BOARD MEETING DATE: December 21, 2001 AGENDA NO. 9

Exhaust emissions from high emitting diesel-fueled school buses are harmful to children and are a key source of public exposure to toxic diesel particulate matter and smog forming pollutants. There are thousands of older school buses on the road that have remained in service simply because school districts lack funds to replace them. To reduce emissions from these vehicles the AQMD awarded 102 compressed natural gas (CNG), and 62 lower-emitting diesel school buses to public school districts in the Basin to replace older high polluting school buses, as part of the State’s Lower-Emission School Bus Program in FY 2000-01. In the state’s FY 2001-02 Budget, $16 million has been provided for implementation of the Lower-Emission School Bus Program. The AQMD is expected to receive $5.31 million for the school bus replacement and $1.77 million for the school bus retrofit components of the program. In addition, at its October 19, 2001 meeting, the Board allocated $531,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund to provide for the school bus replacement program.

Total amount of funding for the "Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement Program" in the South Coast Air Basin is $5.841 million, including expected state funding of $5.31 million and $531,000 from AQMD. According to the CARB’s adopted guidelines, $4.071 million, (including the $531,000 contribution made by the AQMD) will be used to purchase alternative fuel buses, and the remaining $1.77 million will be used to purchase lower-emitting diesel buses operating on low-sulfur diesel fuel. For FY 2001-02, funding will be distributed consistent with a new state requirement AB1390 (Firebaugh) (discussed below) as well as the following factors:

Based on the above criteria, the approximate number of low-emitting diesel and CNG buses to be distributed to the public school districts of each county will be as described in Table 1.

	Population by County^*	% of Total Population	Available Diesel Buses per County^**	Available CNG Buses per County^**
Los Angeles	9,884,300	62.0	12	20
Orange	2,828,400	17.8	4	6
San Bernardino	1,689,300	10.6	2	4
Riverside	1,522,900	9.6	2	3
Total	15,924,900	100	20	33

*The population number is for year 2000, obtained from the California Statistical Abstract, published by the
Department of Finance.

**The number of buses allocated to each county are approximate due to price differences for CNG buses and
amount of funding requested for infrastructure.

AB 1390 (Firebaugh) requires for the FY 2001-02 Lower-Emission School Bus Program that at least 50% of the state's funds be spent to reduce pollution or risks from airborne toxics and particulate matter in areas that have the most significant exposure to air pollution or localized air pollution including low income communities or minority communities or both. CARB has issued goals and left the details of how to implement this requirement to each air agency. Staff recommends the following methodology to meet the new requirements:

All applications will be evaluated for poverty level, PM exposure, and toxic exposure according to the following criteria:

A)	Poverty Level: All school districts in areas where at least 10% of the population falls below the Federal poverty level based on the Year 2000 census data, will be eligible to be ranked in this category.
B)	PM Exposure: All school districts in areas with the highest 15% of PM concentration will be eligible to be ranked in this category. The highest 15% of PM concentration is 46 micrograms per cubic meter and above based on an annual average.
C)	Toxic Exposure: All projects in areas with the highest 15% of toxic exposure (based on MATES II estimates), will be eligible to be ranked in this category. The highest 15% represents a cancer risk of 1,139 in a million and above (Mates II study).

Any applicant qualifying based on both the poverty level and either PM exposure or toxic exposure categories will qualify for disproportionate impact funding. If available funds are not exhausted with the outlined methodology, then the AQMD will reevaluate the criteria and report back to the Board for possible changes. If on the other hand, funding requests exceed available funding, then all qualified applicants will be ranked according to a point ranking system specified in Attachments 1 & 2.

All other applicants not awarded under the disproportionate impact funding will then be ranked according to the point ranking system in Attachments 1 & 2, and awards will be granted from the top ranked applicant in descending order until all funds are exhausted.

Staff proposes to issue the attached Program Announcement & Application, for the implementation of the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement Program in the South Coast Air Basin for FY 2001-02.

