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Last Updated: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 4:01 PM

Nepa Delegation

In August 2005, President Bush signed into law a federal transportation reauthorization bill called the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Two sections of the law allow the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to assume the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other federal environmental laws such as the Endangered Species Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. These programs offer the opportunity to test a streamlined environmental process. Caltrans is, in essence, the federal agency for those projects where it assumes FHWA’s environmental responsibilities.

Under the NEPA Delegation Pilot Program MOU, Caltrans is now responsible for FHWA's responsibilities under NEPA as well as consultation and coordination responsibilities under other Federal environmental laws. These responsibilities became effective July 1, 2007. Caltrans’ Standard Environmental Reference has been updated to reflect these responsibilities, with a new Chapter 38 dedicated solely to NEPA Delegation. More...

Under the Section 6004 MOU, Caltrans has assumed responsibility for determining CEs for activities listed under 23 CFR 771.117(c), the activities listed as examples under 23 CFR 771.117(d), and the actions listed in Appendix A of the MOU. In addition to those projects where Caltrans has assumed CE responsibility, Caltrans has also assumed FHWA's responsibilities for environmental review and consultation under other federal environmental laws. These responsibilities are effective immediately. More...