BOARD MEETING DATE: October 7, 2005
AGENDA NO. 3

Execute Contracts for Natural Gas Refueling Station Infrastructure

SYNOPSIS:

On June 3, 2005, the Board approved the release of an RFP to solicit proposals for natural gas refueling station infrastructure projects in the amount of $1,020,567. Eight proposals were received by the closing date. Staff believes that six of the eight new proposals deserve funding as two were for station upgrades and did not identify new load or additional fueling throughput. Staff recommends funding these six new proposals in the amount of $1,054,137, as well as four proposals held over from the previous solicitation of January 7, 2005 in the amount of $530,000. Staff proposes that $563,570 from the Clean Fuels Fund be used to augment the original budget of $1,020,567 to cover all ten recommended proposals for a total amount not to exceed $1,584,137 from the Clean Fuels Fund. In addition, staff recommends setting aside $500,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund to facilitate the development and expansion of the LNG refueling infrastructure.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, September 23, 2005, Recommended for Approval

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

1. Authorize the Chairman to execute contracts with the following entities in an amount not to exceed $1,584,137 from the Clean Fuels Fund.

a)	A contract with Lake Elsinore Unified School District, in an amount not to exceed $128,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access CNG fueling station.
b)	A contract with the Foothill Transit, in an amount not to exceed $250,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new CNG fueling station.
c)	A contract with Capistrano Unified School District, in an amount not to exceed $114,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access CNG fueling station.
d)	A contract with SunLine Transit Agency, in an amount not to exceed $90,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of upgrading their existing public access CNG fueling station including adding additional refueling capacity.
e)	A contract with City of Burbank, in an amount not to exceed $222,137 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access CNG fueling station.
f)	A contract with City of Commerce, in an amount not to exceed $250,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access LCNG fueling station.
g)	A contract with Menifee Unified School District, in an amount not to exceed $75,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access CNG fueling station.
h)	A contract with Newport-Mesa Unified School District, in an amount not to exceed $150,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access CNG fueling station.
i)	A contract with University of California – Los Angeles, in an amount not to exceed $140,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access CNG fueling station at an existing location.
j)	A contract with City of Pasadena, in an amount not to exceed $165,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund, to offset the costs of purchasing and installing a new public access CNG fueling station.

2. Set aside $500,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund to facilitate the development and expansion of LNG refueling infrastructure and direct staff to prepare, for November Board meeting consideration, an RFP to solicit projects that will provide additional assurances that LNG backup supply is available during periods of potential supply disruption.

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Continued expansion of the natural gas fueling infrastructure needs to occur in order to support increased public and private fleet alternative fueling needs and support future incentive program awards such as the Low Emissions School Bus Replacement Program and the Carl Moyer Program. On June 3, 2005, the Board awarded funding for the two proposals and approved the re-release of an RFP to solicit proposals for natural gas refueling station infrastructure projects in the amount of $1,020,567. This funding is designed to offset capital investment costs, resulting in conveniently located, publicly-accessible fueling stations. For this RFP, funding was only provided for natural gas fueling stations. Applications were accepted from either public agencies or private entities (i.e. state and local governments, automobile manufacturers, alternative fuel suppliers, manufacturers of natural gas related equipment, and end users of natural gas motor fuel).

Proposal to Fund June 2005 Solicitation

Eight proposals were received by July 8, 2005 (the closing date of the solicitation) totaling over $1.4 million in requested funding. Staff performed a review of each proposal and determined that that six of the eight new proposals met the minimum technical qualifications for funding. Two proposals were for existing station upgrades and did not identify new or additional fueling throughput and were deemed unresponsive to the solicitation. Staff recommends funding all six technically qualified new proposals in the amount of $1,054,137.

The level of required cost share is based upon the amount of grant funds requested (see Table 1 below) and the cost share is based upon cash expenditures, (i.e. land/lease, equipment, engineering, permits, installation, etc.). In-kind services are limited to 10 percent of the total proposed cost of the project.

Table 1. Cost-share request limitations

The general requirements of the RFP are identified below:

1)	Proposed project must be located within the jurisdictional boundaries of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
2)	Proposed project shall be a natural gas "fast-fill" station with public access.
3)	Project schedule shall be limited to an eighteen-month timeframe.
4)	Proposed project may request cost-share funds for capital investment costs only.
5)	Applicant will be contractually obligated to proposed station throughput.

As fully developed codes and standards for hydrogen fueling stations do not currently exist, the RFP did not require components to be currently hydrogen compatible; however, it provided for additional points to applicants committing to station designs and space consideration that could incorporate hydrogen compatible equipment for future transportation applications. Equipment modifications and retrofitting with hydrogen compatible plumbing, tubing, dispensers and compressors qualified for these additional points. Of the eight proposals received, seven made specific commitments for making the fueling infrastructure project hydrogen compatible in the future, including:

1)	The use of stainless steel compressors that, with modifications, are hydrogen capable.
2)	Use best engineering practices to design all electrical systems to be hydrogen compatible, specifically to NFPA 70 standards and cross reference these with NFPA 50A standards.
3)	Additional PVC conduit to house hydrogen plumbing/tubing made from Type 316 stainless steel will be installed.
4)	Space considerations will be incorporated into all station design for future hydrogen storage, dispensing and reforming equipment.

