South Coast Air Quality Management District

Approve Grants to Public School Districts and Joint Power Authorities to Purchase Lower-Emitting Diesel and Alternative Fuel School Buses and Infrastructure under the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement and Retrofit Program for FY 2000-01

SYNOPSIS:

The AQMD Program Announcement & Application PA2001-02 "Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement & Retrofit Program," was issued on February 16, 2001. The due date for submittal of school bus replacement applications was April 3, 2001. Due to the Board’s decision at its May 11, 2001 meeting, the selection methodology of replacement buses was amended and the application period was re-opened from May 11 to May 29, 2001. Staff has ranked all the applications according to the adopted guidelines and recommends the approval of the school bus replacement awards for a total of $17,910,000.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, June 8, 2001, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Authorize the Chairman to approve grants to public school districts and joint power authorities to purchase lower-emitting diesel and alternative fuel school buses and infrastructure under the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement and Retrofit Program for FY 2000-01, in an amount not to exceed $17,910,000 from the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement and Retrofit Program Fund.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

On December 7, 2000, the ARB’s Governing Board adopted the guidelines for the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement and Retrofit Program to reduce children’s exposure to toxic diesel particulate matter and smog forming pollutants from high emitting diesel fueled school buses. Subsequently, the AQMD issued the Program Announcement & Application PA2001-02, on February 16, 2001, for the implementation of this program in the South Coast Air Basin. The due date for submittal of applications for the school bus replacement component of the program was April 3, 2001. The application period was re-opened from May 11 to May 29, 2001, due to the Board’s decision at its May 11, 2001 meeting, to amend the selection methodology of replacement buses from lottery to a point ranking system. Other selection criteria adopted by the Board at that meeting were:

• Limiting the Los Angeles Unified School Districts funding eligibility to a maximum of fifty percent of the total funds allocated for Los Angeles County.
  
  
• Awarding one compressed natural gas (CNG) bus to all those school districts with submitted applications for CNG buses that already own and operate CNG school buses in their existing fleet.
  
  
• Excluding Jurupa Unified School District from this specific award process, because of the special $3 million funding for school bus replacement under the AES Settlement Fund.

Funding Distribution

The AQMD has received funds in the amounts of $5,637,000 for the retrofit, and $16,250,000 for the replacement and infrastructure parts of the program from the ARB. Total funds available for the school bus replacement program, including $1,660,000 matching funds from the AQMD’s Clean Fuels Fund is $17,910,000. According to the State guidelines, $12,500,000 will be used to purchase alternative fuel buses and infrastructure, and $5,410,000 will be used to purchase lower-emitting diesel buses. Funds will be distributed proportional to each county’s general population as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Proposed Distribution of Funds for School Bus Replacement
 

*The population number is for year 2000, obtained from the California Statistical Abstract, published by the Department of Finance.
**Funds allocated to each county will be close to the nearest price shown in the table to cover AQMD’s full contribution.

Point Ranking and Awards Recommendation

By the due date of May 29, 2001, a total of 46 applications submitted by 45 public school districts and one joint power authority were deemed complete and qualified for the school bus replacement program. Each application was evaluated and ranked according to the adopted methodology for CNG and lower-emitting diesel buses as shown in Attachments 1 & 2 respectively. The number and type of buses requested by each applicant is shown in Attachment 3. Based on these criteria, a detailed list of the rankings for all the applicants requesting CNG, and lower-emitting diesel buses are shown in Attachments 4 & 5 respectively.

Staff recommends the approval of school bus replacement awards for CNG and lower-emitting diesel buses as shown in Tables 2 & 3 respectively. The recommended lists start with school districts with the highest-ranking points in each county, and continue in descending order until funds have been exhausted. For CNG buses, the award list also includes all the schools with existing CNG school bus fleet.

All the requested buses, and the purchase prices including sales tax and any applicable procurement fees have been discussed and confirmed with the applicants after the submittal of the applications. However, if any of these parameters change during the execution of the grant agreements, the AQMD will grant any available funds to the next eligible applicant from the point-ranking list.

Among the applicant school districts listed in Tables 2 & 3,Pupil Transportation, Alhambra, Ontario-Montclair, Walnut Valley, Colton Joint, Fullerton Joint, Santa Monica-Malibu, and Garden Grove have submitted their applications as double entries. This means their requested number of buses may be either CNG or lower-emitting diesel. These applicants have been recommended for awards in the category where they have ranked highest.

Table 2: CNG School Bus & Infrastructure Award Recommendation List
 

Table 3: Lower-Emitting Diesel School Bus Award Recommendation List
 

Benefits to AQMD

The AQMP relies on the expedited implementation of advanced technologies and clean-burning fuels in Southern California to achieve air quality standards.

School buses operate in close proximity to students, teachers and neighbors. Many schools provide bus services in heavily populated areas. The successful implementation of the school bus replacement program will provide less polluting and safer school transportation for school children. It 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.

Resource Impacts

The total amount of funding for this program shall not exceed $17,910,000. Sufficient funds are available from the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement and Retrofit Fund, which has been established as a separate fund by the AQMD, to be used for the replacement and retrofit of school buses in the Basin. The $17,910,000 is comprised of $1,660,000 transferred from the AQMD’s Clean Fuels Fund, and $16,250,000 received from the ARB under the replacement part of the Lower-Emission School Bus Replacement and Retrofit Program.

Attachments

1. Ranking Criteria for CNG School Bus Funding
2. Ranking Criteria for Low-Emitting Diesel School Bus Funding
3. Number & Type of Requested Buses
4. Final Ranking of CNG School Bus Applicants
5. Final Ranking of Lower-Emitting Diesel School Bus Applicants

ATTACHMENT 1

RANKING CRITERIA FOR CNG SCHOOL BUS FUNDING
 

*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).

ATTACHMENT 2

RANKING CRITERIA FOR LOW-EMITTING DIESEL SCHOOL BUS FUNDING
 

*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).

ATTACHMENT 3: NUMBER & TYPE OF REQUESTED BUSES
 

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