BOARD MEETING DATE: November 9, 2001 AGENDA NO. 11

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. Available monies for the FY 2001-02 Work Program are estimated at approximately $16 million, including revenues, interest, turn-back funds, and monies from CARB for peaker plant emissions (see Attachment 1).

On July 20, 2001, the Board approved the conceptual FY 2001-02 Work Program targeting $13,765,000 for 11 programs. This included five Clean Fuels Vehicle programs ($10.5 million), one Light-Duty Vehicle program ($1.5 million), and five TCM programs ($1.765 million). At that time the Board approved 10 solicitations totaling $12,265,000 and one contract with the California Energy Commission for $1.5 million for participation in its CNG/Gasoline Hybrid Incentives program. This CEC program provides 50% of a $3,000 buydown incentive for ULEV- and SULEV-verified light-duty vehicles and 50% of a $500 buydown incentive for SULEV-verified gasoline/electric hybrid vehicles. Eight of the ten solicitations closed August 31, 2001. The $2 million Local Government Match Program will be open until February 28, 2002. The Diesel Particulate Trap Retrofit Program will remain open until September 30, 2002. Contract awards for these two programs will be brought separately to the AQMD Board for consideration as part of the FY 2001-02 Work Program.

In accordance with the AQMD's consulting and contracting policies, a public notice advertising these RFPs and RFQ was published on two different days in 26 newspapers and publications, including several targeting minorities.

The RFPs and RFQ were placed on the MSRC's Web site at "http://www.msrc-cleanair.org" as well as the AQMD's Web site at "http://www.aqmd.gov" under the "Business and Job Opportunities" icon, and information was included about the RFP/Qs on the AQMD's 24-hour telephone message line for bidders at (909) 396-2724.

In addition to the AQMD's standard practices, a brochure announcing these funding opportunities was mailed to over 1,600 interested parties on the MSRC's mailing list, as well as to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses, City Managers, Chambers of Commerce, the AQMD's Ethnic Communities Advisory Group, and business associations. Targeted mailing lists were also assembled for the TCM RFPs, with assistance from the AQMD’s Transportation Programs division.

Approximately 100 copies of the ten solicitations were mailed to interested parties by MSRC staff. Another 100 or more were e-mailed to potential bidders by MSRC staff. In addition, a great number of interested parties took advantage of the MSRC's Web site to download copies of the RFPs and RFQ.

To assist potential bidders in submitting qualified proposals, individual bidders’ conferences were conducted at AQMD Headquarters in late July and early August. More than 80 individuals attended the conferences.

Fifty-one eligible proposals were received for the eight competitive solicitations, as follows:

Category	Target Funding	Eligible Proposals	Funding Requested
Bike Mapping	$400,000	17	$6,519,769
Bike Locker	$215,000	1	$215,000
Rideshare to Rails	$300,000	3	$246,982
Commuter Vanpool	$650,000	4	$660,700
Guaranteed Ride Home	$200,000	1	$189,200
Transit Bus	$3,000,000	6	$5,523,500
On-/Off-Road Heavy-Duty	$2,500,000	17	$4,341,173
CNG School Bus	$2,000,000	2	$4,000,000
Total	$9,265,000	51	$21,696,324

Per the MSRC's adopted Guidelines for the AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Proposal Submission and Evaluation Process, the MSRC's Technical Advisory Committee (MSRC-TAC) formed several evaluation subcommittees to review, evaluate, score and rank the proposals, using the criteria within each solicitation. Based upon the results of the evaluation, the MSRC-TAC developed its funding recommendations specifying projects deemed worthy to be funded, those deemed worthy to be funded but for which funding was unavailable (back-up lists), and projects not recommended for funding under any circumstance.

Heavy-Duty Evaluation Subcommittee: Chair Douglas Kim, representing MTA; Todd Campbell, air pollution control expert; Connie Day, representing AQMD; Gretchen Hardison, representing City of Los Angeles; Michelle Kirkhoff, representing SANBAG; Ken Koyama, representing the California Energy Commission; Vince Mastrosimone, representing the Cities of Los Angeles County; Sylvia Stanley, representing OCTA; and Doug Thompson, representing ARB.

