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Agenda Item # 10

BOARD MEMORANDUM

FOR INFORMATION ONLY

The Transportation Fund for Clean Air (TFCA) program is a grant program that is funded by a $4 surcharge on motor vehicles registered in the Bay Area and is further divided into two fund sources: the Regional Fund and the County Program Manager Fund.

The Regional Fund Program consists of 60% of the revenue received by the $4 surcharge.  The funds are allocated directly by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). Public agencies within the jurisdiction of the BAAQMD apply directly to the BAAQMD for these funds.

The County Program Manager Fund is funded with the remaining 40% of the surcharge revenue collected within each respective county. Eligible public agencies apply through their congestion management agency and adhere to that county’s deadlines and application process. Attachment A is a list of eligible projects.

VTA, as the designated Congestion Management Agency for Santa Clara County, manages the BAAQMD’s TFCA County Program Manager Fund for Santa Clara County.

Project sponsors apply directly to VTA on an annual basis for funding through the Program Manager Fund. The applications are reviewed and scored by a committee comprised of VTA staff and members of the Capital Improvement Program Subcommittee or their designees. The VTA Board of Directors then reviews the scored project list and approves programming of the funds, subject to approval by the BAAQMD. Once approved, the project sponsors have two years to expend the funds allocated to their project.

Bicycle Expenditure Program and Competitive Pool

At its August 3, 2000 meeting, the VTA Board designated half of the annual TFCA 40% allocation to Tier 1 Bicycle Projects in the Countywide Bicycle Plan for a ten-year period.

On December 9, 2004, the VTA Board merged the Tier 1 and Tier 2 projects into a single Bicycle Expenditure Program (BEP) list and extended the TFCA 40% commitment until 2030. The remaining half of the funds is awarded to projects on a competitive basis.  The screening and scoring criteria are included in Attachment B.

Current Issues

Effective for the Fiscal Year 2006 funding cycle, the BAAQMD disallowed the combining of project cost effectiveness scores to determine an average cost effectiveness score for the County program.

The cost effectiveness score is determined by formulas and calculations provided by the BAAQMD and must be lower than $90,000 per ton of emissions reduced. The calculations take into consideration the type, cost and anticipated lifespan of project, as well a variety of types of emissions reduced.

Each project must now meet the cost effectiveness criteria to be eligible for the TFCA Funds. Historically, large-scale bicycle and pedestrian projects have not scored well in terms of cost effectiveness and per ton of vehicle emissions reduced, and VTA has relied upon the aggregate scoring to make these projects eligible for TFCA funds.

Due to this change, VTA and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), with the Alameda County CMA, engaged in a swap of TFCA funds for Congestion Mitigation Air Quality  (CMAQ) funds totaling $3.3 million for the next three fund cycles. This exchange of funds allows VTA to fund the projects on the BEP as directed by the VTA Board, and allows MTC to fund the increase in the BAAQMD’s Vehicle Buy Back Program as directed by MTC’s Regional Transportation Plan, Transportation 2030 (T2030).

BAAQMD Board of Directors

The BAAQMD Board of Directors is comprised of 22 members that represent the nine bay area counties within the BAAQMD. Each member of the BAAQMD Board must be an elected official in the county that they represent. The State of California Health and Safety code §40220 – 40221 determines the number of representatives from each county, using a formula based on the county’s population. Santa Clara County has four representatives on the BAAQMD Board. The four Santa Clara County representatives are appointed by the County Board of Supervisors and the County Cities Association City Selection Committee.

The County Board of Supervisors appoints two members. Theses members serve for a term of four years. There are no term limits, but the appointee must be an elected official throughout their tenure on the BAAQMD Board.

The City Selection Committee also appoints two members to the BAAQMD Board. However, the term for a City Selection Committee appointee is two years. As with members appointed by the County Board of Supervisors, there are no term limits, and the appointee must remain an elected official throughout their time on the BAAQMD Board. Any local official of a city can be nominated or submit their name to be voted upon for the BAAQMD Board appointment. Also, if the County Board of Supervisors is unable to fulfill its appointment of two members to the BAAQMD Board, they may request the City Selection Committee to forward names of those persons that are interested in being appointed to the BAAQMD Board via the City Selection Committee.

