Disgruntled OCTA Officials Seek to Sever County Ties to Regional Group : Transportation: They are dismayed that Los Angeles’ financial woes are jeopardizing local highway projects.

Reeling from word that a funding crisis in Los Angeles County could delay Orange County transportation projects, officials here want to disentangle Orange County from the regional group that controls funding and are seeking the Clinton Administration’s help.

If something is not done, Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder said Monday, “the voters’ mandate” for $3.1 billion in Measure M traffic improvements in Orange County “will be stopped.”

In a letter to White House Special Assistant Tom Epstein, Wieder expressed the board’s concern, saying: “If the construction programs are stopped, jobs will be lost, and the region is pushed further into recession.”

The problem arises because Orange and Los Angeles counties are partners in the same regional transportation and clean-air pacts. To offset the increased automotive emissions that could result from cars using new highways, each region or county makes a commitment to undertake a number of mass-transit or car-pool projects.

When the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority comes up short of funds, as it has this year, and cannot fulfill its commitments under plans to improve air quality, new highway projects throughout the region come under review.

At Monday’s Orange County Transportation Authority board meeting, La Habra Councilman William D. Mahoney summed up the feeling of the board: “We need to cast our own destiny.”

OCTA officials suggested that Orange County sever its ties with the Southern California Assn. of Governments, a six-county agency that controls federal funding for transportation projects in the region. SCAG must determine whether there are sufficient transit projects funded in Los Angeles to offset increased emissions generated by planned Orange County freeway improvements.

OCTA officials said last week that SCAG and the U.S. Department of Transportation may be forced to take Orange County road projects out of regional transportation programs because Los Angeles County is short about $350 million it needs to complete promised transit and car-pool projects.

Los Angeles officials are scrambling to find the money and are considering bus fare hikes as well as cuts in bus service.

But when the issue came before the OCTA board of directors Monday, board members were not satisfied by assurances that Los Angeles will find the money.

Some OCTA officials spoke of lobbying federal officials to treat each county separately, at least for purposes of imposing sanctions. Attorneys at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have already nixed that idea, although such a change was previously enacted for the Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington.

Even separate sanctions would not be sufficient, some OCTA officials said Monday.

Led by alternate board member Eileen Krause, a Dana Point councilwoman, and La Habra’s Mahoney, OCTA officials said it is time to consider having OCTA--or a similar board--become the county’s own regional planning agency, at least for transportation issues.

Officials said it would take action by Congress and the state Legislature to permit such a transition.

OCTA has hired a University of California professor to study the issue, and the OCTA staff may make recommendations in March.

But friction between Orange County and SCAG is nothing new. Until recently, for example, the Board of Supervisors did not pay dues to SCAG because of fears that SCAG is dominated by Los Angeles-oriented politicians.

Stan Oftelie, OCTA’s chief executive officer, simply sees SCAG as an unnecessary third layer of government. He believes the South Coast Air Quality Management District could check on Orange County’s conformity with regional clean-air goals.

SCAG is caught in the middle. On the one hand, it is charged with approving funding and making determinations about conformity with regional goals. But on the other hand, SCAG has not been able to coordinate transportation planning across county borders.

For example, Los Angeles was able to add car-pool lanes to the San Diego Freeway that did not connect with those built earlier in Orange County. And the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has no plans to extend one of its rail lines from Norwalk to the Orange County line so that it could connect with Orange County’s planned urban rail route. As a result, OCTA is setting its own urban rail priorities.

SCAG officials, however, said they think the problem is being exaggerated.

Mark Pisano, SCAG’s executive director, said Monday that Los Angeles will make good on its commitments. Moreover, Pisano said, counties such as Orange would not be entitled to build some of their new roads were it not for the transit projects in Los Angeles.