Internet Bike-Mapping Evaluation Subcommittee: Chair Greg Neal, representing Riverside County Board of Supervisors; David Cowardin, representing Los Angeles County; Doug Thompson, representing ARB; Julie Gilbert, representing San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors; and Francis Goh, AQMD technical staff.

TCM Evaluation Subcommittee: Chair Diana Kotler, representing Orange County Cities; Michelle Kirkhoff, representing SANBAG; Cheryl Collier, representing SCAG Rideshare; Marilyn Williams, representing RCTC.

At its October 25, 2001 meeting the MSRC considered recommendations from its MSRC-TAC on the projects proposed for funding under this Work Program. At that time the MSRC approved a base FY 2001-02 Work Program consisting of 23 projects totaling $13,136,482.

Due to significant demand in the heavy-duty and transit categories and the MSRC’s desire to fund more projects in these categories, the MSRC took several actions to identify additional funds. First, they utilized available revenue from CARB’s call for peaker plant emissions reduction credits; excess reserve; and project turn-back funds. Second, they deobligated all unallocated TCM target funding. Exact amounts are listed in Attachments 1 and 2.

The result was the identification of $1,988,247 in unallocated fund balance. Consequently, the MSRC unanimously agreed to fund all remaining qualifying heavy-duty vehicle projects in order of cost-effectiveness, totaling $1,638,133, and one additional project totaling $360,114 on the transit backup list.

The Rideshare to Rails RFP received three proposals, only one of which, from the RCTC, was recommended for funding at $96,942. The MSRC believed there was a need to re-issue this RFP to re-open the opportunity to the other three counties. In order to maintain the $75,000 geographic minimum for each county, the remaining balance was augmented by $21,982 for a total revised funding target of $225,000.

This action is to request approval of the FY 2001-02 Work Program as follows: 1) allocate $10,634,729 to fund 29 TCM and Clean Fuels heavy-duty vehicle projects; 2) continue to allocate $2 million for the Local Government Match Program; 3) continue to allocate $1 million for the Diesel Particulate Trap Program; 4) continue to allocate $1.5 million for the sole-source contract with the CEC for participation in its CNG/Gasoline Hybrid Incentives program, which was previously approved by the Board on July 20, 2001; and 5) approve the re-issue of the Rideshare to Rails RFP (#P2002-06) in the amount of $225,000.

In some cases the full amount requested by a proposal is not recommended for funding or the proposed scope of work has been modified. This is consistent with the MSRC's administrative policies, which allow the MSRC to approve a portion of a proposer’s scope of work and/or funding request. In those cases where the proposed funding level or scope of work has been modified by the MSRC, and the proposer cannot perform the project as recommended, the MSRC requests the authority to rescind the funding commitment and retain the funds in the Discretionary Fund for future work programs.

The MSRC requests authority to adjust the funds allocated to each project specified in this Board letter by up to 5% of the project's recommended funding. The Board has granted this authority to the MSRC for all past work programs.

Finally, the MSRC requests that the Board authorize the AQMD Board Chairman the authority to execute agreements specified in this Board letter and described in the attachments as part of the FY 2001-02 Work Program.

NOTE: The total amount of funds applied to the MSRC's FY 2001-02 Work Program is $20,894 higher than the amount presented during the MSRC's discussion on subject. The figures presented in this report reflect this additional amount. At its October 25, 2001 meeting, the MSRC agreed to apply all available funds to heavy duty projects in order of cost effectiveness. A recalculation in a previously approved contract resulted in these additional funds being available. This was not discovered until after the meeting. Consistent with the Committee's direction, and after thorough discussion with the MSRC Technical Advisory Committee Chairman, this amount was added to the total amount of funds applied to the FY 2001-02 Work Program.

The AQMD acts as fiscal administrator for the AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Program (Health & Safety Code Section 44243). Money received for this program is recorded in a special revenue fund (Fund 23) and the contracts will be drawn from this fund. These contracts will have no fiscal impact on the AQMD’s operational budget.

South Coast Air Quality Management District