TCC Round 6 Pre-Proposal Feedback Overview
July 31, 2026
TCC Program Staff reviewed all submitted Pre-Proposals with the goal of assessing progress towards threshold requirements and highlighting areas of concern. By reviewing the feedback provided here, we hope you will be able to make an informed decision about whether you would like to continue with the Implementation Grant application process for Round 6.
TCC Program Staff evaluated all Pre-Proposals using the same system and format. Due to the high volume of Pre-Proposals, we have provided high-level feedback based on eligibility and will not be having follow up meetings with prospective applicants. All applicants are eligible to submit a final application regardless of how TCC Program Staff evaluated their Pre-Proposal. SGC received 49 Pre-Proposals and expects to make three Implementation Grant awards. • 15 Pre-Proposals rated as: Applicant seems on track to submit an eligible and competitive application with minor to moderate modifications/further work • 15 Pre-Proposals rated as: Application has uncertain eligibility and/or competitiveness; needs moderate to substantial modifications/further work to submit an eligible and completive application
• 19 Pre-Proposals rated as: Applicant does not seem on track to submit an eligible and competitive application and/or provided insufficient information to assess. SGC does not recommend this applicant applies.
Pre-Proposals were submitted from the following Lead Applicants:
Applicant Name Project Area Jurisdiction
Allensworth Progressive Association Allensworth, Tulare County Anchor of Hope International Ministries, Inc. City of Los Angeles Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria, Humbolt County
Black Cultural Zone Community Development
Corp
City of Oakland
Butte Environmental Council City of Chico, Butte County Chicken Ranch Rancheria Chicken Ranch Rancheria Tribal Lands, Tuolumne County
City of Anaheim City of Anaheim
City of Carson City of Carson
City of El Monte City of El Monte
City of Fontana City of Fontana
City of Indio City of Indio
City of Needles City of Needles
City of Oakland City of Oakland
City of Rancho Cordova City of Rancho Cordova
City of Riverside City of Riverside
City of Stockton City of Stockton
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights City of Los Angeles Community Partners City and County of Los Angeles
Contra Costa County Contra Costa County
County of Monterey County of Monterey
County of Riverside County of Riverside
County of San Diego County of San Diego
County of Santa Barbara County of Santa Barbara
County of Tulare County of Tulare
Discovery Science Center of Orange County Santa Ana, County of Orange East LA Community Corporation City of Los Angeles
Health Care Services San Joaquin County
Heber Public Utility District (Heber Greenbelt
Project)
Herber, Imperial County
Heber Public Utility District (Correll Park
Project)
Herber, Imperial County
Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles City of Los Angeles Karuk Tribe Housing Authority Karuk Tribe, Humbolt County La Familia Counseling Center, Inc. City of Sacramento
Los Angeles County Internal Services
Department
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles Unified School District City and County of Los Angeles Mariposa County Mariposa County
National Community Renaissance of California National City and County of San Bernardino Pit River Tribe Pit River Tribe, Modoc County
Placer County Kings Beach, Placer County
Porterville Unified School District City of Porterville Potter Valley Tribe Potter Valley Tribe, Mendocino County Sacramento Municipal Utility District City of Sacramento San Diego Housing Commission City of San Diego
SDSU Research Foundation City of Calexico
Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County Watsonville, Santa Cruz County Self Help Enterprises Tulare County
Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs SEE Los Angeles and Ventura County The County of Santa Clara County of Santa Clara and City of San Jose The Urban Collaborative Project City of San Diego
Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation Tolowa Dee-ni' Nation, Del Norte County
General Comments
For several questions, staff decided to provide general guidance to all applicants in response to trends we noticed across the pool of Pre-Proposals. Please review all portions of the “General Comments” section below in addition to the comments in the additional document that are unique to your application.
Note for Tribal Applicants
Tribal Modifications
Per Section 2 of the Round 6 Guidelines, Tribal applicants are able to request modifications to certain requirements on a case-by-case basis, including:
• Co-Applicant requirements and Collaborative Governance (Guidelines Section 3.2) • Project Area requirements (Guidelines Section 3.3)
• Protecting data sovereignty in application materials and reporting (Guidelines Section 7.2 and Section 11.6)
• Displacement Avoidance Plan requirements (Guidelines Section 7.4) • Workforce Development and Economic Opportunities Plan requirements (Guidelines Section 7.5)
• Indirect cost caps (Guidelines Section 8.1)
Because of this, some general comments may not be applicable to Tribal applicants. If you will need a modification to meet TCC requirements, ensure you understand the request process outlined here and submit any outstanding Tribal modification requests as soon as possible:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10hKzYLVuwdl1VkjbCJFMkD4Xx5pBdJr9/view?usp=sharing City/County Involvement
As a reminder, for Implementation Grants, if your Project Area includes any area that is outside of federally recognized Tribal boundaries, you must meet certain Project Area and collaborative governance requirements. Some Tribal applicants did not submit a Project Area map that allowed us to evaluate whether City/County support was needed, so we were not able to evaluate these requirements were met. Please review carefully and work with your Technical Assistance providers to confirm you have met the requirements.
