Read Terry Scott below for details…
Benicia Exempted from Traditional Application Process in Major Win for City
By Terry Scott, Benicia City Councilmember, January 23, 2026
On January 14, The Bay Area Air District released revised guidelines for penalty fund grants after months of public hearings, discussions and significant personal lobbying efforts by Mayor Steve Young.
We’re very pleased to report the Air District has made significant modifications to its Local Community Benefits Fund Round 1 guidelines, creating special exemptions for Benicia in recognition of the extraordinary economic challenges facing the city following Valero’s refinery closure.
In these recently released Call for Project Guidelines, the Air District clearly states that “Valero Refining Company announced that it would close the Benicia refinery in 2026.” According to the Air District, “while the refinery closure will bring improvements in air quality, the sudden nature of the refinery closure will also create immediate adverse economic impacts, including job losses for refinery workers and loss of direct and indirect tax revenue for local government entities.”
“Due to the ongoing strain on Benicia’s community, civic, and organizational capacity resulting from the impending refinery closure, the Air District is making unprecedented exceptions for Catalyst Grant (up to $40 million) applications for Benicia.”
As a quick recap, The Local Community Benefits Fund Program Goals are to:
- Reduce air pollution or mitigate its impacts, improve public health outcomes, and build economic resilience for a just transition away from the harmful effects of afossil-fuel-based economy.
- Advance integrated projects to holistically meet community needs.
- Strengthen community-led and collaborative solutions.
This Call for Projects requests project proposals from eligible applicants in Benicia and surrounding communities.
There are in total three Grant Levels including Catalyst, Opportunity and Seed. As noted the City will be applying for the largest funding which is the Catalyst Grant; process and programs proposed for the Catalyst Grant will be vetted most likely by the community Sustainability commission and the ISO oversight commission.
There will be ample opportunity for local non-profits to apply for Opportunity Grants of between $500,000 and $5 million, or Seed Grants of between $100,000-$200,000. These two grants have easier application requirements and ca be made directly to the District. Applications currently have a May 1 deadline, but Mayor Steve Young has requested that the deadline be extended to June 1. ( links at bottom)
The Grants in further detail:
Seed Grant Size is $100-200,000. Grant term up to 2 years and is open to 501c3 Non-profit, no Co-applicants.
Opportunity Grant size is $500,000-$5 million and the grant term is up to 3 years. Lead applicants must partner with at least 1 Co-Applicant(s)
Catalyst Grant size is $10-$40 million. Grant term is up to 5 years. Exemption: no co-applicant required. This will be the City application .
In short, the Air District has exempted Benicia from the traditional Catalyst Grant application process and approval timelines—a major win for the city.
According to Appendix C of the revised Round 1 guidelines, the Air District has made the following key changes specifically for Benicia:
“Partnerships: The partnership requirements outlined in Section 4.1 of the grant guidelines have been waived. Co-applicants will not be required as an element for the Catalyst Grant in Benicia, though applications demonstrating diverse community support will be prioritized.
These guideline changes represent a significant acknowledgment by the Air District of the unique and severe economic impact the Valero refinery closure has had on Benicia. By modifying their rules dramatically in favor of the city, the Air District has created a streamlined pathway for Benicia to access critical funding resources during this unprecedented transition period.
The modifications demonstrate the District’s understanding that Benicia’s situation requires an exceptional response, removing bureaucratic barriers that could delay the city’s access to funds needed to address immediate economic challenges and begin building a sustainable post-refinery future.
Clearly these are not unrestricted funds and they cannot be spent on salary increases.. However, we believe these rule changes provide the City with a significantly more latitude in building a comprehensive grant request that covers some traditional and non-traditional General Fund expenditures to help fill the loss of Valero Tax revenues.
Given this new understanding of Benicia ‘s situation , Mayor Young and I do not feel we need to ask the community to bus over to Oakland on 1/28 to deliver public comment.
Links: Please copy and paste link or visit the Baaqmd website.
Updated overarching guidelines: https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/community-health/cio/documents/lcbf-r1-guidelines-pdf.pdf?rev=b30a07a3fa744577b5eaead937b8b3f4&sc_lang=en
Updated Call for Projects – Benicia: https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/community-health/cio/documents/lcbf-r1–call-for-projects-benicia-and-surrounding-communities-pdf.pdf?rev=71b421ce010c4888975991286c2283a3&sc_lang=en
Terry Scott
Benicia City Councilmember
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