Thursday
May 17th
| Guidelines for $53M In Air Quality Grant Funds Announced |
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The South Coast Air Quality Management District has put out guidelines for groups submitting grant proposals for their slice of the $53 million the Coachella Valley will receive in funds to offset effects of the natural gas-fired Sentinel power plant. And to make sure all community groups have the information and help they need to put in their bids for the mitigation funds, the district will hold a special meeting for prospective grantees at 2 p.m. March 15 at UC Riverside's Palm Desert campus. The district board voted Feb. 3 that the full $53 million from the power plant, now under construction near Desert Hot Springs, will go to the valley. Sentinel's builder, Maryland- based Competitive Power Ventures, was required to pay the money to offset air pollution from the “peaker” plant, which will fire up to supplement Southern California Edison's power supplies at times of high usage. The money must be used for projects to improve air quality in the region. The deadline for proposals will be June 8. Riverside County Supervisor John J. Benoit, who is also on the AQMD board, announced the March session at Thursday's meeting of the Coachella Valley Association of Governments' Energy and Environmental Resources Committee in Palm Desert. The district will send staff specialists to the valley at least four times from March to May, for two days each, to help local groups work on their proposals, said Benoit, who was instrumental in pushing the board to commit the full $53 million to the valley. The district is still working on the schedule for the two-day “office hours,” said Tracy A. Goss, program manager, but they will likely be set for Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings. “That way, we can accommodate folks who work during the day,” he said. The Energy and Environmental Resources Committee on Thursday approved a recommendation that CVAG officials start work on a request for a major chunk of the money to fund a proposed cross-valley bicycle, pedestrian and electric vehicle parkway. The Whitewater Parkway, which would follow the Whitewater wash, would run from Desert Hot Springs to Coachella, and eventually to the Salton Sea. The Executive Committee also will have to give staff a go-ahead for the grant proposal at its Feb. 27 meeting, executive director Tom Kirk said. Exactly how much of the $53 million CVAG will ask for has yet to be determined, he said. A recent feasibility study put the estimated price tag for the pathway at $77 million, but Kirk said CVAG would also be able to use area transportation funds for the project. He estimated that combining the Sentinel and transportation funds could provide a total of $60 million for the parkway. But east valley groups have said at least part of the funds should go to projects directly benefiting their cities, such as paving dirt roads and replacing old school buses. |
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