As a native Southern Californian, Rep. Levin has first-hand experience with the critical infrastructure and transportation needs our communities face. 

He is a strong supporter of the INVEST in America Act, which includes nearly $20 million in federal investments for communities in the 49th Congressional District. These investments will bring necessary upgrades to sidewalks, rails, and roads, while also enhancing pedestrian safety and supporting our local economy.

For generations, water pollution in the Tijuana River Valley has plagued communities in the region. To address this issue, Rep. Levin played a leading role in securing $300 million as part of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) Trade Agreement to help clean up this hazardous water pollution. Parts of the final agreement closely mirror legislation introduced by Rep. Levin, the Border Water Infrastructure Improvement Act. Rep. Levin and the San Diego Democratic delegation also secured an amendment included in the INVEST in America Act that will help the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) spend that funding to address pollution in the Tijuana River Valley.

Additionally, Southern California’s coastal bluffs have become increasingly vulnerable over the years due to climate change, rising sea levels, and high-energy storm swells. In August 2019, a bluff collapsed at Grandview Beach in Encinitas, taking the lives of three residents of Rep. Levin’s district. Several days before this tragic event, Rep. Levin called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide long-overdue federal funding to secure bluffs in the area as part of the Encinitas-Solana Beach Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Project. After Rep. Levin hosted Dr. Pat Davis, who lost three family members in the collapse, as his guest for the State of the Union address, the Army Corps of Engineers allocated $400,000 in federal funding for the Planning, Engineering & Design (PED) phase of the Encinitas-Solana Beach Coastal Storm Damage Reduction Project. One year later, the Army Corps allocated an additional $1.5 million to complete the PED phase of the project. Rep. Levin also fought to secure more than $9.3 million in House appropriations legislation to begin construction on the San Clemente Shoreline Project. This project, for which Rep. Levin also helped secure $505,000 in PED funding, will address severe erosion along the coast in San Clemente.

Rep. Levin is a vocal opponent of proposals by the Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) to extend toll roads in South Orange County. He believes we need to mitigate traffic in the area without an extension encroaching on existing communities, schools, and protected open space. In early 2019, Rep. Levin asked California Governor Gavin Newsom to ensure that appropriate ethical and transparency measures were in place for TCA after allegations of potentially overspent and misused public funds were reported.

Rep. Levin has also worked to strengthen Southern California’s water independence by supporting water supply resiliency projects in the 49th District. His bill to raise the funding authorization for the Bureau of Reclamation’s desalination grant program passed the House of Representatives during the 116^th Congress, and could deliver federal funding for local projects like the South Coast Water District’s Doheny Ocean Desalination Project and the City of Oceanside’s Mission Basin Groundwater Purification Facility Well Expansion and Brine Minimization project. He has already helped secure $28.5 million dollars in total for these projects.

Rep. Levin also believes that Congress should pursue comprehensive investments in our nation’s infrastructure that include investments in climate action to meet the scale of the challenge we face. He led more than 130 House colleagues in a letter calling on President Biden to ensure infrastructure legislation includes robust investments to combat the climate crisis.