BOARD MEETING DATE: March 7, 2003
AGENDA NO. 30

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee

SYNOPSIS: 

Below is a summary of key issues addressed at the MSRC’s January 23, 2003 meeting. The MSRC's next meeting is Thursday, February 27, 2003, at 1:30 p.m. in Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

Michael D. Antonovich
AQMD Representative on MSRC

Approval of October 25, 2002 Minutes

Minutes from the October 25, 2002 meeting were unanimously approved, with a minor amendment. The minutes are attached for your information (Attachment 1).

2003 Meeting Schedule

Every year the MSRC adopts a meeting schedule for the upcoming year. Attached for your information and reference is the 2003 meeting schedule which they adopted at their January 2003 meeting (Attachment 2).

Approval of Outreach Coordinator RFP

Since 1999 Keith Communications has been performing outreach coordinator services on a task order basis to promote and provide outreach for current and ongoing MSRC Programs. The contract includes a subcontract with HipDesign who designed the MSRC’s web site and has been providing ongoing maintenance and hosting of the Web site. The MSRC allocated $60,000 in its FY 2002-03 Work Program to continue these services and directed its Technical Advisory Committee (MSRC-TAC) to assess outreach and Web site hosting and maintenance service requirements and develop a strategy to procure follow-on services. The MSRC-TAC recommended that programmatic outreach services be procured through a new RFP process with a funding allocation of $45,000 for FY 2002-03. The MSRC unanimously approved release of the RFP, No. P2003-20, at its January 23, 2003 meeting, and the AQMD Board subsequently approved its release as part of the FY 2003-02 Work Program on February 7, 2003. The RFP closes March 7, 2003 and an award recommendation will be considered by the MSRC in April.

Approval of Sole-Source Contract for Website Hosting and Maintenance Services

As a result of the MSRC-TAC’s assessment of outreach and Web site hosting and maintenance as discussed above, it was recommended that the two functions be separated and procured separately. On January 23, 2003 the MSRC approved a sole-source contract award to HipDesign in the amount of $35,000 to continue Web site maintenance and hosting for a two-year period. The justification for this sole source falls under Subsection B, paragraph 2.c.1 of the AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure: "the unique experience and capabilities of the proposed contractor or contractor team." HipDesign possesses unique knowledge and experience that cannot realistically be duplicated by another firm within the timeframe required by the MSRC. The AQMD approved this sole-source award as part of the FY 2002-03 Work Program on February 7, 2003.

Approval of FY 2002-03 Work Program Awards

On October 4, 2002 the Board approved the MSRC’s FY 2002-03 Work Program in Concept totaling $14.95 million. This included a $2.45 million Local Government Match Program Announcement and Application to provide co-funding for alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure projects. At its January 2003 meeting the MSRC unanimously approved ten applications totaling $933,300. The Work Program also included $1 million for a Coachella Valley PM10 Reduction Program Announcement and Application to provide co-funding for qualifying particulate matter reduction projects, focusing on the early implementation of Most Stringent Measures. At its January 2003 meeting the MSRC unanimously approved ten applications totaling $670,413.69. Both PAs remain open until April 8, 2003. The Work Program in Concept also included release of a Request for Qualifications to seek qualified vendors to participate in a follow-on CNG School Bus Incentive Program. The MSRC awarded contracts to three qualifying school bus vendors, A-Z Bus Sales, California Bus Sales and Southern California Thomas Bus Sales. Each vendor will be awarded an initial $300,000 contract with the remaining $1.1 million allocated based on performance, subject to the MSRC’s approval. These vendors will offer buydown incentives on three types of CNG school buses as follows: 1) heavy-duty full-size Type D buses at a $60,000 buydown; 2) heavy-duty mid-size Type D buses at a $50,000 buydown; and 3) heavy-duty Type A buses at a $25,000 buydown. All of these awards were approved by the AQMD Board as part of the FY 2002-03 Work Program on February 7, 2003.

The MSRC also officially closed its FY 2001-02 CNG School Bus Incentive Program after providing $50,000 incentives on 29 heavy-duty full-size school buses. Of the $2 million allocated to this FY 2001-02 Program, $550,000 was unspent and returned to the Discretionary Fund.

