
Land Use & Environment Group
2022-23 Budget
The County of San Diego's Land Use and Environment Group serves the community by working to protect the public's health and safety, sustain the environment, and improve the quality of life for our residents and visitors.

Budget in Millions
Staff
$629.9M | FY 22-23 | 2,026.5 |
2.4 % | change from FY 21-22 | 9.2 % |

Agriculture, Weights & Measures, Environmental Health & Quality, Parks & Recreation, Planning & Development Services, Public Works, San Diego County Library

Sustainability $113.2M
Advancing an Equitable, Healthy Climate
$7.4M

- Lead efforts to move the region toward zero-carbon emissions (RDF) $3.7M
- Develop/support the new Office of Sustainability & Environmental Justice
- Implement environmental justice to help underserved communities
Tackling the Climate Crisis
$32.6M

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the unincorporated county and from County facilities (Climate Action Plan Update) $1.8M
Implement SB 743, a State law governing new home development locations to reduce vehicle travel
Create a sustainable land use framework
Preserve land to protect species (MSCP and new North County MSCP) $16.3M
Divert waste from landfills to promote sustainable management of resources $4.3M

Create sustainability plans for 8 County airports
Make all departments more sustainable
Educate EV consumers with new website
Install more EV charging stations at County facilities
Promote green building and solar energy use $2M


Protecting Natural Resources
$73.2M
Prevent pollution from reaching the ocean through 542,000 storm drains and protecting groundwater quality. $40M
Protect $1.8 billion agricultural industry from invasive pests $13.5M
Preserve farmland through permanent easements



Manage groundwater sustainably (SGMA)
Manage closed landfills (protects air quality and groundwater)

Tijuana River Valley dredging, invasive species removal and property restoration

Daily Life: Live, Drive, Work, Play, Eat, Learn
$224.2M





Creating safe & affordable housing: $22M
Develop inclusionary housing ordinance to produce affordable units
Encourage/support more Accessory Dwelling Units or “granny flats”
Inspect 40,000 home/buildings for safety
Review 10,500 building plans for safety
Guide new development projects through the approval process
Provide homeless solutions (cleanup & assistance)
Plant 3,500 trees
Operate 156 parks, 56,000 acres of parks and 384 miles of trails $30.9M
Operate 33 branch libraries, 4 electric bookmobiles and 5 automated
book kiosks $28M
Test water quality at 45 beaches/sites and provide faster same-day
results
Inspect 15,000 food facilities including food trucks for health and safety $15.2M





Maintain unincorporated county road surfaces $60M
Maintain/operate County sewer systems and water districts $64M

Empowering & Improving Lives
$8.5M

Operate Library High School to help people secure diplomas
Run Safe Destination (SD) Nights Program serving 8,000 youths and provide youth employment opportunities $1M
Use data to understand and track community needs

Improve accessibility through annual ADA improvements at County facilities

Educate employees on equity, diversity, and inclusion topics $3M

Provide free English language training

Connecting & Involving More People
$23.5M

Involve the community in our programs through meetings and online options $2.4M

Distribute 7,000 grant-funded laptops and mobile hotspots
Provide 24/7 free Wifi at library facilities

Manage a dynamic E-library $11.5M
Provide Little and
Mini Libraries
Provide citizenship training

Offer library materials in 12 world languages
Translate information into local languages
Fund broadband connectivity projects
Connect 225,000 households to newly installed SR67 internet cable

Consumers & Economic Opportunity
$8.7M

Inspect 30,000+ scales, cash registers and gas pumps for accuracy $6M

Inspect produce sold at certified farmers’ markets
Verify organic products and promote sustainable agriculture

Permit and educate applicants on Micro Enterprise Home Kitchens operations
Create ordinance to regulate commercial cannabis $1M

Infrastructure Safety & Reliability
$214.6M

Maintain road systems (traffic signals, sidewalks, bike lanes, ramps,
crosswalks, guardrails for road safety) $118M

Operate our eight County airports $22.3M
Construct runway improvements at County airports
Keep culverts, storm drains safe and clean

Maintain park & library facilities to ensure safety and appearance $4.6M

Protecting Health
$40.2M

Permit 14,000 hazardous material facilities and perform annual inspections $13.3M
Respond to Hazardous Incident Response Team (HIRT) emergencies
Collect over 175 tons of household hazardous waste $1.2M
Regulate hazardous materials used in agriculture
Monitor and treat over 1,600 known mosquito breeding sites $13M

Conduct 472 solid waste inspections
Inspect structural fumigations to protect employees, the public, and the environment $5.5M

Regulate the use of pesticides
Collect unwanted pesticides to avoid improper disposal

Manage bee keeping safety and education programs

Capital Projects
$298M
FY 22-23 projects
Net-zero improvements for the Fallbrook
Library
Dredging and property improvements in Tijuana River Valley
We also oversee 111 park and library projects in the design or
construction phases valued at $298M.
