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WRCOG updates Clean Cities projects; members request legal review of EV Guide car‑share liability
Summary
WRCOG outlined Clean Cities Coalition projects — federal cooperative agreement funding resumed, Green Zones deployment and a pilot EV car‑share operated by EV Guide — and the committee asked staff and counsel to return with research and MOU language clarifying liability exposure for member agencies.
Program Manager Taylor York briefed the Executive Committee on May 4 about regional clean‑transportation projects funded by federal and state grants. York said the U.S. Department of Energy cooperative agreement cycle has restarted; annual funding for the coalition rose from about $116,000 to $138,000. York described a Green Zones initiative (about $1.35 million; funds from the California Air Resources Board and California Energy Commission through SHIFT) that has deployed EVs and charging infrastructure for municipal fleets, and a Clean Mobility Options car‑share pilot ($1.8 million, CARB Clean Mobility Options Program) with EV Guide operating vehicles in Corona, Moreno Valley and Hemet.
York said EV Guide will own and operate the vehicles; WRCOG is performing community engagement and partnership development but will not operate the fleet. "The vehicles are owned and operated by EV Guide," York said, adding that grant funds flow to EV Guide to purchase vehicles and some grant dollars helped EV Guide secure insurance.
Committee member Bob Carwin pressed whether sponsoring agencies could nonetheless be named in lawsuits tied to collisions involving car‑share vehicles and asked whether indemnity or demurrer language protected public agencies from defense costs. Staff (Casey Daley) and legal counsel said agreements have undergone legal review and that the majority of funds flow directly to EV Guide; they added that grant dollars were used to help the operator obtain insurance. Staff agreed to conduct a statewide search for litigation naming EV Guide and to return with recommended MOU language clarifying the scope of any liability or indemnity protections.
The committee did not take formal action but requested follow‑up research and revised MOU verbiage for a future meeting.
