City of Delano Climate Action Plan
TEA-21
Federal funding through the TEA‐21 (Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century) program is administered through the state and regional governments. The City of Delano is located in the jurisdiction of the regional Kern Council of Governments (Kern COG) agency. TEA‐21 funding would be administered through Kern COG. Most of the funding programs are transportation versus recreation oriented, with an emphasis on reducing auto trips and providing an intermodal connection. In most cases, TEA‐21 provides matching grants of 80 to 90 percent. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Community Partnerships
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Federal funding for local energy efficiency programs is available. Funding for energy efficiency has been provided to the California Department of Community Services and Development, which has dispersed funds locally to the Central Valley Opportunity Center. The Center provides free home weatherization and other energy assistance resources to low‐income and elderly citizens of Kern County. Programs include the Low‐Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP)2. Energy Efficiency Mortgages
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The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) offers an Energy Efficient Mortgage Loan program that assists current or future homeowners with lowering their utility bills. This would be accomplished by enabling homeowners to incorporate the cost of adding energy‐efficient improvements into their home mortgage. Energy efficient upgrades could be chosen that would allow owners to realize net monthly savings. The goal is to provide owners additional financing for energy efficiency upgrades at a discounted interest rate.
State
California Energy Efficiency Financing
For years, the California Energy Commission (CEC) has provided a loan program that supports local government energy retrofits and some new construction projects. Since 1979, more than $272 million has been allocated to more than 773 recipients, as of March 2012. The program provides low interest loans for feasibility studies and the installation of cost‐effective energy projects in schools, hospitals, and local government facilities. The loans are repaid out of the energy cost savings and the program will finance lighting, motors, drives and pumps, building insulation, heating and air conditioning modifications, street lights and traffic signal efficiency projects, and certain energy generation projects, including renewable energy projects and cogeneration. Loans can cover up to 100% of project costs and there is a maximum loan amount of $3 million.
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Strategic Growth Council
In September 2008, California Senate Bill 732 created the Strategic Growth Council, which is a cabinet level committee whose tasks include coordinating the activities of member state agencies to assist state and local entities in the planning of sustainable communities and meeting AB 32 goals, including coordination of Planning Grants and Urban Greening Grants. The Strategic Growth Council recognizes that local governments are perpetually in need of funding to develop and implement plans that mitigate GHG emissions and prepare communities for the impacts of climate change. The principal goal of the Planning Grants program is to fund the development and implementation of plans that lead to significant
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CVOC, http://www.cvoc.org/programs.html, web site accessed on May 6. 2013.
5. Monitoring and Implementation
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