Summary: At the April 27, 2023 City Selection Committee meeting, a member and alternate (proxy) member were appointed. However, ALUC proxies are selected by other means, not by this committee.

This item will be to: Appoint one member to the Airport Land Use Commission seat held by Raymond Remy, whose current term expired May 1, 2023. The new term will be effective immediately and will expire May 3, 2027. A proxy member will not be appointed.

Note: The City Selection Committee appoints two members representing the cities in the county. At minimum, one representative must be appointed from a city contiguous or adjacent to a public use airport (Public Utilities Code 21670(b)(1))

Action: Appoint one member to the Airport Land Use Commission seat held by Raymond Remy, whose current term expired May 1, 2023.

Summary: At the April 27, 2023, City Selection Committee meeting, Committee members agreed to return to this item at the next agenda.

This item will be to: Appoint one member to the Airport Land Use Commission seat held by Jon Bartel, whose current term expired May 1, 2023. The new term will be effective immediately and will expire May 3, 2027. A proxy member will not be appointed.

Note: The City Selection Committee appoints two members representing the cities in the county. At minimum, one representative must be appointed from a city contiguous or adjacent to a public use airport (Public Utilities Code 21670(b)(1))

Action: Appoint one member to the Airport Land Use Commission seat held by Jon Bartel, whose current term expired May 1, 2023.

(This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons desiring to address the City Selection Committee on any matter the committee has jurisdiction over which is not on this agenda).

All items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by COG staff and will be approved by one motion if no member of the Committee or public wishes to comment or ask questions.  If comment or discussion is desired by anyone, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered in the listed sequence with an opportunity for any member of the public to address the Committee concerning the item before action is taken.

Summary: Fresno COG is proposing a final 2023 Federal Transportation Improvement Program Amendment No. 2 (2023 FTIP Amendment No. 2) and 2022 Regional Transportation Plan Amendment No. 1 (2022 RTP Amendment No. 1) and the Corresponding Conformity Analysis. Associated documentation is attached.

• 2023 FTIP Amendment No. 2: Attachment 1 includes the 2023 FTIP Amendment No. 2, which is a near-term listing of capital improvement and operational expenditures utilizing federal and state monies for transportation projects in Fresno County during the next four years. The attachment also includes the corresponding updated FTIP financial plan.
• 2022 RTP Amendment No. 1: Attachment 2 includes a summary of programming changes to the 2022 RTP and corresponding financial table updates. Final Amendment No. 2 is necessary to reflect funding, open to traffic date, and scope changes to regionally significant, capacity increasing projects. The amendment changes are consistent with the design concept and scope or schedule of existing regionally significant projects, and does not change the time frame of the transportation plan.
• Conformity Requirements: Attachment 3 includes the Final 2023 Conformity Analysis, which supports a finding that the 2023 FTIP Amendment No. 2 and 2022 RTP Amendment No. 1 meet air quality conformity requirements for ozone and particulate matter. The Final Conformity Analysis also addresses upcoming conformity budgets in the SJV 2016 Moderate Area PM2.5 Plan for the 2012 PM2.5 standard and 2018 PM2.5 Plan addressing the 1997 PM2.5 and 2012 PM2.5 serious nonattainment area requirements, which are currently undergoing EPA review. Should EPA act on these additional SIP elements, this conformity analysis includes an “upcoming budget test” in case the new transportation conformity budgets become available.
• Public Involvement: Attachment 4 includes the public notice and adoption resolution.  Staff held a public hearing on May 2 to receive comments regarding 2023 FTIP Amendment No. 2, 2022 RTP Amendment No. 1 and the corresponding air quality conformity analysis. Comments received are being addressed at this time.

Action: Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend Fresno COG's Policy Board approve resolution 23-11, adopting the 2023 FTIP Amendment No. 2, 2022 RTP Amendment No. 1 and the corresponding air quality conformity analysis.

Summary: Fresno COG serves as the designated recipient of the large, urban fund in the Fresno County region for the Federal Transit Administration's Enhanced Mobility of Seniors & People with Disabilities program, Section 5310 grant funding.  The program makes federal resources available to improve mobility for seniors and individuals with disabilities by removing barriers to transportation service and expanding transportation mobility options.  In the Fresno County region, this is addressed through providers associated with the Consolidated Transportation Services Agency (CTSA). 

Staff is preparing to release the 2022-23 FTA Section 5310 grant application and scoring criteria for the Fresno/Clovis urbanized area.  Under the proposed timeline, applications will be due by July 21, 2023.

Action: Information.  The Board may provide additional direction at its discretion.

Summary: Preliminary Local Transportation Fund (LTF) estimates were released in February to provide member agencies information to facilitate their budget process for the upcoming year. The final estimates have been adjusted for the Department of Finance 2023 population numbers and are  presented for adoption.  The County Auditor/Controller estimates 2023-24 LTF at $57 million, which is a $5.1 million (10%) increase. 

