Rep. Mike Levin Delivers More Than $21 Million for Eight Local Projects in House-Passed Government Funding Legislation
Funding Legislation Expected to Pass Senate and Become Law by March 15th
Washington, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives passed government funding legislation that includes key projects and priorities Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA) secured for North County San Diego and South Orange County. The bill includes $9.3 million to shore up coastal bluffs in San Clemente, $5 million for pedestrian infrastructure in Carlsbad, $2.25 million to develop a new homeless shelter in Oceanside, $587,000 to provide the Oceanside Police Department with vehicle cameras, and several other projects totaling $21,663,000 for local governments and institutions in the 49th District.
The bill also includes $2.4 million for the South Coast Water District’s Doheny Desalination Slant Well Project, $19.9 million for a I MEF Consolidated Information Center at Camp Pendleton, $13.6 million for a Veterinary Treatment Facility Replacement at Camp Pendleton, $10 million to the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) for COASTER Commuter Rail Corridor Stabilization, and $610,000 for the South Orange County Community College District to provide services to student veterans.
To support Ukraine, the legislation provides $13.6 billion in military, humanitarian, and economic aid. That includes more than $3 billion for European Command operations mission support, a $3 billion increase to the President’s authority to transfer defense equipment to Ukraine and allies, $2.65 billion for food and health care assistance, and $1.4 billion for migration and refugee assistance.
“My number one focus is delivering results on our local priorities, and I am thrilled that this bipartisan funding legislation will soon be on the way to President Biden’s desk with key investments to address some of the biggest challenges facing our region,” said Rep. Levin. “This funding will help address coastal erosion in San Clemente, make our streets safer for pedestrians in Carlsbad, reduce homelessness and support police in Oceanside, and much more. I’m also glad this legislation includes funding for key local priorities like the disposal of nuclear waste, the cleanup of cross-border water pollution, and the funding of Impact Aid schools like San Onofre Elementary and Mary Fay Elementary. The emergency funding to support Ukraine is paramount for the defense of their sovereignty and for the humanitarian crisis stemming from Putin’s ruthless violence. I look forward to seeing President Biden sign this bill later this week and watching these investments deliver tangible results in our communities and around the world over the coming months and years.”
The bill also includes funding Rep. Levin fought to secure for other local priorities, including $27.5 million for nuclear waste disposal efforts at the Department of Energy, $32 million for the Border Water Infrastructure Program (BWIP), and $1.55 billion for the Impact Aid program, which supports K-12 schools serving children in military families like those at San Onofre Elementary and Mary Fay Elementary.
See below for a description of each project:
Recipient: City of Carlsbad
Carlsbad Barrio Street Lighting and Traffic Circles Project: The Barrio Street Lighting and Traffic Circles Project will enhance safety, walkability and aesthetics within the Barrio neighborhood. The street lighting portion of the project will install 24-foot to 26-foot streetlight poles along streets throughout the Barrio neighborhood to improve nighttime visibility for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Additionally, 13-foot pedestrian lighting will be installed throughout the Barrio neighborhood in order to specifically facilitate neighborhood walkability. The second component of the Project will install 6 traffic circles located throughout the Barrio neighborhood for traffic calming and beautification purposes. Improving pedestrian walkability and safety is a priority for the community, and enhanced lighting from street lighting improvements will help achieve this goal. The City of Carlsbad would receive $5 million for this project.
Recipient: City of Dana Point
Doheny Village Connectivity Improvements: The Doheny Village Connectivity Improvement Project will add bike lanes and beautification elements (landscaping, lighting, landscaped median), fill in a sidewalk gap on the inland side of Coast Highway, reconfigure the intersection of Doheny Park Road and Coast Highway to allow for better bicycle/pedestrian connectivity, add a second southbound thru lane as outlined in the OCTA Master Plan of Arterial Highways, and other improvements. The area has limited provisions today for bicycles and pedestrians which are of the utmost importance to the community. Further, by adding bicycle and pedestrian amenities, including sidewalks, lighting, bike lanes, landscaping, etc., the roadways will also be enhanced from a safety perspective. The City of Dana Point would receive $1.87 million for this project.