The BAAQMD Board appoints the members of the Hearing Board and the Advisory Council and populates seven standing committees that assist the BAAQMD in improving the air quality in the nine-county Bay Area. The seven standing committees are Budget/Finance, Executive, Legislative, Mobile Source, Stationary Source, Personnel and Public Outreach.

The following officials currently represent Santa Clara County on the BAAQMD Board of Directors:

• Mayor Erin Garner, City of Monte Sereno
• Supervisor Liz Kniss, County of Santa Clara, 5^th District
• Councilmember Patrick Kwok, City of Cupertino
• Mayor Julia Miller, City of Sunnyvale

ATTACHMENT A

From the FY 2006 TFCA Program Manager Fund

Expenditure Program Guidance Document

Eligible Project Types

The following project types are eligible for funding under the Program Manager Fund, as outlined in CA Public Health and Safety Code Sections 44241 and 44242:

• Implementation of low emission and zero-emission vehicle projects.¹
• Implementation of ridesharing programs.²
• The purchase or lease of clean fuel buses for school districts and transit operators.
• The provision of local feeder bus or shuttle service to rail and ferry stations and to airports.
• Implementation of local arterial traffic management, including but not limited to; signal timing, transit signal preemption, bus stop relocation and "smart streets."
• Implementation of rail-bus integration and regional transit information systems.
• Demonstration projects in telecommuting and in congestion pricing of highways, bridges, and public transit. No funds expended pursuant to this paragraph for telecommuting projects shall be used for the purchase of personal computing equipment for an individual’s home use.
• Implementation of bicycle facility improvement projects that are included in an adopted countywide bicycle plan or congestion management program.
• The design and construction by local public agencies of physical improvements that support development projects that achieve motor vehicle emission reductions. The projects and the physical improvements shall be identified in an approved area-specific plan, redevelopment plan, general plan, traffic-calming plan, or other similar plan (e.g., bicycle plan or pedestrian plan). Note: this category is usually referred to as the “smart growth” category.

¹ Low emission, alternative fuel vehicles with a gross vehicle weight greater than 10,000 lbs. are eligible for TFCA Program Manager Funds and/or the separate (TFCA-funded) Regional Fund. Incentives for vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 10,000 pounds or less are available via either the TFCA Program Manager Fund or the separate (TFCA-funded) Vehicle Incentive Program (VIP). See page 16 for additional information on these separate TFCA-funded programs.

² For purposes of TFCA Program Manager Fund applications, “ridesharing” means carpooling, vanpooling, or transit. Other trip reduction projects, consistent with the county’s adopted Congestion Management Program, are also eligible (e.g., police bicycle patrol projects). 

Attachment B

VTA FY 2006 Transportation Fund for Clean Air

Program Manager Fund (40%)

Project Evaluation Criteria – Screening & Scoring

General Screening Criteria

Projects should be consistent with BAAQMD’s Clean Air Plan (CAP) or the Bay Area 2001 Ozone Attainment Plan, and must be deliverable within 2 years of programming to receive funding. Applicants’ performance on previous projects will be reviewed.  Applicants for new types of projects must demonstrate that they applied for regional competitive TFCA funds and were denied, or that the project would not have been competitive for regional TFCA funds.