Action:  Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt resolution 23-08 approving the 2023-24 Local Transportation Fund Estimate.     

Summary: Preliminary State Transit Assistance estimates were released in February to provide member agencies information to facilitate their budget process for the upcoming year. The final estimates have been adjusted for the Department of Finance 2023 population numbers and are presented for adoption.  The State Controller’s Office estimates for  the 2023-24 apportionment has been revised down from the February estimate to $14,252,999, which is a $2,978,885 (26%) increase from last year.  

Recommendation:  Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt resolution 23-09 approving the 2023-24 State Transit Assistance Fund Estimate.           

Summary: Preliminary Senate Bill 1 State of Good Repair (SGR) estimates are released in February to provide member agencies information to facilitate their budget process for the upcoming year. The final estimates have been adjusted for the Department of Finance 2023 population numbers and are presented for adoption.  The State Controller’s Office estimates for the 2023-24 apportionment have been revised down from the February estimate to $1,914,639, which is a $57,709 (3%) increase from last year.

Recommendation:  Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt resolution 23-10 approving the 2023-24 State Transit Assistance Fund Estimate.

Summary: The federal Inflation Reduction Act appropriated $5 billion to the Environmental Protection Agency  through the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants (CPRG) program to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions nationwide. There are two distinctive but related phases for the CPRG program:

Phase 1. Planning grants: EPA will award $250 million in non-competitive grants to states, municipalities, air pollution control districts, tribes and territories via formula. The planning grants will be used to develop climate action plans at various levels.

• $3 million will be awarded to each of the states for a total of $156 million
• $1 million to each of the 67 most populous metropolitan areas, for a total of $67 million
• $25 million to tribes and tribal consortia and $2 million to U.S. territories

The Fresno Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which covers the entire Fresno County region, is eligible for a $1 million over-the-counter planning grant. 

Phase 2. Implementation grants: EPA will award $4.6 billion in competitive grants to implement measures identified in the climate action plans developed under the planning grants. Entities covered by the plans developed under the planning grants will be eligible to apply. The implementation grants can be used to fund projects that reduce GHG and GHG co-pollutants (criteria pollutants and other toxic air pollutants). EPA will issue guidance on the implementation grants in the summer. Presumably, active transportation, transit and other projects that are eligible under the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality or Active Transportation Programs should be eligible to compete as well. Projects from other industries, electricity generation, commercial/residential construction, agriculture, waste management, municipal fleets, etc. are also eligible under the implementation grants.

Successfully completing phase I will unlock access to the $4.6 billion competitive grants for eligible entities.

In consultation with local partners, Fresno COG has provided EPA with a letter of intent to serve as the lead agency for the planning grant and develop a regional climate action plan. Fresno COG staff is working on developing a workplan, which is due to EPA by May 31. Funding is expected in summer 2023. Fresno COG will be convening regional partners, such as local governments, transit agencies, the Air District and other stakeholders during the plan development process. There will be robust public outreach as well as interagency coordination throughout the process. There are three main deliverables that are required for the planning grants:

1. Priority Climate Action Plan (Due March 1, 2024)

2. Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (Due summer-fall, 2025)

3. Status report (Due summer-fall, 2027)

Further information about the CPRG program is available at EPA's website at: https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/climate-pollution-reduction-grants#CPRGProgramGuidance.  

Staff will bring the Board project updates as needed. Please reach out to the lead staff Kristine Cai at kcai@fresnocog.org if there are any questions regarding this grant. 

Action: Authorize staff to submit an application for the Climate Reduction Pollution Grants program totaling $1 million. The Board may provide additional direction at its discretion.

Summary: On May 2, the Social Service Transit Advisory Committee (SSTAC) approved Fresno COG's Unmet Transit Needs (UTN) Assessment for fiscal year 2023-24.

On April 27, Fresno COG's Policy Board held its public hearing on the matter, drawing additional comments from two different people, one of whom has voiced her concerns earlier in the public feedback process.  Their comments have been added to the draft unmet transit needs report, included herein.

Public outreach is an essential part of the Unmet Transit Needs Assessment process. This year’s public outreach consisted of six in-person public meetings: three in the urban area, three in rural areas (Huron, Mendota, and Sanger), and two virtual events, each of which were broadcast on Facebook or YouTube.  Like last year, one of the urban in-person meetings took place on a Saturday to enable transit riders who could not attend an event during the week to participate.

Public outreach included flyers sent to the UTN mailing list and an online survey. The survey ran for most of February and all of March to receive comments from transit riders who could not attend any of the public meetings. The result was an extensive and meaningful public outreach process that incorporated both urban and rural communities.

The public outreach process -- largely driven by the online survey -- generated 110 comments, 22 of which were determined to be unmet transit needs, none of which were found to be reasonable to meet.  A summary of comments received includes:

• Several comments about service between outlying rural communities and the Fresno metropolitan area. 
• Feedback about FAX, Clovis, and FCRTA routes and service,
• Questions about FAX, Clovis, and FCRTA routes and service,
• Comments about transportation-related issues.

