BOARD MEETING DATE: February 4, 2005
AGENDA NO. 25

Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee

SYNOPSIS:

Below is a summary of key issues addressed at the MSRC’s January 27, 2005 meeting. The MSRC’s next meeting is February 24, 2005, at 1:30 p.m. in Room CC8.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Receive and file.

Henry Hogo
Assistant Deputy Executive Officer/
Science & Technology Advancement

Minutes

Minutes from the November 18, 2004 meeting were unanimously approved, with minor modifications. They are attached for your information (Attachment 1).

2005 Meeting Schedule

The MSRC adopted its 2005 Meeting Schedule, retaining the schedule of meeting on the fourth Thursday of every month. The MSRC’s Technical Advisory Committee will continue to meet on the second Thursday of every month. The MSRC also tentatively scheduled its annual retreat for March 24, 2005, at 12 p.m. The 2005 Meeting Schedule is attached for your reference and information (Attachment 2).

FY 2004-05 Work Program Additional Contract Awards

On August 6, 2004, the AQMD Board approved the MSRC’s $15.3 million FY 2004-05 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program in Concept, including $1 million for a Diesel Exhaust After-Treatment Retrofit Program and $1.75 million for an On-Road Diesel Vehicle Replacement Program, subject to MSRC and AQMD Board approval. Subsequent to the release of the Diesel Exhaust After-Treatment Retrofit Program Announcement, the MSRC augmented the funding target by an additional $500,000 for a total of $1.5 million. On January 27, 2005, in a 5-0 vote, the MSRC considered recommendations from its MSRC-TAC and recognized $2,667,804 in residual and turn-back funds.

For the Diesel Exhaust After-Treatment Retrofit Program, the MSRC initially approved funding a prorated portion of the 15 applications received on the first day. Ultimately, they unanimously approved funding all 17 eligible applications received under this Program, using $650,500 from turn-back funds, for a total of $2,150,500 in contract awards.

For the On-Road Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicle Replacement Program, the MSRC unanimously approved a $1.75 million sole-source contract to Gateway Cities Council of Governments (COG) to administer and implement a follow-on element to the previous successful program, in which the MSRC had partnered with the COG to replace vehicles at ports. The follow-on Program will be expanded to include independent owner/operators within each county and add an outreach component to ensure broad-based participation throughout the basin. The maximum amount allowable for program management, administration and outreach shall not exceed 15% of the MSRC contract. Eligible vehicles include model year 2000 or newer trucks only and vehicles must be equipped with automated vehicle locator systems. The vehicle being replaced will be scrapped in exchange for the newer vehicle.

On November 18, 2004, the MSRC approved four contract awards totalling $2,750,000 under its Off-Road Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program and established a backup list of eligible projects totaling more than $5 million. At its January 27, 2005 meeting, the MSRC allocated the remaining turn-back funds totaling $2,017,304 to fund additional off-road projects as far down the ranked list as available monies would allow. Projects on the backup list were ranked based on cost-effectiveness. Based on available monies, the MSRC was able to award four more contracts under this element of the Work Program.

The AQMD Board will consider the above contract awards at its February 4, 2005 meeting.

Release RFP for Technical Advisor Services

The MSRC retains an independent contractor to provide technical assistance in support of the AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Program. Contracts are awarded through a competitive bid process and have traditionally included three one-year option clauses. The services are funded partially from the Work Program (25%) and partially from the MSRC’s Administrative Budget (75%), which is statutorily set at 5% of revenues. Since the current Technical Advisor contract expires June 30, 2005, and no further options can be exercised, the MSRC unanimously approved issuance of a new RFP to solicit these services for FYs 2005-06 & 2006-07. The contract will include one 2-year option to be exercised at the MSRC’s discretion, with funding commitments subject to AQMD Board approval. Funding for this technical assistance will be determined based on proposals and associated available funds in the next fiscal year, subject to MSRC and AQMD Board approval at a later date. Proposals are due no later than 2:00 p. m. March 8, 2005. The AQMD Board will consider release of the RFP at its February 4, 2005 meeting.

