California: 2023 Clean Air Grants for Infrastructure

The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District is soliciting applications for the 2023 Clean Air Grants for Infrastructure.

Donor Name: Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District

State: California

County: Santa Barbara County (CA)

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 09/01/2023

Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $250,000

Details:

The Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District is providing grant funds to benefit public health by cost-effectively replacing old, high-polluting equipment with newer, cleaner equipment earlier than required by regulation or through normal attrition.

Grant funds are available to benefit public health for the installation of fueling or energy infrastructure to fuel or power covered sources. Eligible projects are those that are located in Santa Barbara County ad provide fuel or power to a covered source.

Successful projects will be eligible to receive a grant within a range from $10,000 to $250,000.
Infrastructure projects will be competitively ranked, and priority will be given to projects located within low-income and disadvantaged communities.
Infrastructure projects that are accessible to the general public are encouraged and may qualify for more funding.
The District has discretion on how grant funds are distributed.

Eligible Project Costs

Cost of design and engineering, (i.e., labor, site preparation, Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility, signage).
Cost of equipment (e.g., charging/fueling units, electrical parts, energy storage equipment, materials).
Cost of installation directly related to the construction of the station.
Overhead and profit expenses.
Meter/data loggers.
On-site power generation system that fuels or powers covered sources (i.e., solar and wind power generation equipment).
Federal, sales and other taxes.
Shipping and delivery costs.
Fees incurred pre-contract execution (i.e., permits, design, engineering, site preparation), license fees, environmental fees, commissioning fees (safety testing), and onsite required safety equipment.
Consulting fees associated with the preparation of Environmental Assessment, Environmental Impact Statement, Environmental Impact Report, or other California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents, etc.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible projects are those that are located in Santa Barbara County and provide fuel or power to a covered source. Criteria includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Electric Vehicle Battery Charging Station
- New, conversion of existing, and expansion to existing non-residential level 2 or higher battery charging stations, including but not limited to:
  - Public chargers – non-residential charging station that at a minimum must be accessible to the public daily during regular business hours.
  - Residential charging stations for multi-unit dwellings.
  - Workplace charging.
  - Fleet charging.
  - Direct current fast chargers along freeway roadway corridors.
  - Long-term charging at destination areas such as airports, hotels, schools, hospitals, shopping centers, etc.
Hydrogen Fueling Stations
- New, conversion of existing, and expansion to existing hydrogen fueling stations.
- Additional projects may be considered on a case-by-case basis. Public and private entities are eligible to apply unless otherwise stated. Out of County applicants are eligible to apply provided that the infrastructure is situated in Santa Barbara County.
- Projects must comply with all applicable federal, State, local laws and requirements including environmental laws, and State building, environmental and fire codes. Projects must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- Work must be performed by a licensed contractor.
- Publicly accessible stations must be accessible to the public 24 hours per day.
- EV charging stations installed at multi-unit dwellings must be accessible to all residents.
- Equipment and parts must be new. Remanufactured or refurbished equipment and parts are ineligible.
- Publicly accessible light-duty EV charging stations must use a valid and universally accepted charge connector protocol (e.g. Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), CHAdeMO).
- EV Chargers must be certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (e.g., Underwriter’s Laboratories, Intertek):
- EV charging and hydrogen fueling station equipment must have at least a one-year warranty.
- Publicly accessible stations are encouraged to be appropriately striped and equipped with signage identifying the parking space as an EV charging station or hydrogen fueling station.
- EV charging station projects must be reported to the Department of Energy Alternative Fuel Data Center.
- Hydrogen fueling station projects must be reported to the Station Online Status System (SOSS) maintained by the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Partnership.
- Emission reductions obtained through projects must not be required by any federal, state, or local regulation, memorandum of agreement/understanding with a regulatory agency, settlement agreement, mitigation requirement, or other legal mandate.
- No emission reductions generated shall be used as marketable emission reduction credits, or to offset any emission reduction obligation of any person or entity.
- Funded projects must not be used for credit under any federal or state emission averaging banking and trading program.
- Applicants are eligible to claim credits generated under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program.