Eligible Project Types

The following are eligible project types for TFCA 40% funding:

• Implementation/support of voluntary trip reduction programs
• Purchase or lease of low-emission vehicles, including clean fuel buses for school districts and transit operators (See detailed eligibility)
• Clean air vehicle infrastructure to support fuel cell vehicles and natural gas vehicles. Infrastructure must be accessible to private, public and general public fleets to the extent feasible
• Heavy duty diesel engine repowers
• Provision of local feeder bus or shuttle service to rail and ferry stations and to airports
• Implementation/maintenance of local arterial traffic management (e.g. signal timing, transit signal preemption, bus stop relocation, smart streets)
• Implementation of rail-bus integration and regional transit information systems
• Implementation of demonstration projects in telecommuting and congestion pricing of highways, bridges, and public transit
• Implementation of bicycle facility improvement projects that are included in an adopted countywide bicycle plan or congestion management program
• Design and construction of physical improvements that support development projects and/or calm traffic to achieve motor vehicle emission reductions (The projects and the physical improvements shall be identified in an approved area-specific plan, redevelopment plan, general plan, or other similar plan.)
• Reducing Emissions from Existing Heavy-Duty Diesel Engines

Scoring Criteria

A scoring panel will be appointed from the CIP Subcommittee membership to assist staff with the scoring process.   The composition of the panel reflects the general composition of the Congestion Management Program’s (CMP) membership (one panelist from each CMP Member Agency grouping).  The panel will evaluate applications and make a recommendation for each project’s score.  The CIP Subcommittee will arbitrate scoring discrepancies before making a recommendation to the full TAC. 

Throughout the project review process, panel members will also consider each project’s potential for competing in the regional discretionary (60%) funding process.  The panel may recommend that certain projects compete in the 60% category.  This strategic approach will help to maximize Santa Clara County’s benefits from both portions of the Regional Fund for Clean Air.

Projects will score points in each of the categories below:

Cost Effectiveness (up to 15 points)

Projects will be scored up to 15 points based on their relative cost effectiveness (project cost per ton of emission reduction), as calculated using BAAQMD methodology.  Projects with a TFCA cost effectiveness calculation greater than $90,000 per ton are ineligible for funding. Projects that demonstrate an emissions increase cannot be considered further.  The project application will request the data necessary to calculate cost effectiveness.  A sliding scale will be used to award points.

Project Effectiveness (up to 40 points)

This criterion will help to evaluate projects based on the extent to which the project is effective in reducing congestion, and meeting other program goals.  Project sponsors are asked to provide a descriptive narrative that explains how the project will be implemented and the benefits that can be expected.  Areas that should be addressed in the narrative are:

• How and to what extent will the project reduce traffic congestion?
• How and to what extent will the project reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled?  Person trips?  Cold starts?
• Does the project address more than one eligible project category?  How?
• Who will benefit from the project and how widespread do you expect the benefits to be?  How many county residents will benefit from the project?  What specific communities/groups will benefit (i.e. business, employers, bicyclists, pedestrians, the elderly, commuters, etc.)?
• What other benefits does this project provide (for example, reduced road water runoff)?

Similar projects will be evaluated against one another first and ranked based on the information provided in the narrative.  Points will be awarded on a sliding scale based on the relative rank of each project overall.  Sponsors should provide any appropriate documentation to support their applications. 

Local Matching Funds   (up to 15 points)

Local matching funds are any non-TFCA funds, which work with TFCA 40% funds to leverage a larger project.

Multi-Agency/Public-Private Partnership (up to 10 points)

Points will be awarded to any project that is being implemented by two or more entities.  Participation can be either financial or in-kind.   Projects will be ranked on a sliding scale with the project that involves the highest level of multi-agency/public-private partnership cooperation receiving the maximum points.  Sponsors will be asked to provide details as to what coordinating efforts (multiple agency/public-private partnership) are involved in implementing the project and to define the specific role of each entity participating in the project.

Projects of Countywide Significance (up to 10 points)

Projects that have demonstrable countywide impact will receive up to 10 points based on the degree of countywide significance.  Again, a sliding scale will be used: 10 points will be awarded to the project that demonstrates the highest degree of countywide significance.

Mode Shift (up to 10 points)

Projects that provide for a shift from SOV modes to shared-ride or non-motorized modes will receive up to 10 points.  The degree of mode shift anticipated will determine the points awarded.

Total Possible Points = 100

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