What is the purpose of the Mitigation and Resource Protection Program?
Renewed Measure M (M2) – Orange County’s half-cent transportation sales tax renewed by the voters in 2006 – provides for the allocation of at least 5 percent of net freeway program revenues (or $243.5 million in 2005 dollars) for mitigation of freeway projects. The allocation of funding is subject to a Master Agreement between the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) and state and federal resource agencies.
The intent of the program is to provide for comprehensive, rather than piecemeal, mitigation of the impacts of freeway projects and to do so in a way that results in high-value environmental benefits in exchange for streamlined project approvals and greater certainty in the delivery of the freeway program as a whole.
What is the Environmental Oversight Committee?
The Environmental Oversight Committee (EOC) was authorized in the November 2006 M2 ballot measure and established in November 2007 to make recommendations to the OCTA Board of Directors regarding the allocation of environmental freeway mitigation funds and monitor the implementation of the Master Agreement. The Committee consists of representatives of OCTA, the resource agencies, environmental groups, and the public.
What can money be spent for?
The funds must be spent to mitigate the impacts of freeway projects approved by the voters in the Renewed Measure M Transportation Investment Plan. This might include land acquisition to conserve habitat and/or wildlife corridors, restoration of habitat, or management and monitoring of conservation areas.
How will spending be determined?
The Environmental Oversight Committee is tasked with developing an inventory of the potential environmental impacts of the M2-related freeway projects and a list of recommended mitigation opportunities. A thorough analysis of the impacts, mitigation opportunities and the relationship between them will help define how the funds will be allocated.
Have funds already been earmarked for acquisition of specific properties?
No. The analysis and recommendations of the Environmental Oversight Committee need to be completed; a Master Agreement between OCTA and state and federal resource agencies must be negotiated and approved; and a formal action needs to be taken by the OCTA Board of Directors.
Who will make these decisions?
The Environmental Oversight Committee will present recommendations to the Transportation 2020 Committee, a subcommittee of the OCTA Board of Directors that oversees all Measure M- and M2-related projects and programs. The Transportation 2020 committee will make recommendations to the full Board, which has final approval.
When will these expenditures be made?
With voter approval of M2, OCTA has developed and adopted the Renewed Measure M Early Action Plan (EAP) that lays out the M2 projects and programs to be advanced or completed by mid 2012. This includes completing negotiation of the Master Agreement for mitigation of the freeway program and the potential expenditure of funds for mitigation purposes.
The Board of Directors adopted a Plan of Finance, which outlines a funding strategy for financing the EAP, with $80 million estimated to be expensed for environmental mitigation by mid 2012.
Expenditures will be made once a Master Agreement is negotiated between OCTA and federal and state resource agencies and the Board of Directors approves the agreement. According to the current program timeline, implementation will begin as early as 2010, or sooner if the needed analysis and a Master Agreement can be successfully developed and approved.
What is the opportunity for public involvement?
The public has an opportunity to comment about the program at OCTA’s monthly Environmental Oversight Committee meetings, which take place on the first Wednesday of the month from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at OCTA, 600 S. Main Street, Orange. Committee meeting agendas are posted online one week prior to the meeting date.
If you have any questions or would like to request further information, contact Marissa Espino, OCTA senior community relations specialist, at mespino@octa.net or 714-560-5607.
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