BOARD MEETING DATE: January 7, 2005
AGENDA NO. 7

Execute Purchase Order for Two Natural Gas Fueled Cargo Vans for U.S. Department of Defense Funded Low-Level Pollutant Concentration Measurement Study, One Natural Gas Fueled Passenger Van for AQMD Vanpool Fleet, and Allocate Rule 2202 AQIP Funds to Assist in Purchase of Natural Gas Fueled Passenger Vans for Taxicab Services

SYNOPSIS:

At its August 2004 meeting, the Board authorized the purchase of two natural gas fueled cargo vans from Thorson Motor Center for a special project with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Subsequent to the Board’s approval, Thorson indicated that General Motors has stopped taking orders for any new natural gas fueled vehicles and there are no other General Motors natural gas vans available. Recently, Wondries Ford indicated that they have available seven Ford E350 dedicated natural gas passenger vans and two Ford E350 natural gas cargo vans. This action is to re-authorize the purchase order originally for two General Motors natural gas fueled cargo vans to instead purchase two Ford E350 dedicated natural gas cargo vans from Wondries Ford at a cost not to exceed $60,000. Funding for the purchase of the two vans are provided as part of the contract with the U.S. DOD. In addition, staff is requesting Board approval to purchase one Ford E350 dedicated natural gas passenger van for the AQMD’s vanpool fleet at a cost not to exceed $35,000, and allocate turn-back Rule 2202 AQIP funds to assist in the purchase of natural gas passenger vans for taxicab services at cost not to exceed $92,292.

COMMITTEE:

Administrative, December 10, 2004, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Authorize the Procurement Manager to execute a purchase order with Wondries Ford for an amount not to exceed $60,000 from Science and Technology Advancements FY 2004-05 Budget, Capital Outlays Major Object, for the purchase of two (2) natural gas fueled E350 cargo vans.
    
2. Authorize the Procurement Manager to execute a purchase order with Wondries Ford for an amount not to exceed $35,000 from the District General FY 2004-05 Budget, Capital Outlays Major Object, Item No. 1 for the purchase of one natural gas fueled E350 passenger van for the AQMD vanpool fleet.
    
3. Allocate $92,292 from Rule 2202 AQIP Special Reserve Fund (Fund 27) to assist in the purchase of natural gas passenger vans for taxicab services. Authorize the Executive Officer to approve (up to $15,382 per vehicle) disbursement of these funds to cover the co-funding for up to six natural gas passenger vans in the same manner as prior Rule 2202 AQIP funding requests for taxicab service.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

In August 2003, the Board authorized the execution of a contract with U.S. DOD to demonstrate the feasibility of measuring low-level pollutant concentrations in the ambient air conduct the project. The project will assess, develop and adapt various technologies for both field analysis and sample collection to assist in the characterization of a release of chemical agents or toxic industrial contaminants. Specifically, gas chromatographs, automatic chemical agent detection and alarm (ACADA) systems, and portable meteorological systems will be deployed at various locations to determine if lower levels of pollutant concentrations could be measured.

In order to deploy the equipment at various locations in the South Coast Air Basin, the Board approved the purchase of two natural gas vans produced by General Motors. Subsequent to the Board’s approval, General Motors announced that they will no longer produce a natural gas powered version of the cargo van. Staff was informed by Thorson Motor Center (the General Motors dealership whom the Board awarded the purchase order) that there are no 2004 natural gas cargo vans available from General Motors and the only natural gas versions of the General Motor cargo vans would be available only through a conversion retrofit from Baytech, Inc.

Recently, Wondries Ford recently received seven dedicated natural gas Ford E350 passenger vans and two Ford E350 dedicated natural gas cargo vans for sell in Southern California. In addition, Wondries Ford received a request from a taxicab operator for the purchase of one of the seven natural gas passenger vans and asked if funding assistance could be made available from the AQMD in a similar manner as prior funding assistance for the purchase of natural gas passenger cars for taxicab services.

