OCTA’s Measure M2 Environmental Cleanup Program helps to reduce litter, debris and chemical pollutants from street runoff that end up on Orange County beaches. On May 7, the program was awarded a 2015 Sustainability Award by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). The award highlights projects that coordinate land use and transportation to improve the mobility, livability, prosperity and sustainability of Southern California.
Funded by Measure M, Orange County’s half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements, the Environmental Cleanup Program has funded more than 120 projects totaling $39 million to improve water quality in Orange County. More than $300 million in funds will be available over the next 30 years.
Funds are allocated on a countywide competitive basis to help local jurisdictions meet the Clean Water Act standards for urban runoff.
The program is implemented through a two-tiered grant funding approach.
The first tier provides funds for screens, filters, and other items to combat pollutants such as litter and debris that collect on roadways and eventually wind up in the ocean and waterways. OCTA estimates that almost 500,000 cubic feet of trash and debris has been captured as a result of operational Tier 1 projects.
The second tier funds regional projects such as constructed wetlands, infiltration basins and bio-swales. Tier 2 projects funded to date will provide runoff treatment to approximately 23,000 acres of mixed land-use throughout Orange County.