• If your Project Area is entirely located in an unincorporated area, the relevant County government must be included as a Co-Applicant.
• If your Project Area is partially located within federally recognized Tribal boundaries and partially located in an unincorporated area, follow the requirements for "Project Areas that Cross Boundaries” on pages 23-24 of the TCC Guidelines. All public agencies who have jurisdiction over part of the Project Area but are not Lead Applicants or Co-Applicants (such as the relevant County government(s)) must submit Letters of Support. • If your Project Area is entirely located within federally recognized Tribal boundaries, you do not need any County involvement.
As a reminder, Tribal applicants may request modifications to one or more requirements of the Collaborative Governance Structure and/or Collaborative Governance Agreement and to Project Area requirements.
Eligibility
Please note that private shareholder corporations are not eligible Lead Applicants or Co- Applicants.
Implementation Grants must always include the relevant cities, counties, and/or Tribal governments as Co-Applicants.
Please consider if an Implementation Grant is the right fit for your community at time of application. Applicants can use supporting resources on our TCC website, including a comparison sheet, to learn about the different grant types. For example, a Project Development or Planning Grant may be the best fit if:
• The applicant won’t be able to meet all Application Requirements for all Projects by the application deadline
• The applicant won’t be able to meet all Pre-Development Requirements within the nine- month Pre-Development Phase
• The applicant won’t be able to implement all Projects during the four-year Implementation Phase
Project Area Requirements
Please review the Project Area eligibility requirements in the TCC Guidelines, Section 3.3. All of the Project Area must be either in disadvantaged communities or low-income communities.
The minimum required proportion of disadvantaged communities in each Project Area is 51%. The remainder of the Project Area must include areas with low-income communities or households, pursuant to Section 39713 of the Health and Safety Code.
Implementation Grants are subject to maximum size limits for Project Areas:
• Rural areas: Up to 15 continuous square miles. Applicants may request exceptions to this requirement. Requests will be approved on a case-by-case basis (Section 10.3) • Urban areas: Up to 5 continuous square miles
• Tribal applicants: Are exempt from size requirements. Tribal applicants may propose non- continuous Project Areas, provided they meet the requirements for non-continuous Project Areas listed on page 37 of the TCC Guidelines
As stated in the TCC Guidelines, SGC will consider geographic diversity during scoring.
Local Data
Applicants from unincorporated areas can establish eligibility by self-identifying as a disadvantaged unincorporated community and provide localized data that justifies that designation (see the Guidelines Section 3.3). Local data should demonstrate that the community has:
1. a pollution or environmental burden,
2. socioeconomic factors designating the community as disadvantaged (see Appendix A on the use of the term “disadvantaged”), and
3. sufficient density (at least one cluster of unincorporated parcels at a density threshold of 250 parcels per square mile, or at least 250 residents per the United States Census).
Data may be quantitative, qualitative, or both.
Strategies and Projects
The Pre-Proposal did not request enough detail to assess whether applicants meet the threshold requirement of having at least three Projects and three Strategies. At least one Project must directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All Projects must either directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions or contribute directly to meaningful public health benefits. Staff provided feedback to the best of our ability at this time. Please ensure that you meet these threshold requirements at the time of application.
If you are unsure which Strategy your Project falls under, review the eligible activities and costs of each Strategy type to determine the best fit. For example, in the case of a community garden or park enhancements, these could be under Strategy 7: Urban Greening, or Strategy 8: Health Equity and Well-Being.
Community-Serving Facilities
For Projects that include community-serving facilities, please review all requirements in the TCC Round 6 Guidelines including: Appendix A (Terms and Conditions), Appendix B (TCC-funded Projects by Strategy) and Draft Grant agreement, Exhibit C (Special Terms and Conditions) to ensure the sites being proposed are eligible. Improvements to community-serving facilities must serve community needs and any savings must be used to benefit Project Area residents. Prior to implementing any improvements, grantees will need to provide descriptions of the building ownership structure, what other tenants are in the building, who will benefit from the investments, how cost savings (such as from solar installations or water and energy efficiency upgrades) will be used, the public access to the building, and other relevant information.
Strategy 8: Community Resource Centers Project Type
This guidance applies to Projects listed under Strategy 8 (Health Equity and Well-Being) that are using the “Community Resource Centers that Provide Access to Social Programs and Services, including Capital Projects Associated with Permanent Physical Space” Project type:
Community Resource Centers must have community access as their primary use. Offices for community-serving organizations and permanent use for individual provision (such as medical offices) do not qualify as Community Resource Centers. Community Resource Centers must be open to the public by default. School facilities would only be eligible under this Project type if they have a primary (or at least co-equal) community-serving use that is broader than the school community.
Any Projects under this Strategy must enhance access or programs for community members.
Capacity
Keep in mind that the Lead Applicant should allocate at least two full-time staff members dedicated to managing the TCC grant. Co-Applicants should allocate sufficient capacity to grant administration and coordination depending on the size and complexity of the project.
