major provisions under which a sole source award may be justified. This request for a sole source award is made under provision B.2.d.: Other circumstances exist which in the determination of the Executive Officer require such waiver in the best interest of the AQMD. Specifically, these circumstances are: B.2.d.(8) research and development efforts with educational institutions or nonprofit organizations.

The University of California, Riverside’s CE-CERT brings together valuable experience from academia, industry, and government agencies to accomplish the stated objectives of the proposed project. CE-CERT serves a unique role in the Basin as an independent and objective scientific body capable of providing in-depth and valid evaluations on new environmental regulations and technologies. It has established a broad-based research agenda with unique facilities, capabilities, and resources that are requisite and directly applicable for completion of the proposed scope of work. CE-CERT’s established areas of expertise and available resources that directly relate to the proposed work include: vehicle emissions research and testing, alternative clean fuels and energy engineering, transportation systems research, and environmental modeling. Staff believes that these broad-based capabilities and resources, uniquely offered by an in-Basin university having a long history of academic excellence in the field of air pollution control, justify AQMD funding for the specified contract with CE-CERT.

Resource Impacts

The total amount of AQMD funding for this contract shall not exceed $100,000. As technologies are identified that warrant specific independent testing, specific task orders will be issued based on an agreed-upon work scope and cost.

Sufficient funds are available from the Clean Fuels Fund, established as a special revenue fund resulting from the state-mandated Clean Fuels Program. The Clean Fuels Program, under Health and Safety Code Sections 40448.5 and 40512 and Vehicle Code Section 9250.11, establishes mechanisms to collect revenues from mobile sources to support projects to increase the utilization of clean fuels, including the development of the necessary advanced enabling technologies. Funds collected from motor vehicles are restricted, by statute, to be used for projects and program activities related to mobile sources that support the objectives of the Clean Fuels Program.

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