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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.

Sign up for the Standard Environmental Reference (SER) Subscription List to receive an automatic notice when updates have been made to the SER. 

  • 02-02-23 The CIA template has been updated to include FHWA’s definition of a “Disproportionately High and Adverse Effect on Minority and Low-Income Populations."  The updated template is located on the SER Other Guidance page.
  • 02-01-23 The Environmental Management Office has created new writing templates to aid staff in preparing ADA compliant environmental documents. The use of the new templates is not mandatory. However, staff are encouraged to use the templates as they have been tested with the PDF Accessibility Checker 3 (PAC 3) and contain several formatting tips to reduce the amount of PAC 3 errors.

    The templates contain new sections for Equity and Senate Bill (SB) 743/Induced Demand Analysis. Guidance for these sections will be included in the next Annotated Outline update. Please follow the placement of these sections in documents currently in progress (i.e., Equity should follow the Environmental Justice section and SB 743 should be placed in the CEQA chapter).

    The EIS templates contain new information about adding the total estimated cost to prepare the EIS to the Title Sheet. There is also a new section for “Submitted Alternatives, Information, and Analyses.” Instructions have been added to the General Information page asking the public to comment on this section. The Comments and Coordination chapter also includes instructions for comments received during the Draft EIS scoping process. Please see the Fact Sheet for Updated NEPA Regulations for additional information.

    The Streamlined EA Writing Template has also been updated to include additional instructions and headings that can be used.

    Please report any issues with the templates to Jennifer.Clark@dot.ca.gov.
  • 1-27-23 The Cultural Studies Office (CSO) has developed and released the Caltrans CalNAGPRA-NAGPRA Claims process. CalNAGPRA and NAGPRA are repatriation laws requiring the return of tribal ancestors and important cultural objects. The claims process will provide transparency as we continue to work diligently and in good faith with our tribal partners.
  • 1-12-23 The climate change chapter annotated outlines for capacity-increasing and non-capacity increasing projects have received minor updates. Two references have revised URLs: "California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). 2020. Caltrans Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Mitigation Report" and "California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). 2021a. California Transportation Plan 2050". Please use these AOs for new projects or copy the two revised references to the documents you are already working on.
  • 1-12-23 The Environmental Management Office has updated the CTC Submittal Guidance page to 1) reflect the permanent move to electronic submittals, 2) the new requirement, effective immediately, that CEQA addendums be submitted to the CTC, and 3) to update the contact information to Mitch Doucette who is our new DEA CTC Liaison! 

    Please note that the requirement to submit addendums only applies when a project revalidation required an actual addendum under CEQA (i.e., the box on the revalidation form has been checked indicating that “an addendum has been or will be prepared”). Do not submit the revalidation form until the addendum is complete and included on the revalidation form or included as an attachment.  Please submit addendums as soon as they are completed to avoid delays when projects go before the CTC for allocation requests.

  • 12-16-22 The DEA Stormwater Management Program has made the following recent updates:
    • Edits to the SER Volume 1, Chapter 15 to add a section on “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System [NPDES] Permits and Relation to other Regulations” and “District NPDES Coordinators Roles and Responsibilities.” Minor edits were also made to the rest of the chapter.
    • Edits to the “Water Quality Assessment Report Template” and “Water Quality Scoping Questionnaire” to reflect the recently updated NPDES permits. Both forms are located on the SER Forms and Templates page.
    • Release of a new memo on the SER Policy Memo page that outlines the requirements for the new “Stormwater TBMP Certification” forms.
  • 12-07-22 The Hazardous Waste, Air Quality, Noise, and Paleontology Office (HWANP) Office has updated and clarified the Property Disposal (previously named Excess Parcel Disposal) section of the SER Volume 1, Chapter 10. This update reflects new procedures for excess lands, relinquishments, and vacations and the use of a new template for abbreviated initial site assessments, called the Environmental Disclosure Memo (EDM). Disposal of excess land, relinquishments, or vacations require an both an EDM and a Hazardous Materials Disclosure Document-Disposal (HMDD-D) ENV-0001-D form. For questions, please contact Chris Dennis christopher.dennis@dot.ca.gov
  • 11-28-22 New versions of the annotated outlines for the climate change section of environmental documents have been posted. These include updated sections and figures for national and state greenhouse gas inventories and related text throughout; revised citations and references; revised instructions for use of greenhouse gas emissions models; updated hyperlinks; and numerous other edits to red boilerplate text and blue instructions. Please use the new outlines for all new documents and those currently in development. 
  • 11-04-22 The FHWA Submittal Package - Request for FHWA Conformity Determination form has been updated to include a signature line for the Caltrans HQ reviewer, as well as to clarify the need for a CTIPS listing in the FHWA submittal package.  The updated checklist can be found on the SER Forms and Templates page.