BOARD MEETING DATE: July 11, 2003
AGENDA NO. 29
Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee
SYNOPSIS:
Below is a summary of key issues addressed at the MSRC’s
May 22, 2003 meeting. Since the MSRC canceled its June 26 meeting, the next MSRC meeting is Thursday, July 24, 2003, at 1:30 p.m. in Conference Room CC8.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Receive and file.
Michael D. Antonovich
AQMD Representative on MSRC
Election of Chair and Vice-Chair
Every May the MSRC and its Technical Advisory Committee (MSRC-TAC) hold elections for its chair and vice-chair positions. At its May 22, 2003 meeting, the MSRC unanimously re-elected its current chair William Kleindienst, who is Mayor of Palm Springs and represents the Riverside County Transportation Commission on the MSRC. This will be his fifth term. The MSRC also unanimously re-elected Bea LaPisto-Kirtley as its vice-chair for another one-year term. Ms. LaPisto-Kirtley is Mayor of Bradbury and represents the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority on the MSRC. This will also be her fifth term.
At the MSRC-TAC’s May 8, 2003 meeting, they unanimously voted to re-elect their current chair Diana Kotler for another one-year term. At the time of her re-election Ms. Kotler represented the cities of Orange County. Subsequently, she accepted a position at the Riverside County Transportation Commission and has been appointed RCTC’s member on the MSRC-TAC. At its next meeting the MSRC-TAC will reconsider its chair appointment. A new MSRC-TAC vice-chair was appointed to the MSRC-TAC. Vince Mastrosimone, who represents the cities of Los Angeles County, will act as vice-chair for a one-year period until elections are held again next May.
Approval of Freeway Service Patrol Awards
The FY 2002-03 Work Program in Concept included $1.5 million for an RFP to reduce traffic emissions by implementing new or expanded Freeway Service Patrols (FSPs). Only the four county transportation commissions would be eligible to apply and a $200,000 county minimum was established. Due to the complexities of this program, the MSRC chose to follow the statewide FSP guidelines using a formula based on population, traffic congestion and urban freeway miles to award the remaining $700,000. When the RFP closed on April 8, 2003, four proposals (one from each county) were received. Using the original $1.5 million set aside for this category, coupled with additional revenue resulting from turn-back funds, the MSRC approved funding for new or expanded FSPs totaling $1,887,600 as follows for each county:
a) Los Angeles County in the amount of $862,200;
b) Riverside County in the amount of $275,400
c) Orange County in the amount of $375,000;and
d) San Bernardino County in the amount of $375,000.
The AQMD Board approved these awards on June 6, 2003, as part of the FY 2002-03 Work Program.
Approval of Several FY 2002-03 Work Program Awards
The MSRC’s FY 2002-03 Work Program in Concept included a $2.45 million Local Government Match Program Announcement and Application to provide co-funding for alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure projects. In February, March and May the Board approved the MSRC’s recommendations to award funding totaling $1,284,810 for 17 applications. At its May 22, 2003 meeting the MSRC recommended funding four more applications totaling $1,165,191. These awards were made based on a $350,000 per county minimum with the remaining funds based on a first-come, first-serve basis. The AQMD Board approved these awards on June 6, 2003. This program, which has closed, succeeded in funding 21 local government projects totaling $2,450,001.
Also included within the Work Program was $1 million for the Coachella Valley PM10 Reduction Program to provide co-funding to qualifying particulate matter reduction projects. In February, March and May, the Board approved the MSRC’s recommendations to award funding totaling $1,000,000 for 13 applications. At its May 22, 2003 meeting the MSRC unanimously agreed to allocate turn-back revenues to fund one additional application totaling $1,191 from the backup list for this category. The AQMD Board approved this award on June 6, 2003, and the program has closed.
As part of the FY 2002-03 Work Program, the MSRC awarded $300,000 contracts to three school bus vendors to implement the CNG School Bus Incentives Program. The remaining $1.1 million of this $2 million program was to augment the qualified vendor contracts based upon sales performance. In May 2003, the Board approved the MSRC’s recommendation to augment A-Z Bus Sales contract by an additional $400,000 for a total of $700,000. At its May 22, 2003 meeting the MSRC considered requests from all three vendors to augment their contracts by $700,000. Since the remaining program dollars only totaled $700,000, the MSRC unanimously agreed to equally divide these monies amongst the three vendors. Therefore, total program awards were as follows: a) A-Z Bus Sales, $933,333; b) California Bus Sales, Inc., $533,333; and c) Southern California Thomas Bus Sales, $533,333. These dollars were added to each contract with the provision that funds not committed via purchase orders within ninety days would revert back to the MSRC’s Discretionary Fund. The AQMD Board approved these contract modifications on June 6, 2003.
