Tollway Impact Plan Gets Federal OK : Transportation: Approval of document addressing environmental effects of San Joaquin Hills toll road is expected to trigger another lawsuit to block the highway.

The proposed San Joaquin Hills tollway cleared a major hurdle Thursday when federal transportation officials approved a massive county plan that addresses the environmental effects of the project.

Officials from the Orange County Transportation Corridor Agencies said that they conducted an “exhaustive” review of the six-lane road and that they will spend more than $42 million on improvements to protect wetlands, limit noise and address other environmental effects. The federal document is thousands of pages long and took four years to develop.

“This represents a tremendous amount of work, and the fact that the Federal Highway Administration approved it is a major, major accomplishment,” said Mike Stockstill, a spokesman for the tollway-planning agency. “The agency did a good job at what it is supposed to do--prepare a plan to get these roads built.”

Environmentalists on Thursday had not yet reviewed the final report, but they said similar, earlier drafts failed to adequately identify and resolve serious effects on Orange County’s natural resources and air quality. They said the tollway will spoil scenic vistas, exacerbate air pollution and hurt wildlife, including the California gnatcatcher.

“I don’t have a lot of confidence in the Federal Highway Administration,” said Michael Phillips of the Laguna Canyon Conservancy, a local group fighting the toll road. County officials “were bound to get something approved eventually, which doesn’t mean it’s a good project or environmentally sensitive. It only means that they flooded them with paper.”

The approval is expected to trigger another lawsuit to block the 15-mile highway, which would cut through Laguna Canyon and the San Joaquin Hills, linking the Corona del Mar Freeway with Interstate 5.

Environmental groups have already filed suit against county officials because of a state environmental report that is nearly an exact replica of the federal report, and they said Thursday that they will not hesitate to file another one against the federal government and the county tollway agency.

“We’re not going to quit,” said Michael Fitts, an attorney with the Los Angeles office of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group. “They minimize the adverse impacts and exaggerate the reported benefits. So there is a real serious question of whether this is an objective review as required by the law.”

The report was signed Thursday by Jeffrey Brooks, regional director of program development for the federal highway agency, and becomes final in 30 days.

The road still faces some environmental hurdles. The major one is obtaining permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, which must approve effects on wetlands. Coastal Commission approval also is necessary for parts of the project.

Tollway officials said they hope to begin construction this summer in areas along the route that do not involve wetlands. The agency is now pursuing financing for the $793-million project, which would take four years to complete.

The plan does not contain measures to protect the gnatcatcher, a bird that federal officials have proposed for the nation’s endangered species list. Eight to 12 pairs of the birds inhabit land along the road’s path, said Steve Letterly, the tollway agency’s environmental manager.

The agency, however, has agreed to participate in the Wilson Administration’s program to work out a voluntary, regional plan to preserve habitat for the bird, Letterly said. Environmentalists dismiss that program as unworkable, calling it a delaying tactic.

The county’s original document was criticized last year by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for inadequately addressing wetlands and air quality. Federal wildlife officials expressed similar concerns about effects on proposed endangered species.

Tollway planners say the road will help clear up traffic congestion in South County, especially in Corona del Mar, Aliso Viejo and Laguna Hills.

Newport Beach Councilman John C. Cox Jr., who is chairman of the tollway board, said that “95% of the people” in his area support the project and express concern about “how much money they have to pay just for a couple of birds.”