A Proposal for Consideration by the Orange County Board of Supervisors to Provide Mitigation Funding Consistent with Funding Provided to the City of San Juan Capistrano for Operation of the Prima Deshecha Landfill Section 1: Disclaimer
The contents of this proposal do not represent support or acceptance of the proposed increase in daily tonnage at the Prima Deshecha Landfill. The proposal is a request for fair and equitable treatment between cities that contain portions of the landfill independent from any future expansion of operations. The City of San Clemente has provided written comments regarding environmental concerns and community impacts that are not intended to be dismissed by this request.
Section 2: Summary
In October of 2018, the Orange County Board of Supervisors agreed to provide the City of San Juan Capistrano a minimum annual payment of $800,000 for a period of ten years to continue hosting operations of the Prima Deshecha Landfill. The funding is intended to allow the City of San Juan Capistrano to mitigate the concerns associated with the operation of the landfill and is an extension of previous agreements that prior to 2018 provided a minimum of $700,000 to the City. According to the most recent adopted budget, the City of San Juan Capistrano is anticipating a payment of more than $1 million in fiscal year 2026.
Portions of the landfill are located in both San Juan Capistrano and the City of San Clemente, with some landfill property immediately adjacent to San Clemente housing areas including Forster Ranch and Talega. However, the City of San Clemente receives no contribution for mitigation or hosting purposes. Meanwhile, all proposed expansion and operational adjustments will move the potential impacts away from the City of San Juan Capistrano and toward the City of San Clemente.
The City of San Clemente is seeking, on a going forward basis (although a true-up would be considered a fair request), an equal amount of mitigation funding for the continued operation of the Prima Deshecha Landfill. The funding would be set aside specifically for mitigation measures associated with the operation of the landfill.
Section 3: Background
For the purposes of this request, it is not necessary to provide a complete history of the approvals associated with the Prima Deshecha Landfill. Rather, the focus of this proposal is to provide context to the more recent effort to increase the allowable daily tonnage from 4,000 tons per day to 8,000 tons per day. According to landfill officials, as proposed, a majority of expanded landfill operations will occur in Zone 4 (see map to the right). Residential projects located in San Clemente are near the bottom of the picture and highlighted in yellow. Another portion of the landfill is highlighted in light blue and is located in the City of San Clemente, but not within an existing residential project. Of note, the homes in Forster Ranch are located immediately adjacent to the landfill as close to landfill property as any residential project in San Juan Capistrano. As operations are increasingly removed from areas adjacent to San Juan Capistrano and much closer to neighborhoods in San Clemente, it would seem fair and just that the City of San Clemente receive fair and equitable resources to mitigate impacts as the City of San Juan Capistrano.
Section 4: Request and Proposal
The City of San Clemente requests a fair and equitable contribution equal to the payment made to the City of San Juan Capistrano for continued operations of the landfill to mitigate impacts from the transport, operations, long-term storage, environmental degradation, and increased fire potential associated with the Prima Deshecha Landfill. Anticipated use of funds include:
Mitigation equipment for local residents including air purifiers, air quality monitors, and enhanced air filters.
Creation of firebreaks, placing of wildfire equipment, and other prevention and protection equipment to address increased fire hazards from landfill operations and long-term storage of flammable materials including lithium batteries.
Enhanced road maintenance on major roadways leading to the landfill including Avenida La Pata, Avenida Pico, and Avenida Vista Hermosa.
The City of San Clemente is not seeking funding in a higher amount than a similarly situated City and there is no intent to reduce funding from San Juan Capistrano. Rather the City is seeking fair and equitable treatment from the County of Orange.
If the Board of Supervisors is willing to consider this request, the City of San Clemente offers to create a formal agreement for consideration by the Board of Supervisors. If the Board is Supervisors is not willing to consider this request, the City of San Clemente requests a specific response why a similarly situated City is denied the same funding for mitigating impacts associated with the operations of the Prima Deshecha Landfill. 2 Attachment 2