BOARD MEETING DATE: February 4, 2005
AGENDA NO. 3

Execute Contract to Conduct Lawn Mower Incentive Program for 2005

SYNOPSIS:

At its November 2004 meeting, the Board approved release of a Program Announcement to solicit bids from qualified manufacturers to produce and provide cordless electric lawnmowers in sufficient quantities and at the lowest possible price needed for the Lawn Mower Incentive Program. Two bids were received by the close of deadline specified in the Program Announcement. This action is to award a contract to Neuton, Inc. to conduct the Lawn Mower Exchange Program in an amount not to exceed $756,000 from the Rule 2202 AQIP to exchange up to 4,000 gasoline-powered lawnmowers with cordless electric lawnmowers. Emission reductions generated from the exchange program will be used to partially meet the Rule 2202 fourth quarter 2004 emission targets. In addition, staff is requesting that $116,000 be allocated from the Rule 2202 AQIP Fund to administer the Lawn Mower Incentive Program. Sufficient funds are available in the CY 2004 Rule 2202 AQIP to cover the total cost not to exceed $872,000 for the program.

COMMITTEE:

Mobile Source, January 28, 2005, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Authorize the Chairman to execute a contract with Neuton Lawn Mower Company to purchase up to 4,000 electric lawn mowers and to conduct "Mow Down Air Pollution 2005" Lawn Mower Exchange events in an amount not to exceed $756,000.
    
2. Transfer $116,000 from the AQIP Special Revenue Fund to Science & Technology’s FY 2004-05 Budget, Services and Supplies Major Object (Public Notice and Advertisement Account $83,000, Miscellaneous Expense Account $33,000) to solicit outside business and organizational support to assist in implementing AQMD’s "Mow Down Air Pollution 2005" program.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Rule 2202 AQIP allows subject employers to comply with the Rule by electing to participate in an AQMD-administered restricted fund. Participation is through investment of either $60 annually per employee reporting to the worksite during the 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. peak window, or $125 triennially per employee. The restricted monies are to be used by the AQMD to fund proposals that achieve mobile source emission reductions that would otherwise have been achieved by implementing a rideshare program. This Board letter contains a discussion regarding the disbursal of funds from the AQIP compliance option for second semi-annual period of 2004.

Upon registering under this option and submitting the designated investment amount, an employer is considered to be in compliance with the Rule and there is no need for the employer to take further action to reduce mobile source emissions. The collected monies are used to fund alternative mobile source emission reduction strategies that reduce mobile source emissions at a more cost-effective rate which could potentially result in greater overall emission reductions.

The second semi-annual period of the 2004 participation period ended on December 31, 2004 with 77 employers participating in the AQIP program. The total amount of AQIP funds received during this period was $1,300,630, which includes both annual and triennial participants (see Attachment 1). In addition, $111,974 is being carried forward from the previous semi-annual period; $175,629 was accrued in interest in FY2003-04 and an unspent amount of $33,196 is available from the 2004 lawn mower exchange program. The action taken by the Board at its December 3, 2004 meeting resulted in reverting $149,778.20 back to the Rule 2202 AQIP Special Revenue Fund and at its January 7, 2005 meeting, the Board allocated $92,292 from the Rule 2202 AQIP Special Revenue Fund to assist in the purchase of natural gas passenger vans for taxicab services. Therefore the total amount available for this semi annual period is $1,678,915 (see Attachment 1, Table 4).

Lawn Mower Exchange Program

In the spring of 2003 and 2004, AQMD conducted four and five lawn mower exchange events, respectively, where residents exchanged their operable gasoline-powered lawn mowers with zero emission cordless electric lawn mowers. A total of 7,476 mowers were exchanged. The program was funded by Rule 2202 AQIP. These exchanges have helped mitigate a substantial amount of pollutants. Due to the success of the program, staff is proposing to hold up to ten lawn mower exchange events within the AQMD’s four-county region in the spring of 2005. In the prior events of 2003 and 2004, individuals exchanging their lawn mowers paid the participating retailer $150 and $100 respectively, inclusive of sales tax. AQIP funds covered the difference minus the rebate offered by the manufacturer.