Recipient: North County Transit District
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Bus Transition: This project involves construction of a hydrogen fueling station with capacity for fueling up to 50 fuel cell electric buses. The hydrogen fueling station will be constructed at the North County Transit District's West Division Facility in the City of Oceanside. The project supports regional and state goals of reducing harmful emissions in the transportation sector. This project directly supports NCTD’s transition to zero-emission bus operations, and supports California’s Innovative Clean Transit ruling goals. The project also directly supports regional and statewide plans to reduce harmful emissions in the transportation sector, reduce energy consumption, increase transit ridership, and improve community health outcomes. The North County Transit District would receive $1.7 million for this project.
Recipient: Oceanside Museum of Art
Literacy Through Art and ArtQuest: Oceanside is facing significant early childhood literacy and science education challenges. According to the California Department of Education, 15 of the 16 elementary schools in Oceanside Unified School District are Title I, meeting federal criteria for free and reduced school lunches. Seven of ten students are economically disadvantaged and for a large number of students English is a second language. This project would improve educational opportunities for these students by providing the Oceanside Museum of Art with $150,000 to promote and advance reading fluency and comprehension through active, purposeful engagement with real works of art, artmaking, and culturally responsive literature. The funding would also be used to promotes 21st century skills, including inquiry, critical thinking, collaboration, and visual literacy.
Recipient: Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
Mobile LiDAR System: Coastal monitoring is vital for improved understanding and modeling of coastal hazards and erosion, and LiDAR monitoring has rapidly emerged as the standard for mapping large stretches of coast. This project would provide the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego with $800,000 to purchase a new mobile LiDAR system, which will provide state-of-the-art monitoring of beach and bluff erosion across the project region on both short (individual storms) and long (multi-year trends) time scales.
Recipient: City of Oceanside
Oceanside Homeless Shelter Development: This project involves development of a new homeless shelter at a former high school facility. The shelter would operate up to 50 beds. The project will provide a secure environment where homeless individuals and families are able to focus on healing and preparing for self-sufficiency. The City intends for the shelter to have day services to allow participants to remain on-site throughout the day. The resulting homeless shelter shall help individuals experiencing homelessness develop a pathway towards permanent housing, income, healthcare, and stability through continued care services. The development of the homeless shelter will address the needs of homeless, local residents, and local business owners, and will assist in reducing the overall homeless problem in the San Diego region. The City of Oceanside would receive $2.25 million for this project.
Recipient: Oceanside Police Department
Oceanside In Car Camera System: This project enhances the existing Body Worn Camera (BWC) system utilized by the Oceanside Police Department, expanding the number of perspectives on an incident where police action occurs. The Oceanside Police Department would receive $587,000 for the In Car Camera system, which includes a Dash Cam facing out the front windshield of the police vehicle as well as a camera for monitoring the back seat of the vehicle. This system interacts with the existing BWC devices already deployed at the department, allowing the system to activate all BWC devices within a short proximity of the vehicle when certain actions by the operator of the vehicle take place. This capability can limit the impact of human error in times of stress and ensure activation of camera systems when dictated by policy or best practices. This increases transparency and accountability to the community.
Recipient: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and City of San Clemente
San Clemente Shoreline Protection: The San Clemente Shoreline Project focuses on providing protection for the Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor (LOSSAN Corridor) tracks that run immediately adjacent to the San Clemente coast. The project is designed to protect this asset while also protecting roads, buildings, and other infrastructure, as well as maintain recreational use of San Clemente’s coastline. The project involves placing about 251,000 cubic yards of sand on the City beach from Linda Lane to T-street, a distance of about 3,400 feet. This will widen the beach about 50 feet to provide storm damage reduction, safety, recreational benefits for the public. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would receive $9,306,000 to begin construction on the project.
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