Laird Statement on Proposed $100M "Mitigation" Payment for Constructing a Toll Road through San Onofre State Beach

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Budget Committee Chair John Laird (D-Santa Cruz) today release the following statement regarding the proposed “mitigation” payment for constructing a toll road through San Onofre State Beach in San Diego County:

“The proposal from the Transportation Corridor Agencies to provide $100 million in ‘mitigation’ for a constructing a toll road through San Onofre State Beach is a bad deal for our park system and a bad deal for California.  The idea that construction of the project could cause $100 million in environmental damage serves to underscore the point that the toll road would be devastating for San Onofre State Beach. 

There is no doubt that our parks system needs new maintenance investments—the current maintenance backlog for our state parks now totals more than $1 billion.  The solution to this problem is to increase the deferred maintenance budget, not bisect state park lands in order to generate what would be a fraction on the funds necessary to adequately maintain our parks. In fact, the $100 million doesn’t even cover the $160 million the governor cut this year from the budget for parks maintenance.

The California Coastal Commission staff report got it right: there is no way to mitigate for the damage to San Onofre that the toll road would cause.  The Coastal Commission should reject federal consistency for the toll road, protect San Onofre State Beach, and continue to uphold protection of California’s precious coastal resources.”