The MSRC also considered backup lists for each category using turn-back funds identified by financial staff. As noted above, turn-back funds were used to grant additional dollars to the three county transportation commissions under the FSP Program and one additional project under the Coachella Valley PM10 Reduction Program. The MSRC also unanimously approved funding two more proposals totaling $786,282, which were received under the On-/Off-Road Heavy Duty Vehicle Program. The AQMD Board also approved these awards on June 6, 2003.
The MSRC will consider the remaining element of the FY 2002-03 Work Program at its July 24, 2003 meeting. RFP #P2003-08, Implementation of Strategically Located, Publicly Accessible Alternative Fuel Infrastructure in the SCAQMD, provides a maximum of $250,000 for refueling stations for CNG, LNG and L/CNG fuels up to $1.25 million for all proposals. The MSRC-TAC will present its recommendations on the proposals received under this RFP to the MSRC at that time. The AQMD Board will consider these final awards under the FY 2002-03 Work Program on August 1, 2003.
The MSRC will also consider the FY 2003-04 Work Program in Concept on July 24, 2003. Further information on the new work program will be provided to the AQMD Board at a future date.
Approval of Miscellaneous Expenditures for FY 2001-02 Fourth Quarter and FY 2002-03 First Quarter
The MSRC approved the reimbursement of miscellaneous administrative and mailing costs for FY 2001-02 in an amount not to exceed $35,848 and $36,000 for FY 2002-03. These expenses are included within the 5% administrative cap mandated by the AB 2766 legislation and are adopted as part of an annual Administrative Budget. AQMD staff reported that actual FY 2001-02 fourth quarter miscellaneous expenditures were $5,931.21 for annual expenditures totaling $30,405.27 for the entire fiscal year. Staff also reported that FY 2002-03 first quarter expenditures were $5,011.99. Actual expenses were less than those estimated because no July committee meetings were conducted, reducing costs for printing, postage and refreshments. The MSRC unanimously received and filed these reports.
Final Reports Received and Approved
The MSRC unanimously received and approved two final reports, as follows:
| 1) | Los Angeles County MTA Contract #96041, which provided $300,000 for an Advanced Technology Transit Vehicle; and |
| 2) | Southern California Association of Governments Contract #00016, which provided $100,000 for a Commuter Channel Project. |
All final reports are filed in the AQMD's library and a two-page summary of each closed project can be viewed in the electronic library on the MSRC's Web site at http://www.msrc-cleanair.org.
Contract Modification Request
The MSRC unanimously approved two contract modifications as follows:
| 1) | An 18-month contractual term extension for Waste Management of Santa Ana Contract #01007, which provides $725,000 for the purchase of 35 LNG refuse trucks and construction of an LNG fueling station; and |
| 2) | An 18-month contractual term extension for Waste Management of Irvine Contract #01008, which also provides $725,000 for the purchase of 35 LNG refuse trucks and construction of an LNG fueling station. |
The MSRC also considered a request from the United States Postal Service (USPS) to delete portions of their outreach task under Contract #00018, which originally provided $2 million for 400 electric vehicle mail delivery vehicles. Of the 400 vehicles, 378 were purchased and deployed and $1.7 million paid to the USPS. The vehicles deployed suffered battery pack failure less than two years after purchase and since the manufacturer discontinued the battery pack no maintenance support could be provided. Consequently, the USPS entered into an agreement with Ford to replace the EVs with gasoline-powered Windstar vans so that Ford could be absolved of its warranty responsibilities. Although the MSRC shared the USPS’s disappointment in the failure of the vehicles, the members were concerned that the USPS failed to either include the MSRC in the discussions with Ford or to consider alternative fuel vehicles instead of gasoline-powered vehicles. The MSRC asked its staff to work further with the USPS and deferred the item until its next meeting.
Contract Administrator Report
The MSRC's AB 2766 Contract Administrator provided a written status report on all open contracts from FY 1998-99 through the present. This Contract Administrator Report is attached for your information.
Contract Administrator Report
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