To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Grant application to the Bay Area Air District from their Local Community Benefits Fund for Benicia and Surrounding Communities
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to apply for and accept, if awarded, a grant of up to $5 million from the Bay Area Air District Reinvesting Penalties for Air Improvement and Resilience grant program to perform with partner, a range of projects and programs benefiting designated eligible communities from Rodeo to Pittsburg.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Opportunity grant has a maximum award of $5,000,000. These funds will be allocated between the County and co-applicants as described in detail below. The allocation to the County is $750,000 and includes administrative costs, with the remaining funds allocated among partner agencies. No County matching funds are required.
BACKGROUND:
This grant application, if successful, will enable the County and partner agencies to make major investments in improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from residential buildings occupied by low and moderate income households throughout the region eligible for funding, which extends from Rodeo to Pittsburg. The application also includes training for local contactors seeking to provide home energy retrofit services and expand the County’s existing efforts to provide all-electric building retrofits to childcare facilities within the County. All these services further the goals of the County’s Climate Action and Adaption Plan.
The Bay Area Air District (Air District) adopted the Community Benefits Penalty Funds Policy to directly support communities disproportionately impacted by air pollution. Penalty funds and other funds from enforcement actions are administered through the Bay REPAIR (Reinvesting Penalties for Air Improvement and Resilience) program and are allocated to the Local Community Benefits Fund or the Regional Community Benefits Fund. The Local Community Benefits Fund reinvests back in the specific community affected by the air quality violations that led to the penalty. The Local Community Benefits Fund may also invest mitigation funds that are more limited in their scope. The Local Community Benefits Fund Program Goals are to:
• Reduce air pollution or mitigate its impacts, improve public health outcomes, and build economic resilience for a just transition away from the harmful effects of a fossil fuel-based economy.
• Advance integrated projects to holistically meet community needs.
• Strengthen community-led and collaborative solutions.
The Air District, in conjunction with the California Air Resources Board, fined Valero Refining Company for air quality violations in October 2024. The Local Community Benefits Fund for Benicia and surrounding communities has $60,011,061 in available funding. The Air District may revise this funding estimate to account for any accrued interest.
The Air District identified the City of Benicia, where the Valero refinery is located, as an eligible community. To identify additional eligible communities, the Air District conducted an analysis and developed an eligibility map that was informed by estimates of long-term air pollution exposure and community vulnerability:
• The analysis modeled Particulate Matter (PM) 2.5 contributions from the Valero refinery on an annual-average basis and weighted the results by population to create a proxy for overall refinery-related exposure. The Air District compared these population-weighted exposure levels in surrounding places with those in Benicia.
• The analysis also assessed community vulnerability using CalEnviroScreen, a statewide tool that combines pollution burden and population factors such as exposure to multiple pollutants, rates of asthma, and socioeconomic data.
• Finally, the analysis considered common-sense geographic and jurisdictional boundaries, terrain features, and transportation corridors to simplify eligibility criteria and ease implementation (for example, areas north of Highway 4).
Projects located in Benicia and the following surrounding communities are eligible for funding.
• Vallejo
• Rodeo
• Crockett
• Port Costa
• Martinez (areas north of Highway 4)
• Mountain View
• Vine Hill
• Pacheco
• Concord (areas north of Highway 4, and south of Highway 4 between I-680 and Highway 242)
• Clyde
• Bay Point
• Pittsburg
Awards from the Local Community Benefits Fund are divided into three grant types.
1. Seed Grants. Seed grants fund smaller projects led by non-profit organizations. These grants are open only to 501(c)(3) organizations, range in size from $100,000 - $200,000, and are for terms up to two years.
2. Opportunity Grants. Opportunity grants fund multi-stakeholder collaboration over one or more projects. The Lead Applicant must partner with at least one Co-Applicant. Grants range in size from $500,000 - $5 million and are for terms up to three years. At least 25% of grant funds must be directed to co-applicants.
3. Catalyst Grants. Catalyst grants fund multi-stakeholder collaboration over multiple projects. Grant size ranges between $10 million - $40 million and are for terms up to five years. Benicia is the only community eligible to apply for a Catalyst grant.
$5 Million Opportunity Grant Proposal
The proposed grant application will include the County as the Lead Applicant and four (4) Co-applicants and will request a total of $5 million over a three-year period. Any awarded funds will be spent only in the eligible communities outside of Benicia identified by the Air District (see list above). Below is a list of all the applicants, their proposed budgets and brief summary of each project proposed in the grant.
Lead Applicant: Contra Costa County - $750,000
Conservation and Development Department - $675,000
• $500,000 (10% of total grant) for Grant Management/Admin
• $175,000 for a no-cost all-electric buildings retrofit program for residential daycare facilities for homes similar to what is already planned to be implemented through Contra Costa County’s Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funding. The County is partnering with CoCoKids to implement this program and might seek a similar partner for projects in Solano County communities. The County will leverage its procurement process to expand the program.
Contra Costa County Health Department, Environmental Health - $75,000
• $75,000 for Air monitors/monitoring in Pittsburg / Bay Point Area(s)
Co-Applicant: ABAG / MTC - Bay Area Regional Energy Network - $2 Million
• $2 million to deliver a clean home retrofit program that layers Air District funding onto the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) existing EASE HOME Program (moderate income program, up to 120% of area median income). The retrofit program will focus on activities that fill gaps in current funding to create incentives for eligible EASE Home participants to install Heat Pump Hot Water heaters, HVAC Heat Pumps, cover additional remediation costs, as well as pilot the installation of solar and battery storage for some homes.
Co-Applicant: MCE - $1.225 or $1.25 Million
• $1 million to provide similar services to those provided by BayREN EASE Home Program through MCE’s low-income Home Energy Savings program (up to 80% of area median income).
• $225,000-$250,000 to provide eight (8) contractor training sessions to existing contractors prioritizing training to contractors for the deployment of heat pump water heaters and leverage MCE’s existing Green Workforce Pathways Program by procuring hands-on training equipment for heat pump water heating or other all-electric equipment to expand the support to other electrification trainings currently offered by MCE.
Co-Applicant: City of Vallejo - $500,000
• $500,000 to support targeted residential electrification (all-electric building conversions) and energy efficiency upgrades for low-to moderate-income households. The funding will serve as gap financing to complete projects that are otherwise stalled after existing incentives are applied, with a focus on disadvantaged communities. Anticipated measures include heat pump installations, electrical panel upgrades, and related home energy improvements that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve indoor air quality. On March 31, 2026, the City Council approved being a Co-Applicant with the County.
Co-Applicant: City of Pittsburg - $500,000
• $500,000 to deliver new EV charging equipment for required fleet vehicles in alignment with the City’s Fleet Electrification Plan and Sustainability Plan. The City Council adopted a resolution at their meeting on 4/20/26 authorizing the City to participate in the grant application with County.
The project scope and budget(s) for the County and all Co-applicants listed above may be modified, but will total $5 million or less, if the Air District’s technical assistance review team suggests changes to the grant proposal are needed to ensure a competitive grant application is submitted to the Air District.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
If the Board of Supervisors does not want to submit a grant application, the County would miss an opportunity to leverage Air District REPAIR funds for communities eligible for the Benicia and Surrounding Communities grant opportunity.