Letter to Hon. Shalanda Young, Acting Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and Hon. Michael L. Connor, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works - Rep. Gomez, Sen. Padilla and Los Angeles Congressional Delegation Lead Effort to Fund LA River Restoration Project

Letter

Dear Acting Director Young and Assistant Secretary Connor:

We write to strongly urge you to include $272.8 million in federal funding appropriated in the
recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) legislation and in Fiscal Year
2023 through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Fiscal Year 2023 Work Plan for the
Los Angeles River Ecosystem Restoration Project.

We are at a critical moment where we can sustainably transform the Los Angeles River from a
concrete canal back into a place of community and ecological restoration. To do so, we
respectfully request that $244.8 million be included in the upcoming the IIJA Army Crops Work
Plan for:

* Reaches 1 & 2 ($45.9m): Pollywog Park to Ferraro Fields -- Covers approximately 2.25
miles and implements a habitat corridor with riparian planting on overbanks of both
sides of the River, and modifies the trapezoidal bank to a vertical bank, creating
additional soft bottom width in the channel and terraces.
* Reach 4 ($37.7m): Brazil Street to the Los Feliz Boulevard Bridge -- Approximately 1.75
miles long and includes daylighting of multiple streams/storm drains and additional
riparian habitat to adjacent over bank golf course areas.
* Reach 3: ($132.5m) Ferraro Fields to Brazil Street -- Approximately 1 mile of riparian
corridor that includes daylighting of streams, creating a side channel that would flow
along the west side of Ferraro Fields, and adding substantial restoration that widens the
Verdugo Wash confluence to create a combined riparian and marsh habitat community.

In addition, we request $28 million in funding for a Construction New Start for the L.A. River
Ecosystem Restoration P3 Pilot project in the USACE Fiscal 2023 Work Plan. Specifically, this
funding would support work in Reach 7 which runs from I-5 to Main Street; this 1-mile segment
includes the restoration of the Arroyo Seco confluence and the overbank connections to the L.A.
State Historic Park.

This funding will finally allow a community-embraced project that has been decades in the
making to move forward and leverage alternative delivery approaches to save costs, accelerate
delivery, and reduce the USACE backlog effectively and efficiently. This project will restore
hundreds of acres of habitat along the river, add trails to connect people with nature and the
River, and support equity, environmental justice, and climate resilience for the underserved
communities that are adjacent to this urban river.

The Los Angeles Ecosystem Restoration Project has a signed favorable Chief's Report, has been
authorized by Congress, and the City is ready to work with the Corps to bring this project from
concept to reality. The USACE formally designated the L.A. River project as a Civil Works
Public-Private Partnership (P3) Pilot project in March 2020, which reduces the federal
government's share of cost and risk and completes the project quicker. A value for money
analysis from the USACE shows that the P3-alternative delivery would save the Federal
government at least 20 percent in construction costs. The project is ready to start construction
using alternative delivery in a partnership with the City and the USACE.

This project emerged from the input of thousands of Angelenos and will directly benefit
hundreds of thousands of people who live in historically disadvantaged communities with
severely limited access to nature. Importantly, funding this project will help spur economic
recovery and support vital aquatic ecosystem restoration, one of the key aspects of the USACE'
mission, in the heart of the City of Los Angeles. This project will give all Americans the unique
opportunity to enjoy and take pride in the stewardship of the environment and develop new
economic growth opportunities. This includes restoring ecosystems in places where access to
nature has declined, like cities and urbanized areas.

As such, we respectfully request you support $28 million for a Construction New Start for the
L.A. River Ecosystem Restoration P3 Pilot project for the USACE in the FY23 budget request
and $244.8 million in the pending IIJA spending plan to kick start this important project with the
anticipation of future appropriations to bring aquatic ecosystem restoration to an urbanized
environment.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,