Title
Apply for Environmental Protection Agency Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Grant: Track I & II Opportunities for Federal Fiscal Year 2022-23 - Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funding (Ordinance S-51531) - Districts 2 & 7
Description
Request to authorize the City Manager, or his designee, to apply for, accept and, if awarded, enter into agreement(s) for disbursement of federal funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2022-23 Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling (SWIFR) grant opportunity. If awarded, grant funding will be used to upgrade the North Gateway Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) and construct utility infrastructure at the Resource Innovation Campus (RIC). Further request to authorize the City Treasurer to accept, and the City Controller to disburse, all funds related to this item. Funding for these grant opportunities is available through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The total grant funds applied for will not exceed $10 million, and the City would have no local match.
Report
Summary
Background
The EPA allocated $275 million in funding from the BIL to implement building a circular economy, improve local post-consumer materials management, and make improvements to local waste management systems. The grant intends to further enable local governments to focus on strategies to establish, increase, expand or optimize improvements to increase diversion of waste materials from municipal landfills. The EPA SWIFR Track I will only be awarded to projects that specifically benefit disadvantaged communities, while Track II is for projects that benefit other areas and the broader community.
Project Scope - Track I Application
The RIC is the City’s regional circular economy hub, with approximately 40 acres of lease-ready land for innovators with market-ready technologies and manufacturing processes that reuse or repurpose waste materials. To support economic development projects at the RIC, water, sewer, and electrical connections are needed for the lease-ready land. Public Works Department (PWD) is requesting grant funding to construct utility infrastructure at the RIC. PWD is working to advance the City’s circular economy initiatives and waste diversion goals by implementing these projects with grant funding assistance. The total grant funds applied for in this application will not exceed $5 million.
Project Scope - Track II Application
The PWD oversees the North Gateway MRF, which processes and sorts recyclables from the City’s recycling program. The North Gateway MRF opened in 2006 and underwent minor upgrades in 2012 and again in 2019. As commodities and technology have changed over the past two decades, the North Gateway MRF is in need of additional improvements to increase its processing and sorting capabilities. PWD is requesting grant funding for equipment and infrastructure upgrades at the MRF. The total grant funds applied for in this application will not exceed $5 million.
Grant applications are due on December 20, 2024, with funding available in late 2025 for a grant period of three years.
Financial Impact
The estimated total cost for each project is $5 million, for a total of $10 million. The maximum federal participation rate is 100 percent, with no local match requirement. If awarded, the federal match for each project would not exceed $5 million, for a total of $10 million.
Potential grant funding received is available through the BIL, from the EPA through the FFY 2022-23 SWIFR grant opportunity.
Location
Track I Application
Resource Innovation Campus, 3060 S. 27th Avenue
Council District: 7
Track II Application
North Gateway Materials Recovery Facility, 30205 N. Black Canyon Highway
Council District: 2
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Public Works Department.