When Orange County taxpayers renewed the county half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements in 2006, they told OCTA they wanted some of the funds to go toward environmental efforts. Since then, funds from OC Go, also known as Measure M, have improved freeway project coordination and approval, reduced freeway project permitting process time and set aside and preserved 1,300 acres of land and restored more than 350 acres of native habitat in OC.
In the process of bringing these environmental benefits to Orange County, OCTA forged ongoing relationships with the environmental community and government and regulatory agencies. OCTA’s successful, pioneering efforts were profiled in a Federal Highway Administration (FHA) case study as an example of how transportation and environmental goals can be mutually accomplished through a successful partnership.
Major challenges included the protection of threatened/endangered species and sensitive habitats and creating permitting solutions to satisfy multiple agency requirements for multiple projects.
Learn more about OCTA’s Environmental Mitigation Program here.