In accordance with the AQMD’s consulting and contracting policies, a public notice advertising the Program Announcement & Application and inviting applications will be published in the following publications:

1.	Angeles Mesa Wave, The	11.	Inland Valley Daily Bulletin	21.	Palm Springs Desert Sun
2.	Antelope Valley Press	12.	Korea Central Daily	22.	Philippine News
3.	Black Voice News	13.	La Opinion	23.	Precinct Reporter
4.	Central News Wave	14	La Prensa	24.	Rafu Shimpo
5.	Chinese Daily News	15.	La Voz	25.	Press Enterprise
6.	Eastern Group Publications	16.	Los Angeles Daily News	26.	San Bernardino Sun
7.	El Chicano	17.	Los Angeles Sentinel	27.	Santa Clarita Signal
8	El Informador	18.	Los Angeles Times	28.	The Wave
9.	Excelsior, The	19.	M/W/DVBE Source	29.	State of California Contracts
10.	Inland Empire Hispanic News	20.	Orange County Register		Register

Additionally, potential applicants will be notified utilizing the Los Angeles County MTA and Cal Trans Directories of Certified Minority, Women, Disadvantaged and Disabled Veterans Business Enterprises; the Inland Area Opportunity Pages Ethnic/Women Business & Professional Directory; AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors; and AQMD Purchasing’s mailing list. Notice of the Program Announcement & Application will be 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, "Business and Job Opportunities" icon] and AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724.

The successful implementation of the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement Program will provide less polluting and safer school transportation for school children, and will reduce public exposure to toxic diesel particulate matter emissions.

The selection methodology for the school bus replacement awards will maximize the potential emission benefits in low income, high diesel and high PM10 exposure areas, and will enhance the objectives of the Environmental Justice, and Children’s Health initiatives adopted by the Governing Board.

The AQMD is expected to receive $5.31 million for the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement Program from CARB. In addition, the Board, at its October 19, 2001 meeting approved the allocation of $531,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund in local match funding for the school bus replacement program.

Monies received from CARB, and the AQMD’s contribution from the Clean Fuels Fund, will be placed in the Lower-Emission School Bus Fund created last year, to be used only for the replacement and retrofit of school buses in the South Coast Air Basin, according to the guidelines adopted by the CARB Board on December 7, 2000.

Attachment 1: Ranking Criteria for CNG School Bus Funding
Attachment 2: Ranking Criteria for Low-Emission Diesel School Bus Funding
Attachment 3: Program Announcement & Application No. PA 2002-03 – Lower
Emission School Bus Replacement Program

RANKING CATEGORIES	MEASURING PARAMETERS	POINTS
Exposure	Diesel cancer risk/million	20 max.*
Exposure	PM10 concentration	20 max.*
Income	% Students on free meal program	30 max.**
Percentage of Buses from Existing Fleet Requested for Replacement	50% or more 20% to 49% 19% or less	5 3 1
Percentage of Pre-1987 Buses	50% or more buses 20% to 49% 19% or less	5 3 1
Application Status	Applied last year but was not awarded Repeat applicant & award recipient first round	5 2
CNG Infrastructure	Existing station to support existing & planned fleet Existing station with limited expansion needed Existing station with major expansion needed Install new station adequate for planned fleet Install limited number of small fueling units Fuel at off-site facility	10 8 6 4 2 0
Maintenance Capability	Trained personnel for repair & maintenance Limited on-site capability Contractor for repair & maintenance	5 3 0
TOTAL		100 max.

*Under the exposure category, a maximum of 20 points will be given to schools exposed to the highest
ambient air PM10 concentration, and cancer risk from diesel at their garage locations.

**Under the income category, a maximum of 30 points will be given to schools with the highest percentage
of students on free meal program (data provided by California Department of Education).

RANKING CATEGORIES	MEASURING PARAMETERS	POINTS
Exposure	Diesel cancer risk/million	20 max.*
Exposure	PM10 concentration	20 max.*
Income	% Students on free meal program	30 max.**
Percentage of Buses From Existing Fleet Requested for Replacement	50% or more 20% to 49% 19% or less	5 3 1
Percentage of Pre-1987 Buses	50% or more buses 20% to 49% 19% or less	5 3 1
Application Status	Applied last year but was not awarded Repeat applicant & award recipient first time	5 2
Maintenance Capability	Trained personnel for repair & maintenance Limited on-site capability Contractor for repair and maintenance	10 6 2
Low-Sulfur Fueling Station	Public access: Yes No	5 0
TOTAL		100 max.

*Under the exposure category, a maximum of 20 points will be given to schools exposed to the highest
ambient air PM10 concentration, and cancer risk from diesel at their garage locations.

**Under the income category, a maximum of 30 points will be given to schools with the highest percentage
of students on free meal program (data provided by California Department of Education).

South Coast Air Quality Management District