Title
El Dorado County Air Quality Management District (AQMD) recommending the Board, acting as the AQMD Board of Directors:
1) Award the following school bus replacement projects:
a) Black Oak Mine Union School District for $293,400;
b) Buckeye Union School District for $140,000;
c) Mother Lode Union School District for $139,732;
d) Placerville Union School District for $133,556;
e) El Dorado Union High School District for $137,425; and
2) Authorize the Air Pollution Control Officer to execute agreements, related documents and any amendments to the funding agreements, contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management, which do not increase the funding amounts in excess of the awards.
FUNDING: AQMD AB923 Special Revenue Fund. (No Federal Funding)
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DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION
On May 4, 2016, the AQMD opened an application period by issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for El Dorado County public school districts to apply for FY2016/17 AB923 funds to replace old high polluting buses with new lower emission buses. The application period closed June 13, 2016. Twenty qualifying applications from nine school districts were received, requesting a total of $2,901,769. AQMD reviewed and ranked submitted applications (Attachment B) pursuant to 2008 Lower-Emission School Bus Program (LESBP) Guidelines. Buses that have already been repowered or retrofitted with emission control devices funded by previous AQMD grants were not considered for funding.
AQMD funding is limited to a maximum of $165,000 per bus and school districts are required to provided a minimum of $25,000 match per bus. In the FY2016/2017 AQMD Budget, the Board allocated $900,000 for school bus replacement projects. AQMD is recommending approval of funding for the following six school bus replacement projects (details provided in Attachment B):
(1) Black Oak Mine USD Bus #19 $146,700
(2) Buckeye USD Bus #15 $140,000
(3) Mother Lode USD Bus #6 $139,732
(4) Black Oak Mine USD Bus #20 $146,700
(5) Placerville USD Bus #43 $133,556
(6) El Dorado UHSD Bus #24 $137,425
Total: $844,114
Minimum expected total annual emission reductions will be: Reactive Organic Gases (ROG) 27lbs, nitrogen oxides (NOx) 619lbs, and particulate matter (PM2.5) 29lbs. These reductions are based on old bus emissions minus new bus emissions using the historic three-year annual average mileage of the old buses. This is a conservative estimate as the new buses will become the most heavily used buses in the school districts' fleets, resulting in greater emission reductions.
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
AB923 authorized air districts in ozone nonattainment areas to increase the DMV fees from four dollars per vehicle to six dollars. The legislation stipulates that the additional two dollar surcharge may be used by air districts for four different clean air categories, including the purchase of new school buses pursuant to the LESBP adopted by the state board. The AQMD Board approved the AB923 DMV fees increase on March 21, 2006 (Resolution #079-2006). The AB923 fund receives approximately $400,000 annually. To date AQMD has funded emissions control retrofits on 18 buses and replacements of 14 school buses at a total cost of $2,340,203.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board may decide to fund all, some, or none of the proposed diesel bus replacement applications.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
N/A
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Chief Administrative Office recommends approval of AQMD's recommendation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Funding for the proposed school bus replacements is included in the adopted Fiscal Year 2016/17 AQMD Budget and is provided by vehicle registration surcharge revenue. There is no change to Net County cost.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
Clerk to forward signed Minute Order to AQMD.
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Healthy Communities
CONTACT:
Dave Johnston, APCO