California Air Resources Board

New (7/18/22): Solicitation reopened through 5:00 p.m. on August 5, 2022 for projects that did not receive more than one pre-proposal.

The California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Sustainable Transportation and Communities Division has identified priority projects for which it is seeking brief pre-proposals from California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) academics. These projects will fill important data, information, and research gaps to support the division’s programs related to sustainable transportation, land use, housing, and buildings.

CARB is committed to increasing the equitable impact of our efforts agency-wide, and as such, this solicitation contains several projects that will explore, address, and embody racial equity components. Additionally, CARB is posting this solicitation on the Empower Innovation website to increase awareness of this funding opportunity as well as to facilitate partnerships between university investigators and new partners. The goal of increasing the equity elements of projects, awareness of project opportunities, and diverse collaboration between academics of various backgrounds is to achieve equitable and healthy sustainable transportation and community strategies that meet California’s climate goals.

See answers to Frequently Asked Questions. (Last updated: 7/7/2022)

List of Projects

1. Assessment Report and Development of Resources: Local Government Zero-Emission Vehicle Multi-Modal Ecosystem| up to $300,000 | Detailed Statement of Work | Project Page on Empower Innovation
2. California Climate Investments Climate Risk Assessment| up to $300,000 | Detailed Statement of Work | Project Page on Empower Innovation
3. Potential State Roles in Expanding Transfer of Development Rights as a Tool for Greenhouse Gas Reduction| up to $525,000 | Detailed Statement of Work | Project Page on Empower Innovation
4. Sustainable Transportation and Communities Research Engagement | up to $200,000 | Detailed Statement of Work | Project Page on Empower Innovation
5. Equitable Building Decarbonization: Implementation Approaches| up to $450,000 | Detailed Statement of Work | Project Page on Empower Innovation
6. California Housing and Transportation Costs: Impacts and Implications| up to $500,000 | Detailed Statement of Work | Project Page on Empower Innovation
7. Assessing the Quantification Methodology for the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program| up to $175,000 | Detailed Statement of Work | Project Page on Empower Innovation

Solicitation Details

Application Process

NEW: Solicitation reopened through August 5, 2022.

If your team is interested in conducting any of these projects, please submit a pre-proposal by email to stcdivision@arb.ca.gov by 5 p.m. on August 5, 2022.

Responses to this solicitation should follow the pre-proposal template attached to this page. The main elements of the pre-proposal shall include the following:

1. Technical pre-proposal: A description of your proposed approach for conducting the project. Limited to 5 pages. Tip: check scoring criteria and do not copy solicitation text. 
2. Preliminary budget: use the Budget Form found in pre-proposal the template. This does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal.
3. Relevant experience: A 1-page description of research that has been conducted or is currently underway by the applicant in areas related to this topic. It is preferable that this include funding source and amount of research funds. This does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal.
4. Curriculum vitae or statement of qualifications: please include for all key personnel who would be involved in the study. This does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal.
5. Cultural humility statement: Required for projects that include an equity component and/or community engagement (as noted in the project description). Limited to 2 pages. This does not count toward 5-page limit of pre-proposal.

Please carefully read the statement of work and scoring criteria information provided for each project to understand detailed requirements unique to each project.

These submissions will be used to gauge the extent of interest and available expertise within the UC and CSU systems. If a pre-proposal is selected for further development, the applicant will be notified no later than August 5, 2022. For selected investigators, an initial full proposal that meets CARB’s internal review requirements will be required by September 9, 2022. Funded projects are expected to begin in the late spring of 2023.

Please note that only UC or CSU researchers are eligible to respond to this solicitation. Proposers are highly encouraged to establish partnerships with other relevant entities. Generally, private subcontracting (i.e., any paid non-government partners including private universities, community-based organizations, nonprofit organizations, private companies, etc.) is limited to 25% of the total direct cost or $50,000, whichever is less. However, up to 50% of the project budget can be subcontracted if there is a strong justification for why the expertise within the subcontract is not currently available within the UC or CSU system. No subcontractor should receive more funding than the prime contractor. 

Relevant Dates

For projects in the re-opened solicitation:

• Aug 5, 2022 – Pre-proposals must be submitted by email tostcdivision@arb.ca.govby 5 p.m.
• August 12, 2022 – Winning applicants will be notified.
• September 9, 2022 – Full proposals due to CARB staff for review by 5 p.m.

For the following three projects, for which we received more than one preproposal by 7/13/22, the dates remain unchanged:

1. Development of Accessibility Metrics for Senate Bill 150 Program | up to $175,000 
2. Regional- and State-Led Strategies to Improve Local Implementation of Sustainable Communities Strategies | up to $300,000
3. State of the Zero-Emission Vehicle Secondary Market and Accessibility Impacts in California’s Underserved Communities | up to $500,000

• July 13, 2022 – Pre-proposals must be submitted by email tostcdivision@arb.ca.govby 5 p.m.
• August 3, 2022 – Winning applicants will be notified.
• September 9, 2022 – Full proposals due to CARB staff for review by 5 p.m.