The comments received, transit agency response, and the determination of unmet transit need are contained within the draft Unmet Transit Needs Assessment for fiscal year 2023-24 included within this agenda item. This item will be returned for final determination in June.

Action: Information.  The Board may provide additional direction at its discretion.

All items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by COG staff and will be approved by one motion if no member of the Committee or public wishes to comment or ask questions.  If comment or discussion is desired by anyone, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered in the listed sequence with an opportunity for any member of the public to address the Committee concerning the item before action is taken.

Summary:  Fresno COG leases FresnoTrak, a web-based software from Ecointeractive to manage millions of dollars of federal aid construction projects in Fresno County.  FresnoTrak provides for online interactive coordination between member agency project sponsors and Fresno COG staff to ensure federal requirements are met.

Action:  Staff and TTC/PAC recommend that the Policy Board authorize the executive director to renew the Ecointeractive contract for an amount not to exceed $367,467 for fiscal years 2023/24 through 2027/28.

Summary: A round-up of recent grant opportunities for Fresno COG member agencies to consider:

Federal Highway Administration

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) released the first $848 million notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) for the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) Discretionary Grant Program authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The new program supports projects that strengthen surface transportation infrastructure and service to climate change and extreme weather events. FHWA will award separate planning and resilience grants, including three categories of resilience grants: Resilience Improvement Grants; Community Resilience and Evacuation Route Grants; and At-Risk Coastal Infrastructure Grants. Local governments and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) are directly eligible recipients. The deadline to submit an application is Aug. 18.

FHWA has also extended the application deadline for the 2022 and 2023 Charging and Fueling Discretionary Grant Program (CFI Program) until June 13, 2023. This program supports electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and alternative fueling infrastructure projects in publicly accessible locations.

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) making available $51 million for the Ride and Drive Electric Program. The program will support: electric vehicle (EV) charging resiliency planning, equitable business model development and workforce development for EV charging, expansion of capacity for validation testing and certification for AC Level 2 and DC fast chargers, and assessment of performance and reliability of DC fast charging stations. Local governmental entities are directly eligible. The deadline to submit concept papers is June 16, 2023 and the deadline to submit full applications is July 28, 2023.

Federal Aviation Administration

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a NOFO totaling $1.5 billion for fiscal year (FY) 2023 Airport Improvement Program (AIP) Discretionary Grants. The program supports capital improvements and rehabilitation projects at airports. The deadline to submit an application is July 14.

Environmental Protection Agency

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will award $7 billion in funding to 60 states, local governments, Tribal governments, and non-profit organizations through the Solar for All competition. The NOFO is expected in June. The program will support the expansion of existing low-income solar programs and the design and deployment of new programs, including residential rooftop and community solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, associated storage, and enabling upgrades.

EPA also opened submissions for the 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Grant Program. The new grant program will award up to $400 million to replace existing clean school buses with new clean and zero-emission (ZE) school buses. The agency will award grants to public school districts and Tribal applicants under the school district subprogram and to third parties under the third-party subprogram. Award sizes are dependent on bus fuel type, bus class size, and the prioritization status of the applicant as outlined in the NOFO. The application deadline is Aug. 22. The agency will also hold a first webinar for prospective applicants noon to 1 p.m. on May 10.

External Resources

The Local Infrastructure Hub (LIH) opened the registration period for its next Grant Application Bootcamp series beginning this June. The Bootcamps are available for communities with 150,000 or fewer residents to provide best practices for developing competitive federal grant applications. The next round of sessions will focus on programs available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (PL 117-58) and Inflation Reduction Act (PL 117-169), including the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) Program, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), Broadband Opportunities, the Neighborhood Access and Equity Grant Program, and the Bridge Investment Program (BIP). The registration deadline is May 31, 2023.

Upcoming US Department of Transportation Funding Opportunities

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has shared a calendar of upcoming notices.

May 2023:

• FTA Transit-Oriented Development Pilot Program

Spring 2023:

• OST Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant Opportunity: Mega, INFRA, and Rural
• OST Thriving Communities Program

Late Spring 2023:

• OST/FHWA Reconnecting Communities Program and Neighborhood Equity and Access Grant Program

Late Spring/Early Summer 2023:

• FAA Fueling Aviation’s Sustainable Transportation through Sustainable Aviation Fuels (FAST-SAF) and Technology (FAST-Tech) Programs

Summer 2023:

• FHWA Bridge Investment Program
• FRA Railroad Crossing Elimination Program

Fall 2023:

• FRA Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Grant Program
• OST Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation Grants Program
• FTA Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Program

Winter 2023-2024:

• FHWA National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration Grants

Action: Information. The Committee may provide additional direction at its discretion.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the Committee on items within its jurisdiction but not on this agenda.  Note:  Prior to action by the Committee on any item on this agenda, the public may comment on that item.  Unscheduled comments may be limited to three minutes.