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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: February 2, 2021 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 6-a <br /> SUBJECT: Community Climate Action Grant - Project Selection for FY20-21 <br /> DEPARTMENT: Asset Management Services <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Project Descriptions, Scoring, and Brennan Bouma, (919) 245-2626 <br /> Comments Steven Arndt, (919) 245-2658 <br /> 2. Powerpoint Presentation <br /> PURPOSE: To: <br /> • receive the grant project funding recommendations of the Human Relations Commission <br /> and the Commission for the Environment for the FY20-21 Orange County Community <br /> Climate Action Grant Program; and <br /> • approve funding for the recommended Community Climate Action Grant projects for FY20- <br /> 21 as outlined in the attached report. <br /> BACKGROUND: As part of the FY20 budget, the Board of Orange County Commissioners <br /> (BOCC) created the Orange County Climate Action Fund dedicated to accelerating climate <br /> change mitigation actions in Orange County. This decision was motivated in part to help the <br /> County meet the climate change mitigation goals set by the Board in recent years: <br /> • Reduce greenhouse gas emissions community-wide by 26 percent by 2025 (from 2005 <br /> levels). <br /> • Transition to a 100% renewable energy based economy by 2050. <br /> The first round of Climate Action Fund projects was proposed by the Commission for the <br /> Environment last year and approved by the Board of Commissioners. These include funding for <br /> solar projects for each of the school districts, a LED lighting campaign for lower-income residents, <br /> and additional funding to weatherize and preserve affordable housing. <br /> For the 2020-21 funding cycle, $478,657 in funding was budgeted to support climate action <br /> projects that will benefit Orange County residents both socially and financially. Following the <br /> direction of the Board of Commissioners, the process for soliciting and selecting projects to <br /> receive funding was conducted through a formal grant program. <br /> The scoring and eligibility guidelines were created by the BOCC and developed the remaining <br /> application elements borrowing from the successful model of the Outside Agency funding process. <br /> The application period for this first round of grants opened on September 18, 2020 and closed on <br /> November 9, 2020. <br />