BOARD MEETING DATE: September 10, 2010
AGENDA NO. 15
PROPOSAL:
Approve Contract Award under On-Road Vehicles Program as part of FY 2009-10 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program
SYNOPSIS:
As part of the FY 2009-10 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program, the MSRC approved a new contract awarding funds for the purchase of up to five electric vehicles under their Heavy-Duty Alternative Fuel Engines for On-Road Vehicles Program. The MSRC seeks AQMD Board approval of this contract award.
COMMITTEE:
Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review, July 15, 2010, Recommended for Approval
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
Approve the award of a contract with Frito-Lay North America in an amount not to exceed $47,444 for the purchase of up to five electric vehicles under the Heavy-Duty Alternative Fuel Engines for On-Road Vehicles Program as part of the FY 2009-10 Work Program, as described in this letter;
Authorize MSRC the authority to adjust the contract award up to five percent, as necessary and previously granted in prior work programs; and
Authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute a new contract under the FY 2009-10 AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Work Program, as described above and within this letter.
Greg Winterbottom
Chair, MSRC
Background
In September 1990 Assembly Bill 2766 was signed into law (Health & Safety Code Sections 44220-44247) authorizing the imposition of an annual $4 motor vehicle registration fee to fund the implementation of programs exclusively to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles. AB 2766 provides that 30 percent of the annual $4 vehicle registration fee subvened to the AQMD be placed into an account to be allocated pursuant to a work program developed and adopted by the MSRC and approved by the Board.
As part of the FY 2009-10 Work Program, the MSRC released a $2.35 million Heavy-Duty Alternative Fuel Engines for On-Road Vehicles Program Announcement #PA2010-05. Eligible projects included the purchase or repower of heavy-duty on-road vehicles with alternative fuel engines certified by CARB at or below a 0.2 g/bhp-hr NOx emissions level. Maximum “per-engine” funding under the Program was capped at $35,000 for engines with displacements less than 10 liters, and $50,000 for engines with displacements of 10 liters or greater. The Program included a geographic minimum of $300,000 per county and funds would be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Applications received on the first day would be considered equal and funding would be pro-rated if first-day applications exceed the funding target. The application acceptance period commenced January 19, 2010 and closed February 9, 2010. Awards under the Program totaling $2,302,556 were already approved by the MSRC and AQMD on June 17 and July 9, 2010, respectively. At its July 15, 2010 meeting, the MSRC considered an additional request for funding; details are provided in the Proposals section.
Outreach
In accordance with AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure, a public notice advertising the Heavy-Duty Alternative Fuel Engines for On-Road Vehicles Program Announcement 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 Program Announcement 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 website (http://www.aqmd.gov). Information was also available on AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line (909) 396-2724. Further, the solicitation was posted on the MSRC’s website at http://www.cleantransportationfunding.org and electronic notifications were sent to those subscribing to this website’s notification service.
Proposal Evaluation and Panel Composition
Applications received in response to the Heavy-Duty Alternative Fuel Engines for On-Road Vehicles Program Announcement were evaluated by members of the MSRC’s Technical Advisory Committee (MSRC-TAC), a diverse group of individuals appointed by participating members as prescribed in the Health & Safety Code.
Proposals
As mentioned in the Background section, as an element of their FY 2009-10 Work Program, the MSRC released a $2.35 million Heavy-Duty Alternative Fuel Engines for On-Road Vehicles Program Announcement #PA2010-05. First-day funding requests totaled $8,180,069 for 227 vehicles; thus, the program was oversubscribed on the first day and pro-rating of funding awards was required. At their June 17, 2010 meeting, the MSRC approved awards totaling $2,302,556 to fund 21 applications.
At their June 17, 2010 meeting, the MSRC did not consider one application which had been submitted on the first day, from Frito-Lay North America, because the applicant’s Campaign Contribution Disclosure was not received in time. At the MSRC’s July 15, 2010 meeting, the Campaign Contribution Disclosure having been received and Frito-Lay having made no contributions to MSRC or AQMD Board members, the MSRC approved the award of a contract with Frito-Lay North America in an amount not to exceed $47,444 for the purchase of up to five electric vehicles. As with the previous awards under this Program, Frito-Lay would be offered the option to reduce the number of vehicles, but in no case would funding exceed the per-engine maximums specified in the Program Announcement.
At this time the MSRC requests the AQMD Board to approve the contract award under the FY 2009-10 Work Program as outlined above. The MSRC also requests the Board to authorize the AQMD Chairman of the Board the authority to execute the agreement. The MSRC further requests authority to adjust the funds allocated to the project described in this Board Letter by up to five percent of the project’s recommended funding. The Board has granted this authority to the MSRC for all past Work Programs.
Resource Impacts
The AQMD acts as fiscal administrator for the AB 2766 Discretionary Fund Program (Health & Safety Code Section 44243). Money received for this program is recorded in a special revenue fund (Fund 23) and the contract will be drawn from this fund. This contract will have no fiscal impact on the AQMD’s operational budget.