Few Orange County residents will argue that, to enhance the quality of life in our region, we must invest in transportation infrastructure that will improve mobility and lessen congestion on our roads and freeways. Residents also agree that improving our transportation network involves the responsibility of protecting and restoring our environment.
To that end, when Orange County residents in 2006 voted to renew the local half-cent transportation sales tax – Measure M2 – they also approved the Measure M2 Environmental Cleanup & Preservation Program.
The program entails two components, the
? Mitigation and Resource Protection Program, designated to offset the environmental impacts of freeway improvements, and the
? Environmental Cleanup Program, designed to help protect Orange County beaches from transportation-generated pollution.
To implement each of these programs, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), which oversees the allocation of Measure M2 funding, has formed two committees, the Environmental Oversight Committee and the Environmental Cleanup Allocation Committee, respectively. As a member of OCTA’s Board of Directors, I was appointed to serve as the Chair of the Environmental Oversight Committee (EOC). The purpose of this Committee is to make recommendations to the Board on the allocation of the freeway mitigation funds. Similarly, the Environmental Cleanup Allocation Committee makes recommendations to the Board on the allocation of funds for water quality improvements. Both committees have been very active so I thought it opportune to provide an update on their efforts of late. Last year, a number of landowners from throughout Orange County voluntarily submitted their properties to be considered for acquisition as permanently protected open space and for habitat restoration. In November 2009, the EOC received a report from the Conservation Biology Institute which identified the core habitat areas of protected and unprotected lands within the County. The committee used the report to scientifically evaluate and rank all the properties that were submitted. The approach has been to find opportunities that will allow us to build on existing conservation investments. The appraisal process for the Top 14 properties submitted for acquisition is currently underway and staff is still evaluating the restoration proposals to determine their overall mitigation value. There is $25 million available for the first allocation of funding for both acquisition and restoration proposals, which the Board plans to spend in the first few months of 2011. The second committee, the Environmental Cleanup Allocation Committee, fulfilled a key milestone in May 2010 with the Board’s approval of a two-tier grant funding approach. The Tier 1 Grant Program is designed to help reduce the more visible form of pollutants, such as litter and debris that collects on roadways and in storm drains which ultimate end up at the ocean. The grants will go to help cities fund such things as catch basins, screens, filters, and other diversion projects. A total of up to $19.5 million is available for the Tier 1 program over the next seven years with funding for the first projects scheduled for approval in the spring of 2011. The Tier 2 Grant Program consists of funding regional, capital-intensive projects such as constructed wetlands, detention/infiltration basins and bioswales, which help remove pollution from surface runoff water. Up to $38 million is available under this program and funding for the first projects is also scheduled for approval in 2011. So, as you can see, along with all the important transportation projects Orange County voters agreed to over the next 30 years with the passage of Measure M2, OCTA has been careful to provide for comprehensive mitigation of the environmental impacts of those projects. Additionally, in exchange for OCTA’s heightened focus on environmental protection through land and resource preservation, OCTA will be ensured streamlined approvals of the projects from various state and federal agencies. For more information about all of OCTA’s environmental efforts, visit www.octa.net/M2Environmental.
Contact my office at (714) 834-3550 (email: Pat.Bates@ocgov.com.) with any questions or comments. It is an honor serving you.