Agenda Item No: P.3
AGENDA REPORT
DATE: July 1, 2025
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: David Gassaway, City Manager
SUBJECT: Resolution 2025 -122 PW Low or No Emission Grant Program and Bus and Bus Facilities Competitive Program Grant Application
Authorizing the Submission of Grant Applications to the Federal Transit Administration 5339(c) Low or No Emission Grant Program and the 5339(b) Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities Competitive Grant Program
Funding Source: N/A
Contact: Melissa Minton, (707) 434-3804
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Adopt resolution.
STATEMENT OF ISSUE
The City of Fairfield is currently in the final phase of its design of the City of Fairfield’s Corporation Yard Transit Electrification Project (CPW080104). This resolution authorizes the city manager or designee to execute and submit a grant application to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) 5339(c) Low- or No-Emission Grant Program (Low-No Program) and 5339(b) Grants for Bus and Bus Facilities Program (Bus P rogram) for the expansion and rehabilitation of the maintenance facility at the City-owned Corporation Yard.
DISCUSSION
On May 14, 2025, the FTA released a joint Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the availability of up to $1.1 billion in competitiv e grants for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Low or No Emission Grant Program (Low-No Program) and approximately $398 million in competitive grants for the FY 2025 Bus Program . Under the Low-No Program, funds will be awarded competitively for the purchase or lease of buses that use low- or no-emission propulsion technologies, including equipment or facilities that support such technologies . Funds for the Bus Program will be awarded competitively to projects that replace, rehabilitate, purchase, or lease buses and related
equipment or bus -related facilities. FTA will accept applications under both programs and determine which one to fund the project with.
The City adopted FAST’s Alternative Fuels and Fleet Replacement Policy (Policy) on March 15, 2016, by Resolution 2016-61. The Policy outlines the City’s intent to meet the California Air Resource Board’s Innovative Clean Transit regulation requiring all public transit agencies to transition to a zero-emission fleet by 2040. The City hired Willdan Energy Solutions (Willdan) in April 2020 to model and provide a financial plan for the Project , which includes expanding the City’s maintenance facility by four vehicle bays and providing necessary improvements to the facility for the safe maintenance of the Cit y’s current fleet of diesel -hybrid buses a nd growing fleet of battery-electric buses (BEBs).
Modernization and expansion of the maintenance facility is imperative for City staff to maintain FAST’s current and future fleets, as the current facility ’s desig n does not allow for the maintenance of BEBs while preserving the safety of maintenance personnel and abiding by CalOSHA fall protection requirements and code-required egress route clearance.
With the City nearing completion of the design of the Project and award of $12 million from the FTA’s 5339(b) Bus and Bus Facilities Competitive Program in 2022 , the City is in an excellent position to compete for th is grant. Additional funding is needed to complete an expansion and modernization of the vehicle maintenance facility due to a combination of higher prices and the need to fund a temporary maintenance facility for BEBs while a new one is completed.
The City is requesting up to $2,006,000 from the FTA for this grant application. The City is planning to match approximately $1.5 million with Low Carbon Transit Operations Program and Local Transportation Development Act funds.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
If awarded this grant, the City anticipates that the FTA could provide up to 80% of the overall project costs to renovate and expand the current vehicle maintenance facility. The City would fund a 20% match requirement using State and Local Transportation funding. As the Low -No Program is a competitive grant program, the application award is subject to FTA approval.
All operating and capital expenses associated with FAST are supported with state and federal grant funds. No financial resources from the City’s General Fund are used for FAST expenses.
PUBLIC CONTACT/ADVISORY BODY RECOMMENDATION
N/A
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
The City Council may choose not to approve the submission for these grant applications.
COORDINATED WITH
N/A
STAFF CONTACT
Melissa Minton, Transportation Planner
(707) 434-3804
[email protected]
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 2: Proposed Resolution