The FY 2002-03 Work Program in Concept also included $1.5 million for an RFP to implement new or expanded Freeway Service Patrols. The RFP was released in October and was supposed to close in April following closure of the state’s FSP application period. Only those entities that applied and were eligible under the state’s FSP Tier II program were qualified to receive MSRC funding. However, because of fiscal constraints, the Caltrans funding for Tier II was removed from the state budget. Therefore, the MSRC-TAC will be amending the FSP RFP and returning with recommendations for further action at the MSRC’s meeting next month. Further information on this program will be included in the next committee report.

MSRC 2003 Annual Offsite Retreat

The MSRC has scheduled its annual offsite retreat for March 31 to brainstorm for development of the FY 2003-04 Work Program. The retreat, which will commence at 11:30 a.m and wrap up by 5:00 p.m., will be held at Ayres Suites across the street from AQMD Headquarters. The FY 2003-04 Work Program schedule calls for adoption of a conceptual work program and release of RFPs by the AQMD Board in October 2003.

Final Reports Received and Approved

The MSRC unanimously received and approved two final reports for: 1) Orange County Transportation Authority Contract #00005, which provided $1,070,000 for the purchase of 46 LNG buses and construction of a fueling station; and 2) Southern California Association of Governments Contract #00021, which provided $68,794 for development of a ridestar automated survey. 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 Requests

The MSRC unanimously approved the following contract modifications:

1. Six-month contractual term extension through March 31, 2003, for City of Los Angeles Contract #PT0201, which provides $493,000 to install diesel particulate traps;
   
   
2. Modification to statement of work allowing the substitution of eight forklifts for repower in stead of two heavy-duty vehicles for repower for ArrowTek Contract #01020, which originally provided $236,868 for this work;
   
   
3. Modification to statement of work allowing the purchase of two new Tymco street sweepers instead of two VacAll street sweepers and one class 8 tractor for SunLine Transit Agency Contract #01028, which originally provided $182,413 for the purchase of seven heavy-duty vehicles;
   
   
4. One-year contractual term extension through December 30, 2003, due to implementation delays for Anaheim Transportation Network Contract #00023, which provides $56,000 for an employer-based rideshare program;
   
   
5. Six-month contractual term extension through June 30, 2003, and vehicle substitution to purchase one CNG vehicle instead of a propane vehicle for City of Costa Mesa Contract #S0110, which originally provided $30,000 for the purchase of two LPG vehicles;
   
   
6. Modification to statement of work allowing the purchase of three flatbed trucks and two new dump trucks instead of seven refuse trucks and a $40,000 reduction in award for City of Burbank Contract #L0201, which originally provided $486,750 for the purchase of 18 CNG vehicles and construction of a fueling station; and
   
   
7. Six-month contractual term extension through July 31, 2003, modification of the statement of working allowing for the purchase of two medium-duty CNG vans instead of three heavy-duty buses and a $28,000 reduction in award for City of Corona Contract #S0117.

The MSRC unanimously agreed to terminate negotiations with ProExpress, which had received a $93,500 for the installation of diesel particulate traps. Before a contract could be executed with ProExpress, they needed to provide evidence of the availability of low-sulfur diesel fuel for their heavy-duty vehicles. They have not done so to date and repeated attempts to contact them have been unsuccessful. The $93,500 will be returned to the Discretionary Fund.

The MSRC also denied two modification requests. TransVironmental Solutions wanted to amend its contract, No. 02029, which provides $189,200 for development and implementation of a guaranteed ride home program, to allow Court jurists to participate in the program. The MSRC felt there were too many unanswered questions and believed the contractor needed to focus its energies on implementation of the original program. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority wanted to amend its contract, No. 96041, to extend the term and modify the statement of work for its Advanced Technology Transit Bus. Of the $300,000 award, only $64,525 remains on the contract, $26,164 of which is the retention and payment for final report. The contract terminated under its own terms on January 10, 2003, and since it would not produce the fuel cell bus for which the MSRC had contracted under this R&D effort, the MSRC felt the contract should not be further extended or modified.

Contract Administrator Report

The MSRC's AB 2766 Contract Administrator provided a written status report on all open contracts from FY 1995-96 through the present. This Contract Administrator Report is attached for your information (Attachment 3).

Attachments

Attachment 1 - Approved October 25, 2002 MSRC Minutes
Attachment 2 - Adopted 2003 Meeting Schedule
Attachment 3 - Contract Administrator Report

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