A California bill introduced for the 2025 regular session would use a portion of truck tolls in Otay Mesa for sewage-related projects.
Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, said his bill would create a permanent source of funding for Tijuana River remediation efforts by authorizing a portion of funds from the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry toll road to be used for the restoration of the Tijuana River Valley.
The Otay Mesa 2 toll road on state Route 11 is slated to be a four-lane route connecting directly to the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and a commercial vehicle enforcement facility.
Expected to open in 2028, the toll road is a joint venture between the San Diego Association of Governments and the California Department of Transportation, in collaboration with state and federal partners in the United States and Mexico. The project is located northeast of where state Route 125 and state Route 905 connect.
Padilla said for too long, billions of gallons of contamination, pollution and wastewater, stemming from “failing infrastructure, have ravaged California’s southern coastline.” He added that as a result, San Diegans are suffering from the health, economic and environmental impacts of continued transboundary flows.
“The crisis at the Tijuana River comes from decades of neglect,” Padilla said in prepared remarks. “We must explore every source of funding and every option available to us to finally put an end to the poison in the very air we breathe.”
Senate Bill 10
California law authorizes Otay Mesa toll revenues to be used for specific costs, including, among other things, payments of a cooperative tolling agreement with the federal government of Mexico.
Padilla’s bill, SB10, would authorize a portion of tolls collected primarily from truck drivers to be used for water treatment, environmental mitigation and restoration work in the South Bay.
Funds collected could be allocated by the San Diego Association of Governments for the improvement of wastewater infrastructure and related projects to address the “sewage crisis.”
An estimated $25 million annually would be applied toward managing sewage.
Padilla wrote in his bill that the “Tijuana River Valley has been a longstanding site of significant environmental degradation due to cross-border pollution, including untreated sewage, industrial waste and other contaminants that flow from Tijuana, Mexico, into the United States of America.”
He added that “rapid expansion in the border region … has resulted in increased industrial production, cross-border transportation and waste generation, exacerbating pollution in the Tijuana River Valley.”
SB10 can be considered during the session that began Dec. 2. LL
Yesterday, I was honored to be joined by Mayor Paloma Aguirre of Imperial Beach, and vital environmental advocates at a press conference to announce the bill I traduced the first day of the legislative session, Senate Bill 10. pic.twitter.com/oZTceM13JB
— Senator Steve Padilla (@SenStevePadilla) December 5, 2024
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