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Appropriations Subcommittees Approve Nine of Swalwell's Ten Community Project Funding Requests, Totaling $11,525,000

July 13, 2021

WASHINGTON, DC — Nine of the ten Community Project Funding requests made by Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-15) for vital community projects in the East Bay have been granted by House Appropriations subcommittees, totaling $11,525,000.

"From safe and reliable drinking water to mental health services to housing the homeless, these projects will significantly improve the lives of 15th Congressional District residents," Swalwell said. "I'm pleased that the subcommittees agreed, and I look forward to continuing the fight to have this funding passed into law."

Under guidelines issued by the Appropriations Committee, each Representative was allowed to request funding for up to 10 projects in their community for fiscal year 2022. Projects were restricted to a limited number of federal funding streams, and only state and local governments and eligible non-profit entities are permitted to receive funding.

Appropriations subcommittees have approved:

  • $3.5 million for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) project to update the Upper San Leandro Drinking Water Treatment Plant. The Upper San Leandro Plant, in service since the 1930s, is one of six water treatment plants in EBMUD's service area and operates continually throughout the year. The comprehensive update project aims to increase solids management capacity, replace a century-old primary disinfection chlorine contact basin which is critical to maintaining public health protections, and upgrade chemical feed, secondary containment, spill prevention, and monitoring facilities.

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Rep. Swalwell at EBMUD's Upper San Leandro Treatment Plant

  • $2 million for the Crow Canyon Road Iron Horse Trail Bicycle-Pedestrian Overcrossing. The trail is a popular multi-use, whole-access trail between the cities of Concord and Pleasanton, connecting residential and commercial areas, business parks, schools, public transportation, open space and parks, regional trails, and community facilities. This funding would be used to finalize the blueprint for construction of a pedestrian bridge at a mid-block crossing over Crow Canyon Road, where multiple fatalities have occurred.
  • $1.7 million for the Alameda County Transportation Commission's Safe Routes to Schools Mini-grant Program. The commission is partnering with local jurisdictions by giving grants to support their efforts to implement bicycle and pedestrian safety and access improvements around school sites across Alameda County. These improvements include things such as but not limited to: improved crosswalk striping, signage for school zones and school crossings, pedestrian bulb outs, bike lanes, bike parking, and traffic calming improvements.
  • $1.5 million for Hayward's Stack Center. This youth and family center at Tennyson and Ruus roads in South Hayward will provide wraparound services to address inequities in the South Hayward community, including health, education, recreational, and career training services. This federal funding will be used to renovate the existing Matt Jimenez Community Center to create indoor and outdoor spaces for infant and preschool classes. It will also upgrade the commercial kitchen space, create a classroom area for food entrepreneurship activities, and create a separate entrance to the existing gymnasium.

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Rep. Swalwell at Stack Center site in Hayward

  • $1 million for a new Veterans Park in downtown Livermore, featuring an open-air performance space and children's playground. Federal funds would be used for design, engineering, entitlements, and construction. The park would be developed at the same time as a 130-apartment affordable housing development, serving residents of the 15th Congressional District earning between 20% and 60% of the area median income, including formerly homeless and homeless veterans.
  • $750,000 for Covenant House to complete construction of a 30-bed emergency housing facility for youth aged 18 to 24 near the Hayward Unified School District's Student Information and Assessment Center on Tyrrell Avenue. This "Covenant House California Hayward Village" is essential to ensuring that youth experiencing homelessness will have increased access to not only safe housing, but also vital services including: standardized assessment, reserved 24-hour bed availability, case management, residential supervision, crisis intervention, security, meals, restrooms/showers, mental healthcare, and education/life skills curriculum.

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Rep. Swalwell at Covenant House California Hayward Village site

  • $450,000 for a Mental Health Urgent Care Services Pilot Program. Dublin is collaborating with Livermore, Pleasanton, and Axis Community Health to establish a Mental Health Urgent Care Center, providing Tri-Valley residents with a different option other than calling law enforcement to address a mental health crisis. This innovative pilot project aims to address substantial gaps in access to mental health by providing an urgent care-like option to provide assessment and timely connection to services that is less costly than an emergency room.
  • $375,000 for the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District to develop a Latinx Support and Access community engagement program. The program would aim to improve parent participation and student performance in mathematics and English Language Arts for Latinx families, including curriculum development, teacher training and acquisition of computers.
  • $250,000 for a critical upgrade to Fremont's emergency dispatch system, so that emergency responses are timely and coordinated among Fremont and Union City first responder jurisdictions. A new emergency dispatch system will assist in replacing the computer-aided dispatch (CAD), records management, ARS report writing tool, property and evidence, and jail systems currently used and allow for enhanced integration with other platforms such as the 9-1-1 phone, iPhones and tablets, map layers, and other CAD systems with outside agencies.

Swalwell's only Community Project Funding request that wasn't at least partially granted was for Valley Link: a 42-mile, 7-station passenger rail project connecting the existing Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station in Alameda County to the approved Altamont Corridor Express North Lathrop Station on San Joaquin County Street in downtown Tracy. However, Swalwell has advanced $20 million for Valley Link through a separate process for highway and transit member-designated projects.

In compliance with House Rules and Committee requirements, Swalwell has certified that he, his spouse, and his immediate family have no financial interest in any of the projects he has requested.

For more information on Community Project Funding requests in the 15th Congressional District, click here.