In an effort to streamline the proposal selection process and accelerate the timeliness for stations to be constructed and commence fueling operations, all eight proposals were evaluated by staff and those projects that were responsive to the solicitation and met the minimum technical standards were deemed qualified.

As mentioned above, eight proposals were received by the RFP deadline of July 8, 2005. In addition to the existing infrastructure network, most of these new projects are strategically located to help establish an infrastructure "backbone" that will allow for fueling of all types of natural gas vehicles throughout the region. Two of the proposals received are not recommended for funding as they were deemed un-responsive with respect to identifying additional fueling throughput for the upgraded stations.

Table 2. Projects proposed to be funded from June 2005 solicitation

Proposal to Fund January 2005 Solicitation

On January 7, 2005, the Board approved the release of an RFP to solicit proposals for natural gas refueling station infrastructure projects in the amount of $245,428. Seven proposals were received by the closing date. All seven proposals received were judged to be technically qualified; however there were only enough funds to fully fund two of the seven highest scoring proposals in the amount of $224,861. Staff also recommends that four proposals held over from the previous solicitation of January 7, 2005 be funded in the amount of $530,000 as the four were technically qualified but were not funded due to a shortfall at the time.

Table 3. Projects proposed to be funded from January 2005 solicitation

In summary, staff is requesting the Board’s approval to fund the ten proposals listed in Tables 2 and 3 above at a cost not to exceed $1,584,137.

Benefits to AQMD

The 2003 AQMP relies on the expedited implementation of advanced technologies and clean-burning fuels in Southern California to achieve air quality standards. By constructing more natural gas fueling facilities, benefits from this project will accrue to all cities and area residents. Such new construction will provide a coordinated effort, plan for growth of the overall infrastructure and enable the transition to future hydrogen refueling infrastructure. There are economies of scale from the extensive infrastructure being planned and installed, possibly reducing the cost and making alternative refueling stations more affordable. While having no direct impact on air emission reductions, new CNG and LCNG stations will help facilitate the introduction of low-emission, natural gas-fueled vehicles (NGVs) initially in private and public fleets in the area. Such increased penetration of NGVs will provide direct emissions reductions of NOx, VOC, CO, PM, and air toxic compounds throughout the Basin.

Outreach

In accordance with AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure, a public notice advertising the RFP/RFQ 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 may have been 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.

In addition to publication in the above-cited publications, over 100 individual RFP notices were mailed to interested businesses and individuals.

Bid Evaluation

Proposals received were evaluated by a technically qualified panel in accordance with criteria contained in the attached RFP. The evaluation panel consisted of an AQMD Fleet Rules Implementation Manager and a Program Supervisor; one Caucasian and one Asian/Pacific Islander; two male. Attachment B provides a summary of the proposals received ranked by the scores received from the evaluation panel.

In an effort to streamline the proposal selection process and accelerate the timeliness for stations to be constructed and commence fueling operations, all eight proposals were evaluated by staff and those projects that were responsive to the solicitation and met the minimum technical standards are being recommended for funding.

Eight proposals were received with a requested funding totaling $1,424,719. Of the eight proposals received, six were scored with a technical value above 56 points (the minimum score needed for further consideration). The remaining two proposals did not specify any new or additional fueling throughput and were not considered for funding.

LNG Refueling Infrastructure

Recently, there have been several disruptions in the production of LNG that have created security and supply concerns. Staff believes it prudent to analyze the sources of LNG supply relative to short- and long-term refueling demands and requests that the Board set aside $500,000 from the Clean Fuels Fund to facilitate the development and expansion of the LNG refueling infrastructure. A list of potential projects to address this matter is presented in Attachment A. Staff will develop an RFP to solicit projects to increase local capacity of LNG for transportation vehicles operating in the South Coast Air Basin. Staff will provide the RFP for the Board’s consideration at its November meeting.

Resource Impacts
 

1)	Funding of $1,020,567 was from the Clean Fuels Fund originally allocated by the Board. Staff proposes that $563,570 from the Clean Fuels Fund be used to augment the original budget of $1,020,567 to cover all ten recommended proposals. Funding, in an amount not to exceed $1,584,137, is proposed to fund ten proposals shown in Tables 2 and 3 above.
2)	Set aside $500,000 from the AQMD Technology Advancement Clean Fuels Fund (Fund 31) to facilitate the development and expansion of the LNG refueling infrastructure.

Attachment (EXE 60kb)

A - LNG Refueling Infrastructure Development and Expansion
B - Evaluation of Proposals RFP #P2004-09 Recommended for Awards

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