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What's New

Postings on this page will be highlighted for 90 days.  Postings older than 90 days can be accessed on the Posting History page.

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  • 11-19-21 The Hazardous Waste, Air Quality, Noise, and Paleontology Office (HWANP) Office has updated the SER Volume 1, Chapter 10 to reflect current Caltrans policies and procedures used to address hazardous materials, including hazardous wastes and contamination during the project planning and delivery process. The updates include revisions to project screening for hazardous materials/wastes, site investigations, acquisition of contaminated property, the contamination and unanticipated contamination decision trees, and property relinquishments and vacations. Please contact the DEA HWANP office for more information.
  • 10-29-21 The Cultural Studies Office has updated the Native American Consultation guidance in the Cultural Resources volume of the SER.  This update includes revisions to Chapter 3 and Exhibits 3.1 and 3.6. For additional information, please see the SER Volume 2.

  • 10-26-21 The NEPA Process Improvement Team has approved a proposal to modify Caltrans’ environmental document quality control review procedures and certification forms. The purpose of the new “Integrated Quality Control/Quality Review Procedures” is to increase efficiency of the environmental documentation review and approval process and set achievable required review timeframes. This new process applies to all NEPA documentation, including categorical exclusions. The new process, including a table that summarizes the major changes are included in a memo on the Policy Memo page.

    Additional updates include edits to Chapter 38 of the SER and new internal and external certification forms located on the SER Forms and Templates page.

    For projects that have not yet circulated a draft environmental document (DED), this new process is to be used effective immediately. Even if technical studies for those projects have already been approved, it is highly recommended that those technical studies be sent to the Headquarters Environmental Coordinator ahead of the submission of the administrative DED. For projects that have already circulated a DED, it is intended that this new review process be used as the document moves forward to administrative final environmental document; however, if the timing of the administrative final environmental document is such that the new review process causes undue hardship please contact your Headquarters Environmental Coordinator regarding the option to use our prior review process for the final environmental document. 
  • 10-12-21 The AB 1282 Implementation Subgroup, Recommendation 3.8: Emergency Projects, in cooperation with the Environmental Management Office, has updated the “Emergency Projects: Environmental Process and Requirements” guidance to meet the goals of AB 1282. The new guidance, renamed, “Caltrans Emergency Projects Permitting Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions” can be found on the SER Emergency Projects page.
  • 08-20-21 The NEPA Process Improvement Team has approved the release of the Biological Compliance Programmatic No-Effect Memo for Caltrans and Local Assistance Projects (programmatic memo). The purpose of the programmatic memo is to streamline the no-effect documentation for projects with very minor to no biological impacts. This memo can be found on the SER Policy Memo page.