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 Richmond 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 $15 million from the Bay Area Air District Reinvesting Penalties for Air Improvement and Resilience grant program to perform with partners a range of projects and programs to benefit the North Richmond community.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Catalyst grant has a maximum award of $15,000,000. Funds will be allocated between the County and co-applicants as described in detail below. The allocation to the County is $2,827,021 and includes administrative costs, with the balance allocated among other partners. No County matching funds required.
BACKGROUND:
This grant application is largely modeled off the $19 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) community change grant the County was awarded during the Biden administration but which was effectively cancelled at the start of current Trump administration. The work invested by County staff and partner agencies to develop that grant has formed the foundation of this proposal.
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, has fined Chevron USA, Inc., for air quality violations. Additionally, Chevron committed to pay into a Community Air Quality Fund to mitigate the effects of potential particulate matter emissions in violation of Air District Rule 6-5. The Local Community Benefits Fund for Richmond and surrounding communities has $35,744.460 in available funding.
Communities eligible to participate in this grant opportunity are those located within the Path to Clean Air Community Emissions Reduction Plan area, which was designated through Assembly Bill 617. This area comprises a portion of the City of Richmond, San Pablo and several unincorporated areas in Contra Costa County including Bay View, East Richmond Heights, Rollingwood, Tara Hills, Montalvin Manor, North Richmond, El Sobrante and portions of Pinole.
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 - $15 million and are for terms up to five years.
$15 Million Catalyst Grant Proposal
The County is proposed to be the Lead Applicant for a Catalyst grant with a requested term of five years and a budget of approximately $15 million. Many of the partners in this grant application were part of the team that in late 2024 received a $19 million community change grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). That project was slated to commence in February 2025. However, before work could begin in January 2025, the USEPA suspended the community change grant program across the country and subsequently terminated the grant.
The application to the REPAIR program includes several of the community groups that were partners in the USEPA grant. Below is a list of all the applicants, their allocated budgets and brief summary of each project proposed. The total grant amount requested is $14,902,316.
Lead Applicant: Contra Costa County - $2,827,021
Conservation and Development Department (DCD) - $1,887,227
• $1,490,232 for grant management (10% of total grant amount)
• $200,000 to create a no-cost, all-electric buildings retrofit program for residential daycare facilities for homes in North Richmond, 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. This project will be led by DCD.
• $100,000 to support marketing and outreach of Bay Area Regional Network clean home retrofit project listed below.
• $96,999 to cover some indirect costs associated with implementation of the overall grant.
Contra Costa County Health Department (CCH) - $889,792
• This project is a bicycle education program for North Richmond and the Richmond surrounding communities grant area that will be led by the Contra Costa Health Community Wellness Program. This project will integrate education and health promotion that centers hands-on training, community engagement, and capacity-building strategies to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and decrease transportation-related emissions while empowering residents, especially youth, to safely access their neighborhoods.
Public Works Department (PWD)
• $50,000 for Public Works to install signage for The Watershed Project (Co-Applicant) listed below.
Co-Applicant: Urban Tilth - $6,489,568
• Complete construction and launch operations of the North Richmond Farm Community Resiliency Center (CRC), a community hub providing clean air refuge, emergency preparedness, preventative health access, food distribution, and environmental education for the residents of North Richmond.
• Lead community outreach, leadership development, and emergency preparedness programming throughout the grant term.
Co-Applicant: ABAG/MTC - Bay Area Regional Energy Network - $1,792,919
• Implement a clean home retrofit program that layers additional Air District funding onto the Bay Area Regional Energy Network (BayREN) EASE HOME Program (moderate income program, up to 120% of Area Median Income) focusing on activities that fill gaps in current funding to create incentives for eligible EASE Home participants in North Richmond to install Heat Pump Hot Water heaters, HVAC Heat Pumps, and some remediation costs, as well as pilot the installation of solar and battery storage for some homes.
Co-Applicant: Community Housing Development Corporation (CHDC) - $1,297,875
• Clean energy retrofit of Corinne Sain Senior Center in North Richmond
• Clean energy retrofit to install solar and battery storage on four (4) duplexes that were formerly part of the Las Deltas housing project in North Richmond.
Co-Applicant: Richmond LAND (RLAND) - $907,750
• Clean energy retrofits to install new all-electric appliances with solar and battery storage for (4) duplexes that were formerly part of the Las Deltas housing project in North Richmond.
Co-Applicant: The Watershed Project (TWP) - $1,587,183
• Plant and establish 120 large-canopy trees along 2 miles of priority sidewalks and the Wildcat Creek Trail;
• Revegetate riparian banks with 400 native plants and improve 1 mile of the Wildcat Creek Trail running alongside Verde K-8 School;
• Refresh and expand the Urban Nature Loop self-guided walking tour and Safe Routes to School wayfinding; and
• Operate a paid, locally-hired stewardship workforce through TWP's Green Collar Corps, Watershed Crew, Canopy Rangers, and Block Ambassadors.
Project scope(s) and budget(s) for the County and all Co-applicants listed above may be modified, but will total $15 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:
Should the Board not approve the grant application, the County would miss an opportunity to leverage Air District REPAIR funds for communities eligible for the Richmond and Surrounding Communities grant opportunity.