Report 2019-127 Recommendation 3 Responses

Report 2019-127: San Diego County Air Pollution Control District: It Has Used Vehicle Registration Fees to Subsidize Its Permitting Process, Reducing the Amount of Funds Available to Address Air Pollution (Release Date: July 2020)

Recommendation #3 To: San Diego County Air Pollution Control District

To ensure that it is leveraging all funding opportunities to address the region's air quality, the San Diego Air District should periodically evaluate all available state and federal grants to reduce mobile emissions and notify the San Diego County Air Pollution Control Board (district board) if it decides not to pursue such programs.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2021

District staff has implemented a program to review all received program announcements for state and federal grants to reduce mobile emissions. Programs are evaluated for eligibility and timelines to determine if the District can pursue the available funding. Since March 2021, the staff has submitted applications for all reviewed programs for which the District is eligible, including Clean Cars 4 All. The District will notify the Board on an ongoing basis if there are programs available for which the District is eligible but does not pursue.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

The Air District implemented a process to evaluate and track available state and federal grants and to notify its District Board if the Air District is eligible to apply but determines it cannot pursue the funding.

1-Year Agency Response

The District continues to review grant opportunities as they arise. Currently the District is administering the CALeVIP, Moyer, FARMER, Community Air Protection, Goods Movement Emission Reduction, and Moyer Reserve programs. During the last six months the District has worked with the Portside Environmental Justice Community to set priorities for the Community Emissions Reduction Plan (CERP) projects and has distributed information about opportunities through the Volkswagen Settlement Program. The District has also selected contractors to provide filters and monitors for an Air Filtration Program for Portside Environmental Justice Communities, is in the selection process for a local business or non-profit to administer the program and is currently working with the Port District to sign an agreement for funding additional air filters and monitors. The District will communicate to the board which grants that were not pursued and the rationale for those by the end of 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken

The Air District's discussion of those grants it has pursued is not relevant to this recommendation. The issue described in our report was not related to those grants it pursued, but rather to its failure to pursue all available grants. As described in the recommendation, the Air District should perform an evaluation of all available state and federal grants, and notify the district board of those it chooses not to pursue.

6-Month Agency Response

The District continues to review grant opportunities as they arise. Currently the District is participating in the CALeVIP, Moyer, FARMER, Community Air Protection, NOx Remediation, Goods Movement Emission Reduction, and Moyer Reserve programs. During the last six months the

District was informed of an award from the Federal Diesel Emission Reduction Program for approximately $2 million to incentivize an electric tugboat in the Portside Environmental Justice community, and is supporting a project to bring an electric truck to the Port for demonstration of emerging technologies. The District has secured grant agreements with the State for Community Air Protection, Moyer, and FARMER programs for the coming fiscal year. The District also is working with stakeholders to support an application for the CEC/CARB Zero-Emission Drayage Truck and Infrastructure Pilot Project statewide solicitation. The District did participate in initial conversations regarding the State Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP) but was not able to find a project that met the program requirements for these planning and capacity building grants.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

The San Diego Air District did not indicate whether it informed the district board of its decision not to pursue the STEP grant program. Informing the board of these decisions is a key aspect of our recommendation.

60-Day Agency Response

The District continues to review grant opportunities as they arise. Currently the District is participating in the CALeVIP, Moyer, FARMER, Community Air Protection, NOx Remediation, Goods Movement Emission Reduction, and Moyer Reserve programs. During the last 60 days the District was informed of an award from the Federal Diesel Emission Reduction Program for approximately $2 million to incentivize an electric tugboat in the Portside Environmental Justice community, and is supporting a project to bring an electric truck to the Port for demonstration of emerging technologies. The District did participate in initial conversations regarding the State Sustainable Transportation Equity Project (STEP) but was not able to find a project that met the program requirements for these planning and capacity building grants.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

The San Diego Air District did not provide a timeframe to fully implement this recommendation. Further, it did not indicate whether it informed the district board of its decision not to pursue the grant program it describes. We look forward to reviewing its 6-month response in January 2021 to identify how it has progressed in implementing this recommendation.

All Recommendations in 2019-127

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.