To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: California Air Resources Board Planning and Capacity Building Grant Program
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to apply for and, should the application be successful, accept an amount not to exceed $500,000 from the Fiscal Year 2022-23 California Air Resources Board Planning and Capacity Building Grant program for the Byron Community Active Transportation Improvements Study.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None to the General Fund. Staff time for recommended activities is covered under existing budgets (50% Road Fund and 50% Measure J Fund). No local match is required.
BACKGROUND:
On August 7, 2023, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released final grant guidelines and a call for proposals for the 2022-23 Planning and Capacity Building Grant Program. The grant program will provide funding for local and regional planning activities that increase transportation equity and achieve a community’s vision, including but not limited to projects focused on clean mobility transportation planning, community transportation needs assessments, community capacity building, outreach, workforce training and development, ongoing technical assistance, and other critical community-led clean mobility investment needs. A grant requirement for government agencies that apply for funding as a “Lead Applicant” is to partner with at least one community-based organization to be a “Sub-Applicant” on the study. The maximum grant award is $500,000 and no local match is required.
The grant program application process consists of two steps: a “Concept Phase” and a “Full Application Phase.” The Concept Phase is where applicants submit a preliminary proposal to be evaluated by CARB for eligibility with grant guidelines and objectives. Applicants who meet minimum eligibility requirements will subsequently be invited to participate in the Full Application Phase, where they will submit a more comprehensive proposal for consideration for grant funding. Concept Phase applications were due by September 8, 2023, and Full Application Phase applications are due by November 3, 2023.
Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) staff identified one proposal to submit to the grant program, based on its perceived success relative to grant program objectives and recommendations identified in previous planning efforts. The proposal, titled the Byron Community Active Transportation Improvements Study, will evaluate the implementation of enhanced bike and pedestrian facilities, including sidewalks, crosswalks, and Class IV separated bike facilities, on the following roadways in the Byron area: 1) a segment of Byron Highway between State Route 4 and Camino Diablo and 2) Holway Drive and Main Street within Byron. These roadway segments are identified for future bicycle and pedestrian improvements in both the County's Active Transportation Plan and the Vision Zero Report. The total estimated cost to conduct the study is $500,000.
DCD staff submitted a preliminary proposal to CARB during the Concept Phase and was selected to participate in the Full Application Phase. As required by the grant program, during development of the proposal for the Concept Phase, DCD staff secured two community-based organizations that serve the Byron Area to be the Sub-Applicants for the proposed study:
1. Village Community Resource Center
2. Friends of Byron
In addition, Bike East Bay, another community-based organization, agreed to be a “Community Partner” on the proposed study.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
County staff will not apply for the Fiscal Year 2022-23 California Air Resources Board Planning and Capacity Building Grant program and forgo this potential funding opportunity.