Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO SEND A LETTER TO THE PORT OF LONG BEACH AND THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES URGING THEM TO CONSIDER MITIGATION OF PORT TRAFFIC-RELATED IMPACTS IN THE CITY OF CARSON WHEN DESIGNING THEIR GRANT PROGRAMS (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
Mayor Robles has requested this item for the Council to consider authorizing him to send a letter to both the Port of Los Angeles (“POLA”) and the Port of Long Beach (“POLB”) focused on Carson’s desire for the ports to provide grant opportunities that would benefit Carson, particularly in the area of traffic improvements, and to follow up with meetings with port officials. The letter points out that their grant programs never enable Carson to apply for anything meaningful to help address the impact on our streets caused by trucking businesses that service the ports.
Both ports have ambitious, multi-million dollar mitigation and/or community grant programs designed to mitigate some of the negative health- and environmental effects of their operations. The City’s grant consultant, California Consulting, has been watching the grant solicitations with respect to Carson’s associated eligibility but to date, has not been made aware of any new opportunities for Carson to benefit from this program in the area it needs most: repair of streets and road infrastructure due to heavy truck usage.
This staff report summarizes the grant applications and eligibility criteria for both programs.
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
DIRECT Staff to prepare a letter for the Mayor’s signature addressed to both the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, urging them to open up funding to affected municipalities in the area of street improvements and other traffic-related infrastructure.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
TAKE another appropriate action acceptable to the City Council.
IV. BACKGROUND
Both POLA and POLB have community grant programs that have periodic application rounds. Of these, POLB’s is much larger and more expansive, and gives money to the school district (mainly for air filtration systems), senior and health care groups, and for projects that reduce greenhouse gases. POLA is a smaller program, funded from port revenues, and is much more narrowly focused on tidelands and maritime issues, and its two adjacent communities, Wilmington and San Pedro. This staff report summarizes the grant applications and eligibility criteria for both programs.
Port of Long Beach (“POLB”)
The POLB Community Grants Program is an effort to lessen the Port of Long Beach’s impacts on the community. Over the next 12 to 15 years, POLB plans to invest $46.4 million toward community-based projects that reduce its impacts on air quality, traffic, noise, and water quality. The map of the eligible area shows most of Carson as eligible to apply for these grants, and the far eastern portion of the city as in the Priority Area.
More information on the Port Community Grants Program is on the POLB website at: http://polb.com/environment/grants/default.asp <https://imsva91-ctp.trendmicro.com:443/wis/clicktime/v1/query?url=http%3a%2f%2fpolb.com%2fenvironment%2fgrants%2fdefault.asp&umid=B497AE5E-8C3D-4105-8E17-051FACF7529C&auth=00e18db2b3f9ca3ba6337946518e0b003516e16e-4ee17ecd844285050b2a98d14e07283983466c1e>
The investment adds to the $17.4 million POLB has awarded to community groups since 2009, for a total of almost $65 million. All of the $17.4 million in funds previously awarded have been in three categories: Schools and Related Sites, Health Care and Senior Facilities, and Greenhouse Gases Emission Reduction.
The Community Grants Program invests in community projects outside the Harbor District to minimize port impacts related to air, noise, water and traffic. Launched in 2009, the Grants Program funds projects, such as air filters in schools, asthma education programs, solar installations and new parks. There are three funding programs: Community Health, Community Infrastructure, and Facility Improvements. The Port has set aside more than $65 million, making it the largest voluntary port mitigation program in the country.
The Community Infrastructure Program funding is awarded to capital projects that reduce port-related impacts on air quality, noise, traffic and water quality, and these categories do not include street repair. The grant guidelines describe the eligibility requirements for projects receiving funds under the Community Infrastructure Program:
4.1. Eligible Projects. The following project types are eligible for funding under the Community Infrastructure Program.
(a) Parks and Open Space
(b) Bicycle and Pedestrian Infrastructure
(c) Water Quality and Stormwater
(d) Soundwalls and Noise Barriers.
All of these are interesting categories but none of them fix streets damaged due to heavy truck usage. Also, this category was not funded in the 2017 application round.
Port of Los Angeles (“POLA”)
COMMUNITY INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM
The Port of Los Angeles Community Investment Grant Program (Program) creates a funding opportunity for small to large community events, programs and projects that benefit the Port community and promote the goals of the Los Angeles Harbor Department (Harbor Department). It is the Harbor Department’s goal to partner with organizations having similar interests and goals and to create mutual-support relationships.
FUNDING
The Community Investment Grant Program funds come from the Harbor Department’s annual budget - self-supported entirely from shipping and lease revenues rather than tax-payers. The overall program funds, as well as its component categories, will vary each fiscal year. There is no guarantee that funds allocated in any one fiscal year will be the same as another - either for the overall program, component categories or successful applicants. Grant applicants must reapply each fiscal year. For Fiscal Year 2019-20, it is anticipated that $1,000,000 in total grant funding will be awarded.
TIDELANDS NEXUS
All Community Grants are made from the Harbor Department’s Harbor Revenue Fund. As such, grant proposals must be Tidelands Public Trust-compliant and clearly show a nexus and benefit between the proposed project/program/event and the Harbor Department/Tidelands Public Trust in the “NEXUS STATEMENT” section of the grant application. If an application has elements that are not consistent with the Tidelands Trust, those elements will not be eligible for funding. These activities are compliant with the Tidelands Public Trust Doctrine:
• Navigation of the Waters
• Maritime Commerce
• Fishing
• Marine Environment Ecological Preservation
• Marine-related Scientific Study
• Water-Related Recreation
• Visitor-Serving Waterfront Activities
PROGRAM GOALS
The NEXUS STATEMENT in the grant application must demonstrate how your proposed project/program/event supports the goals of the Port Community Investment Grant program, which include:
• Promote the LA Waterfront in San Pedro and Wilmington, as active visitor destinations for the benefit of the State of California
• Promote the Port of Los Angeles and the maritime commerce and Port-related jobs it generates
• Address impacts of the Port of Los Angeles and maritime operations on surrounding communities, including health, aesthetic and environmental impacts
• Promote and implement sustainable practices for preservation and conservation of natural resources in the Port environment including renewable energy, water, air, wildlife & biological resources at the Port
• Provide education, training and/or workforce development in the areas of:
o Shipping, fisheries, international trade and maritime industry
o Marine-related sciences and technology
o Port and maritime history
o Port and marine-related safety and emergency management
A letter from the City of Carson would urge the administrators and trustees of both programs to consider traffic impacts - beyond greenhouse gas reduction - to be an eligible category of funding under the programs.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Draft Letter to Ports Requesting Funding
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Prepared by: John S. Raymond, Assistant City Manager