BOARD MEETING DATE: June 6, 2008
AGENDA NO. 6

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Authorize the Chairman to execute a contract with the following for a total amount not to exceed $766,925 from the Rule 2202 AQIP Special Revenue Fund:

1. Clean Street to replace five diesel powered street sweepers with five CNG street sweepers in an amount not to exceed $250,000;
2. Nationwide Environmental Services to replace five diesel powered street sweepers with five CNG street sweepers in an amount not to exceed $250,000; and
3. Pacific Stihl to exchange up to 1,500 backpack leaf blowers in an amount not to exceed $266,925.
    

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

Rule 2202 Air Quality Investment Program (AQIP) allows affected employers to participate by electing to invest in an AQMD-administered restricted fund. Investment can be 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.

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 half of calendar year 2007 participation period ended on December 31, 2007 with 62 employers participating in the AQIP program. The total amount of AQIP funds received during this period was $510,018, which includes both annual and triennial participants. An additional amount of $154,315 is available from unused funds from the previous semi annual period. An amount of $443,350 is available from two projects declined (see Attachment 1, Table 4). At its April 2008 meeting, the Board approved the purchase of 750 additional cordless electric lawn mowers from Neuton Lawn Mower Company for an amount not to exceed $136,875. As such, an amount of $945,307 is available for funding (see Attachment 1, Table 5). Staff recommends that $766,925 of the available funding be used to purchase emission reductions to satisfy the target for the second semiannual period of 2007.

Proposal Evaluation

During the bidding process for the second semiannual period of 2007, six proposals were received requesting funds ranging from $400,000 to $1,647,000. Attachment 2 gives a summary of emission reduction targets and the emission reduction credit balance. Attachment 3 gives a summary of each proposal received and funds requested.

According to the February 1, 2008 revision of the RFP (2008-13), the proposals were divided into two different categories as listed in Attachment 4. This attachment provides an overall summary of the proposals by category, listing the proposals received, funds requested, total proposal costs, and emission reductions expected from each proposal. All proposals were reviewed and scored based on the information in the proposal as submitted to the AQMD. The proposals were scored according to the procedures described and ranked by total score as shown in Attachment 5.

Selection Criteria

The proposals were scored collectively by overall cost-effectiveness for a combination of VOC, NOx and CO emissions (with the most cost-effective proposal receiving a score of 100) and then divided into separate categories and ranked by total score within each specific category as provided in the RFP. The two top scoring proposals in the ‘On-Road Alternative Fuel Project’ category (Clean Street and Nationwide Environmental Services) were selected, in conjunction with the Leaf blower exchange project, to meet the targets of all three pollutants VOC, NOx and CO. Due to limited funding no projects were selected from the ‘Reg. XVI Project’ category.

The following proposals are recommended for approval (as detailed in Attachment 6):

Clean Street proposes to reduce emissions by replacing five old diesel street sweepers with new natural gas street sweepers. The cost-effectiveness of this proposal is $1.59 per pound. (Recommended for partial funding; tied for first place in its category.)

Nationwide Environmental Services proposes to reduce emissions by replacing five old diesel street sweepers with new natural gas street sweepers. The cost-effectiveness of this proposal is $1.59 per pound. (Recommended for partial funding; tied for first place in its category.)

Pacific Stihl proposes to reduce emissions by exchanging 1,500 Model BR 500 backpack leaf blowers at various sites as listed in their proposal.

Leaf Blower Exchange

At its February 1, 2008 meeting, the Board approved release of a Program Announcement (PA #2008-03) to solicit bids from potential manufacturers/suppliers of low-emission/low-noise backpack leaf blowers to provide between 1,000 and 1,500 new backpack leaf blowers at a discounted price to be used for the AQMD’s 2008 Leaf Blower Exchange Program. One bid (Pacific Stihl) was received by the specified deadline. This proposal meets all the requirements in the Program Announcement. The model offered and the terms of the project are identical to the proposal the Board approved for the 2007 Leaf Blower Exchange Program. The following table provides the specifications of the model offered by the contractor.

The primary goal of this project is to replace existing backpack blowers currently used by commercial landscapers/gardeners within the South Coast Air Basin with backpack blowers which have significantly reduced emission and noise levels. The Current CARB II emission standard is 72 grams of HC + NOx per kilowatt hour. The BR500 model has been certified by CARB at 19 grams of HC + NOx per kilowatt hour. The 19 gram per kilowatt hour exceeds CARB’s BLUE SKY criteria of 36 grams for product in its displacement category. The cost-effectiveness of this project $0.71 per pound. Because of its low emission levels and low noise level rating Model BR500 was used in the 2006 and 2007 Leaf Blower Exchange Programs. Staff recommends the Stihl BR500 model be used in the 2008 Leaf Blower Exchange Program.

Outreach

In accordance with AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure, a public notice advertising the RFP/RFQ and inviting bids was published in the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Sun, and Riverside County Press Enterprise newspapers to leverage the most cost-effective method of outreach to the entire South Coast Basin.

Additionally, potential bidders may have been notified utilizing AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors. Notice of the RFP/RFQ has been mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations, the State of California Contracts Register website, and placed on the Internet at AQMD’s Web site http://www.aqmd.gov. Information is also available on AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724.

Resource Impact

Total cost of expenditure for the proposed projects and implementation support shall not exceed $766,925 from the Rule 2202 Air Quality Investment Program Special Revenue Fund. The following table provides pricing information.

Attachments (doc 167KB)

1. AQIP Funding and Participation
2. Summary of Emission Reduction Targets and Credit Balances
3. Summary of AQIP Proposals Received
4. Summary of Proposals by Type
5. Summary of Proposal Ratings
6. Recommendation for Funding