Mission Viejo to Get Funding to Go Green

Mission Viejo is one of multiple cities throughout Orange County that will use grants from the Orange County Transportation Authority to help reduce pollution.

The nearly $2.9 million in funding comes from Measure M, a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2006, according to OCTA spokesman Joel Zlotnik.

Mission Viejo will get $200,000 and contribute $67,000 to replace overhead spray nozzles with laser drip irrigation within 30,190 square feet of roadway median.

The area governments competed for the grants. The OCTA board on Aug. 10 approved funding for 18 projects mostly aimed at catching trash before it ends up in the ocean.

Since the agency began awarding the grants in 2011, it has approved funding for 102 projects costing about $11 million, Zlotnik said. Officials estimate 500,000 cubic feet of trash has been collected as a result.

The cities that received the latest grants are Fullerton, La Habra, Orange, Westminster, Mission Viejo, Tustin, Buena Park, Lake Forest, Fountain Valley, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, Irvine, Cypress, Garden Grove, Anaheim, Brea and Laguna Hills.

City News Service