Modified Award for Orange County Transportation Authority as Part of FY 2001-02 Work Program

The OCTA was awarded $286,471 towards the purchase of 21 LNG buses in the FY 2001-02 Work Program under the Alternative Fuel Transit Bus Program. No buses have been purchased to date. OCTA subsequently requested that the award be modified to transfer funding to their LNG refueling infrastructure and maintenance facilities. The FY 2001-02 RFP provided up to $100,000 for station installations and expansions and up to $10,000 for facility modifications necessary to accommodate storage and usage of alternative fuel buses. The MSRC concluded that the work OCTA was performing could not be characterized as expanding the stations’ capacity. As a result, at its May 27, 2004 meeting, the MSRC denied the request, but allowed up to $10,000 for facility modifications under the FY 2001-02 contract awards. Because the modification applies the award to a different scope of work than that originally approved by the AQMD Board as part of the FY 2001-02 Work Program, this modification will be considered by the AQMD Board at its February 4, 2005 meeting.

Financial Accounting Revisited for Special Fund

Finance staff provided a revised format for financial accounting of the MSRC’s special fund, and advised the MSRC that contracts cannot be fully executed until all revenues have actually been received. Because of the lapse time between when an award is approved and a contract is executed, coupled with turn-back funds and interest, staff recognized this may never present a problem, but wanted to highlight the issue to the MSRC. The report was received and filed.

Received and Approved Final Reports

The MSRC unanimously received and approved four final reports, as follows:

1)	City of Rancho Mirage, Contract #MS03022, which provided $70,627 under the Coachella Valley PM10 Reduction Program for post event cleanup, purchase of a water truck for dust control, in-fill paving of public dirt roads and stabilization of road shoulders;
2)	Sysco Food Services of LA., Contract #AB01019, which provided $371,293 towards the purchase of LNG tractors and construction of an LNG refueling station;
3)	Mountain Area Regional Transit Authority, Contract #01012, which provided $23,000 towards construction of LPG infrastructure and mechanic training; and
4)	Waste Management of Desert, Contract #AB00012, which provided $521,724 towards the purchase of CNG refuse collection vehicles.

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 website at http://www.msrc-cleanair.org.

Contract Modification Requests

The MSRC considered five contract modification requests and took unanimous action, as follows:

1. For Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Contract #MS03056, which provides $862,200 for expanded Freeway Service Patrols, approval to remove the hourly rate cap of $45 for towing services without any additional funding requested;
    
2. For Clean Energy Fuels Corporation, Contract #MS03062, which provides $250,000 to construct a CNG fueling station, approval of a one-year, no-cost time extension;
    
3. For Waste Management of Corona, Contract #AB02014, which provides $165,000 towards purchase of 10 LNG refuse trucks, facility modifications and mechanic training, approval to substitute three Freightliner CNG refuse trucks for three Mack LNG refuse trucks;
    
4. For HiP Design, Contract #MS03004, which provides $35,000 for hosting and maintenance of the MSRC website, approval of a nine-month, no-cost time extension; and
    
5. For Taormina Industries, Contract #AB02023, which provides $154,385 towards purchase of ten LNG refuse trucks and construction of a L/CNG fueling station, denial to reduce the number of vehicle purchases from ten to three and to de-couple the $100,000 infrastructure award from vehicle purchases. The MSRC denied the request because there are comparable vehicles in horsepower and torque available on the market that could be used to fulfill the contract obligations.

Contract Administrator Report

The MSRC's AB 2766 Contract Administrator provided a written status report on all open contracts from FY 1999-00 through the present. This Contract Administrator Report is attached for your information (Attachment 3).

Attachments

1. Approved November 18, 2004 Minutes
2. Adopted 2005 Meeting Schedule
3. Contract Administrator Report

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