Application Requirements
A proposal must meet all Application Requirements for each Project as identified in Appendix B of the TCC Guidelines at the time of application. Please ensure that each Project reviews the relevant Strategy and submits all Application Requirements. If all Application Requirements are not completed, the Project and/or the application will be ineligible.
Pre-Development Phase
As part of your application, a Pre-Development Phase work plan and budget is required for each Project, Plan, and Grantee Costs. The templates are in the Excel workbooks provided. The work plan and budget may have very minor changes during the Post-Award Consultation (PAC) Process and then will be implemented during the first nine months of the grant term (Section 6.7).
Also in the Pre-Development Phase detailed budget, applicants (both Lead Applicants and Co- Applicants) should include costs for staff and personnel time for grant administration during the 3- month administrative transition period (Months 9-12). The grant administration subtask on the Pre- Development Phase work plan is the only subtask that may go past Month 9, so that staff are compensated for their work engaging with TCC staff, executing the grant agreement and subagreements, and working with the Technical Assistance providers and Partners to prepare for the Implementation Phase. All Pre-Development Requirements must still be completed by Month 9, even though the budget should extend through Month 12.
Multiple Jurisdictions
A Project Area may include a combination of incorporated, unincorporated, and Tribal areas if all of the following criteria are met:
• Each area type meets its applicable eligibility requirements, including that at least 51% of each area type qualifies as disadvantaged
• Each area is represented (either a Co-Applicant or submitted a Letter of Support) by the appropriate public agency or Tribal government as the Lead Applicant or Co-Applicant (e.g., city, county, local agency, or Tribal government)
• Applicants demonstrate in their application that they have identified and are prepared to address coordination challenges associated with a multi-jurisdictional Project Area • If the Project Area crosses multiple jurisdictions, applicants must obtain a Letter of Support from a relevant public agency for each jurisdiction that is not a partner of the Collaborative Governance Agreement worksheet
• The Collaborative Governance Agreement worksheet must describe how relevant public agencies and Tribal governments will coordinate and implement the grant collectively Collaborative Governance Structure and Agreement
TCC applicants must establish a Collaborative Governance Structure meeting the requirements presented in Section 3.2 of the TCC Guidelines. In addition to the following requirements, Collaborative Governance Structures should include residents and community-nominated members such as community-based organizations. If there is a lack of appropriate community- based organizations in the Project Area, please ensure you are incorporating creative ways to ensure community engagement and oversight.
Please also note the requirement for a passed formal resolution by the time of application if the Lead Applicant is a public agency (Guidelines Section 3.1).
Prior Community Engagement
All Implementation Grant applications must be informed by robust prior community engagement, which is worth 20 points. This is separate from the Community Engagement Plan, which is a Transformative Plan (see below) that is carried out during the grant term. Prior Community Engagement should demonstrate key takeaways from the engagement and how the input expressed during engagement activities directly informed selection and design of Strategies and Projects.
Transformative Elements
Transformative Plans
Not enough information was solicited to determine if the Transformative Plans will meet threshold requirements. Please pay careful attention to the requirements for each Transformative Plan.
These unique, funded elements make up a core part of the program alongside the funded infrastructure projects. These plans must also have a dedicated budget, work plan, and Plan Lead and are just as critical as the chosen Strategies and Projects. Guidelines Section 7 and Appendix C provide more information on Transformative Plans.
Leverage Funding
Applicants should carefully review the leverage funding requirements presented in Section 7.7 of the Program Guidelines to ensure that your proposed sources of leverage funding are eligible under TCC Program requirements. Leverage funding does not need to be formally committed by the application due date.
Program Policy Priorities
Review Guidelines Section 10.19 for the application requirements for the TCC program policy priorities. The Pre-Proposal asked applicants to self-report if they meet certain policy priorities, but please note that the final application will require applicants to submit supporting documentation. • Consistency with Existing Local Land Use and Transportation Plans: Applicants must provide a letter signed by the local jurisdiction’s Planning and Public Works Departments, or equivalents, to verify that the application is consistent with all of the items listed above.
Additionally, this letter should certify that the Planning and Public Works Department will work with the applicant during the Pre-Development Phase to make sure the final application is still consistent.
• High Speed Rail Connectivity: Applicants must submit a map of existing and proposed multi-modal connectivity to the High-Speed Rail station area. If affordable and mixed- income housing is proposed, applicants must demonstrate on the map that it is connected and accessible to the High-Speed Rail station area. The Community Engagement Plan must also include tasks on supporting station area design and implementation. They must also answer narrative questions on how these elements will connect to the High-Speed Rail. • Water Supply and Wastewater Infrastructure, and Transit Connectivity: Applicants must answer narrative questions on the Project Area’s existing access to water supply and wastewater infrastructure and long-term operations and maintenance plans, or a developed plan to obtain and maintain water supply and wastewater infrastructure.
Applicants must also answer narrative questions on the existing or proposed transit connectivity to regional service hubs and major job centers. • Air Pollution Reduction and Mitigation: Applicants who are seeking these incentive points must answer narrative questions about their existing and proposed air pollution prevention and mitigation policies and programs.
• Prohousing Policies: Applicants must answer narrative questions regarding their Prohousing policies.