Proposal

After staff was notified that there were no alternative fueled cargo vans available directly from the manufacturer, staff requested a quote from Thorson Motor Center on the cost to purchase the General Motors cargo vans with a Baytech Inc. conversion to run on natural gas to compare with the price quote on the Ford E350 natural gas cargo vans. The price quoted is about $34,505 which is about $6,500 more than the price of a natural gas cargo directly from General Motors and about $5,446 more than the Ford E350 natural gas cargo van. The price quote represents the cost of the conversion and any price difference between a 2004 model and 2005 model. As such, staff recommends that the Board approve the purchase of two Ford E350 natural gas cargo vans at a cost not to exceed $60,000 from Wondries Ford. The recommended funding would cover the cost of the two cargo vans including sales tax and any associated incidentals that may occur with the delivery of the vans. Sufficient funds is available as part of the contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to conduct the low-level pollutant concentration measurement study.

Relative to the request for funding assistance to purchase natural gas passenger vans for taxicab services, staff strongly believes that the purchase of alternative fueled vehicles will provide greater air benefits than their gasoline fueled counterparts. The natural gas version is about 84 percent cleaner in hydrocarbon emissions, 75 percent cleaner relative to oxides of nitrogen emissions, and almost 80 percent cleaner in carbon monoxide emissions. As such, staff recommends that funding assistance be provided for the purchase of these vans.

At the December 2004 meeting, the Board approved the de-obligation of unspent Rule 2202 AQIP funds to assist in the purchase of alternative fueled passenger cars for taxicab services. As a result of that action, $149,778.20 was returned to the Rule 2202 AQIP Special Reserve Fund for future projects. Staff recommends that the Board allocate $92,292 from the Rule 2202 AQIP Special Reserve Fund to assist in the purchase of up to six alternative fueled passenger vans for taxicab services and authorize the Executive Officer to approve (up to $15,382 per vehicle) disbursement of these funds in a same manner as prior Rule 2202 AQIP funding requests for taxicab services.

Lastly, staff believes that with the discontinuation of future model year natural gas powered passenger and cargo vans, it would be of benefit for the AQMD to purchase one natural gas passenger van to add to its vanpool fleet. The newest passenger van currently in the AQMD fleet was last purchased in 1991 with about 166,000 miles and the oldest van in the fleet was purchased in 1985. Staff recommends that the Board approve the purchase of one Ford E350 natural gas fueled passenger van from Wondries Ford at a cost not to exceed $35,000. Sufficient funds are available for this acquisition from the District General FY 2004-05 Budget, Capital Outlays Major Object, Item No. 1.

Air Quality Benefits

As discussed in the Proposal Section, the operation of the natural gas cargo vans will provide addition emission reductions compared to the operation of gasoline powered versions of these vans. Staff will be deploying the two cargo vans at various locations throughout the South Coast Air Basin for the special study. In addition, the purchase of an additional natural gas passenger van for the AQMD fleet will allow the AQMD to retire one of its oldest passenger van in the fleet.

Resource Impact

Total funding for the purchase of the two natural gas powered cargo van shall not exceed $60,000. Specific purchase price is based on the price quote of $26,845 plus sales tax from Wondries Ford. Staff is proposing a slightly higher amount to cover any incidents associated with the delivery of the vans. Funding for the purchase of the two cargo vans is provided in the contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. The Board approved an allocation of $80,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense into the Science and Technology Advancement FY 2004-05 Budget at its June 2004 meeting.

Total funding for the purchase of one natural gas passenger van from Wondries Ford shall not exceed $35,000. The specific purchase price is based on the price quote of $31,375 plus sales tax from Wondries Ford. Staff is proposing a slightly higher amount to cover any incidents associated with the delivery of the vans. Sufficient funds are available in the FY 2004-05 District General Fund Budget, Capital Outlays Major Object, Item No. 1 – Unbudgeted Capital Outlay for this purchase request.

Funding in an amount not to exceed $92,292 is available from the Rule 2202 AQIP Special Reserve Fund to assist in the purchase of up to six alternative fueled passenger vans (up to $15,382 per vehicle) for taxicab services.

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