Memorandum
Date: September 14, 2021
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Douglas Gearhart, APCO
Subject: (Sitting as the Lake County Air Quality Management District Board of Directors) Authorize the APCO to sign and submit an application for Carl Moyer Program Year 23 funding and sign all other program documents.
Executive Summary: The Carl Moyer Memorial Air Quality Standards Attainment Program (CMP) was established in 1998 as a grant program to fund the incremental cost of cleaner-than-required heavy-duty engines. The program now includes the reduction of particulate matter (PM) emissions and reduction of reactive organic gases (ROG), and originally targeted the reduction of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions. The grant funding originates from fees on tire sales, car sales, and smog check fees.
The CMP has historically been, and continues to be, an overly paper heavy and legalistic process to implement and administer. Ongoing obligations to monitor the funding contracts could become a significant resource demand. Due to the extensive auditing and reporting requirements imposed by the ARB, District staff is reviewing projects as a pre-approval screening prior to requesting funds from the State. With changes in the program requirements several years ago, we are able to fund school bus projects and a few other project categories have been simplified and have potential for some projects to move forward that had previously been deemed not cost effective, as such we may request project funds earlier to minimize delays in project approvals.
Districts, such as the LCAQMD, with a population less than 1% of the state total population are eligible for a Matching Fund Waiver and program funding of up to $200,000. The present program guidelines state in part that the District submit a minute order or resolution authorizing the APCO to implement the program. The guidelines remain largely unchanged from the prior two years.
Presently the program remains complicated and has specific statewide guidelines. The ARB continues to require a contract for the individual grants and typically 5 to 7 years of follow up reporting. The guidelines have made qualifying for some projects difficult for both proponent and the District except school buses and a few other project categories.
The LCAQMD has received Sixteen previous grant awards. We currently have partial Year 21 and 22 funds. Year 21 and part of Year 22 funds are anticipated to be used for a school bus project. If we fail to timely apply for the grant funds or do not timely expend funds (within 2 years of disbursement and an additional 2 years to liquidate), the funds allocated to Lake County must be returned to the State and will be reallocated to other areas of the state.
If not budgeted, fill in the blanks below only:
Estimated Cost: ________ Amount Budgeted: ________ Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
Consistency with Vision 2028 (check all that apply): ☐ Not applicable
☐ Well-being of Residents ☐ Public Safety ☐ Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, Recovery
☒ Economic Development ☒ Infrastructure ☐ County Workforce
☐ Community Collaboration ☐ Business Process Efficiency ☐ Clear Lake
Recommended Action: That the Board of Directors authorize the APCO to sign and submit the application for Year 23 funding and program documents.