Richmond seeks collaborators for Bay Area Air Quality Management District catalyst grant

At the Jan. 7 meeting of the Richard Price Collaborative stakeholder committee, Beatrice Guerrero, project lead for the City of Richmond, briefed partners on a Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) grant opportunity and asked for collaborative project proposals.

Guerrero said BAAQMD is offering three categories of funding—catalyst, opportunity, and seed grants—and that governments are eligible for the catalyst application, typically in the $10 million–$15 million range. She said final guidelines were not yet released and that the city is conducting outreach to assemble collaborative applications with nonprofit and community partners. "The city of Richmond is looking for collaboration with different organizations to apply for the catalyst grant," she said.

Staff provided a questionnaire and a QR code for partners to submit project descriptions and budget information. Guerrero set a Jan. 15 deadline for partners to return information so the city can schedule follow-up meetings to refine proposals. She encouraged organizations that prefer to apply independently to pursue other grant categories (seed or opportunity) if eligible.

Guerrero also noted the county and other nearby cities may apply separately and that Richmond wanted to capture funding that accrues from penalties affecting the local community. The committee offered to coordinate with partners and confirmed that nonprofits may submit multiple applications.

Next steps: partners who want to collaborate should complete the questionnaire and attend scheduled follow-ups; staff will begin assembling a collaborative catalyst application once partners submit required details.