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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 />DocuSign Envelope ID: 74B52019-280F-41A8-B673-D36C5D62642B