At its November 2004 meeting, the Board approved the release of a Program Announcement (PA 2005-06) to solicit competitive proposals from qualified manufacturers for the production and supply of cordless electric lawn mowers to be used in this year’s lawn mower exchange program in the South Coast Air Basin. The goal of this program announcement was to identify potential manufacturers/suppliers and products for AQMD’s lawn mower exchange program at the lowest possible price.

Proposal

At the close of the Program Announcement deadline, two bids were received from two manufacturers: Black and Decker Outdoor Products and Country Home Products. Country Home Products provided two options as follows:
 

A third company, Sun Lawn, Inc. expressed, in writing, their inability to participate this time. Prior to the 2004 events, staff conducted a thorough evaluation of mowers from Neuton and Black & Decker.

As Neuton is a lesser known brand name, prior to last year’s event, staff called several service centers enquiring regarding their durability. Meetings were held with both manufacturers. Both manufacturers provided mowers for evaluation. They were sent out to a commercial landscaper for two weeks of performance evaluation. The following table provides a summary of staff evaluation.
 

	Neuton	Black & Decker
Name Recognition
Quality
Price Advantage (4,000 Qty)	$289.00	$360.00
MSRP	$399.00	$449.00
Retail Sales	Direct Marketing + Lawn & Garden Stores	In home improvement stores
Cutting width	14"	19"
Weight	48 lbs.	75 lbs.
Spare Battery Availability		NO
Service Center Preference
Power & Cutting Performance
Ease of storing
Ease of cleaning
Area it can cut
Landscape Contractor’s personal preference
Event Assistance

Based on the events held in 2003 and 2004 both brands of lawn mowers were equally well received by participants. Because of its higher cost-effectiveness, staff recommends the Neuton brand for the exchange events in 2005. Similar to the events held in 2004, staff recommends the customer share to be $100.

Staff recommends that $872,000 be used for the "Mow Down Pollution 2005" Program. Upon Board approval, the lawn mower buy-back program for replacement of older gasoline driven lawn mowers with Neuton Lawn Mower Company’s battery powered electric mowers will be promoted through a comprehensive outreach campaign including radio and print advertising. Specifically, elements of the campaign will include:

• Up to 400 10-second drive-time traffic spots (based on scheduling availability);
• Newspaper display ads in areas near the events;
• Producing up to 20,000 information flyers on the events for distribution at selected venues;
• Producing banners for display at event sites;
• Issuing a news release on the events to more than 100 daily, weekly and ethnic newspapers, radio and television stations; and
• Placing information on the program on AQMD’s website and 1-800-CUT-SMOG line.

Outreach

In accordance with the AQMD’s consulting and contracting policies, a public notice advertising the Program Announcement and inviting bids was published in the following publications:
 

1.	Antelope Valley Press	11.	La Opinion	21.	Rafu Shimpo
2.	Black Voice News	12.	La Prensa Hispana	22.	San Bernardino Sun
3.	Chinese Daily News	13.	La Voz Publications	23.	State of California Contracts
4.	Desert Sun	14.	Los Angeles Daily News		Register
5.	Eastern Group Publications	15.	Los Angeles Sentinel	24.	The Daily Breeze
6.	El Chicano	16.	Los Angeles Times	25.	The Excelsior
7.	El Informador	17.	Orange County Register	26.	The Signal
8.	Inland Empire Hispanic News	18.	Philippine News	27.	Wave Community Newspapers
9.	Inland Valley Daily Bulletin	19.	Precinct Reporter
10.	Korea Central Daily	20	Press Enterprise

Additionally, potential bidders were notified utilizing the Los Angeles County MTA Directory of Certified Firms, the Inland Area Opportunity Pages Ethnic/Women Business & Professional Directory; and AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors. Notice of the RFP/RFQ was mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations, and placed on the Internet at AQMD’s Web site (http://www.aqmd.gov). Information was also available on AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724.

Resource Impact

Total cost of this program shall not exceed $872,000 from the Rule 2202 AQIP Special Revenue Fund. Sufficient funds are available to fully implement the buy-down program.

Attachments

1. AQIP Funding and Participation
2. Summary of Emission Reduction Targets and Credit Balances
3. Recommendation for Funding

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