Division Spotlight: Environmental Analysis

Air quality and climate change, water quality, and fish and wildlife are just a few of DEA’s many focuses

Welcome to the second story in a Mile Marker series that will examine, in a nuts-and-bolts way, a specific Caltrans program. In this issue we look at the Division of Environmental Analysis.

Air, water, life … the Division of Environmental Analysis’ purview extends beyond the structure of our state’s transportation system to also incorporate the very foundations of our existence.

Overstatement? Yes, but DEA does have the hugely consequential task of administering Caltrans' responsibilities under federal and state environmental laws. The division develops and maintains Caltrans’ environmental standards, policies, procedures and practices that are implemented by Caltrans’ 12 district environmental branches. It identifies and assesses the effects of Caltrans projects on the state's natural and cultural environments, and identifies ways to avoid or mitigate those effects.

Caltrans’ DEA creation was linked to enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in 1973, following which Caltrans formally initiated an environmental function. Subsequently, in response to the passage of a host of environmentally related laws and regulations and heightened public support for the environment, the division has grown to become a substantive and inseparable part of Caltrans' planning, project delivery, construction, operation and maintenance efforts.

Today, district environmental staff and Headquarters DEA staff make up a statewide multi-disciplinary team of more than 1,000 environmental professionals knowledgeable in the environmental sciences and related specialty areas, including biology, archaeology, architectural history, community impacts, Native American consultation, paleontology, air quality and climate change, noise and vibration, water quality, stormwater and hazardous waste. Caltrans environmental professionals are experts in NEPA and CEQA compliance, natural and cultural resource management issues, environmental engineering, regulatory compliance and project permitting, community involvement, and mitigation planning and implementation.

In 2012, DEA also established a Coastal Program to strengthen coordination with the California Coastal Commission on project development, permit applications and key focus areas, such as sea-level rise and the California Coastal Trail. In 2023, a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated the completion of the State Route 1 Gleason Beach Roadway Realignment Project, the first Caltrans project built with the primary purpose of addressing sea-level rise.

Notably, Caltrans was the first state transportation department in the nation to take on “NEPA Assignment” (then known as “NEPA Delegation”), first as a pilot program in 2007 under authorities granted by the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users Act (SAFETEA-LU), and then as a permanent project delivery program with the passage of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21). Under both programs, the Federal Highway Administration assigned, and Caltrans assumed, all the U.S Department of Transportation Secretary’s responsibilities under NEPA and most other federal environmental laws. More information on the benefits of this program can be found on this webpage.

Another important project delivery efficiency led by DEA was the development of the Caltrans National Historic Protection Act (NHPA) Section 106 Programmatic Agreement (106 PA). The 106 PA is an agreement among the Federal Highway Administration, the California State Historic Preservation Officer and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation that delegates the majority of NHPA Section 106 decision-making responsibilities to Caltrans districts and the Cultural Studies Office in DEA.

The result has been a large reduction in the amount of time needed for cultural-resources compliance on the majority of Caltrans projects. It allows for this efficiency while still ensuring Caltrans can properly protect and manage cultural resources across the state in accordance with federal laws and regulations.

The division also provides a robust training program for Caltrans environmental staff and our partners. Offering more than 50 in-person and online classes, the Office of Staff Development and Strategic Director recently won awards from both the American Planning Association and the California Association of Environmental Professionals.

In recent years, the training program has incorporated extra opportunities to partner with jurisdictional partners and local agencies to improve their understanding of Caltrans’ project delivery process. Agencies such as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Toll Roads of Orange County and the U.S. Forest Service have provided no-cost training locations to Caltrans, to train both the department's and agency partners' staff side by side, building stronger professional relationships.

The division also lays out its intentions for the future in its recently completed Strategic Plan, which covers the next five years. Among the stated goals: enhance hiring, recruitment and retention; increase diversity at all levels that reflect the communities Caltrans serves; increase work satisfaction and achieve pay equity; and be at the forefront of innovative solutions and environmental trends in transportation.

Here are a few specifics about what role DEA plays in improving our environment.

Air quality and climate change

The Federal Clean Air Act, the California Clean Air Act, NEPA and CEQA require Caltrans to consider air quality as a part of the environmental review process. Caltrans coordinates with federal, state and regional transportation planning agencies and local air districts to address transportation-related air-quality issues.

Particulate matter (PM) emitted from construction sites and roads contain microscopic solids or liquid droplets that can be inhalable and may cause health problems. The division, in cooperation with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studied the potential for noise barriers (or soundwalls) to mitigate the impacts from PM. Studies indicate that these noise barriers can reduce near-source pollutant concentrations by as much as 20 to 40 percent within a tenth of a mile from the road source.

Climate change, whose primary driver is greenhouse gases, is a substantial concern that DEA confronts in many ways. Greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, which include direct emissions from vehicle tailpipes, off-road transportation sources, interstate aviation and other transportation sources, accounted for 38.2 percent of statewide emissions in 2021, with passenger vehicles accounting for 27.3 percent of that total.

In 2020, Caltrans implemented Senate Bill 743, which changes the way Caltrans evaluates transportation projects, to reduce total driving, or vehicle miles traveled in California. Part of this effort included the implementation of changes to the CEQA statute and guidelines, in which DEA played a pivotal role. In 2020, Caltrans released the first edition of the “Transportation Analysis under CEQA” (TAC), which provides guidance to environmental staff statewide on the evaluation of transportation impacts under CEQA to reduce vehicle miles traveled, and consequently, greenhouse gas emissions.

Water quality

The division addresses water quality concerns through both its biological programs and offices and through its stormwater management program. Aquatic habitats such as wetlands, lakes, rivers and other waters are regulated to varying degrees by the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the state and regional waterboards, the Coastal Commission and CDFW. Caltrans biologists work closely with these agencies to comply with a variety of federal and state statutes, regulations and policies.

The division also leads the statewide coordination, development and implementation efforts for the 2023 Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP), to comply with the Caltrans National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Statewide Stormwater Permit and Waste Discharge Requirements adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) in 2022, in accordance with California Water Code and pursuant to the federal Clean Water Act.

The SWMP integrates appropriate stormwater pollution control activities into planning, design, construction and maintenance and operations activities, thus making control of stormwater pollution a part of Caltrans normal business practices.

The NPDES Permit requires preparation and implementation of action plans to control pollutant discharges from Caltrans’ rights of way by a specific timeline that include trash control in areas identified as significant trash-generation areas, reducing pollutant loads in specific watersheds that have impaired waterbodies, which are referred to as a total maximum daily load (TMDL), and control pollutant discharges in areas of special biological significance (ASBS) identified along the coastal watersheds.

Caltrans will be building stormwater treatment devices to comply with these mandates and when projects result in new, or changes to existing, impervious pollutant-generating surfaces. Treatment devices will be considered both on state right-of-way (on-system) where feasible and off-system in partnership with local municipalities.

The division’s Stormwater Program development efforts includes conducting pilot studies to evaluate and develop new technologies that are effective in controlling pollutant discharges in stormwater runoff, and also evaluating emerging pollutants of concern and the technologies available to effectively control their discharges from Caltrans’ right of way. Division staff led an effort that resulted in a newly patented trash-capture device that has the potential to significantly improve the efficiency of trash capture from highway drainage infrastructure. (Read more about this device in a recent Mile Marker story.)

The Caltrans NPDES Permit encourages partnerships with local municipalities, and Caltrans has responded by participating in regional water-quality treatment facilities in severely impaired watersheds and in significant trash generation areas. This watershed-based environmental engineering approach is a fiscally responsible way to provide an equitable approach in response to community health and ecosystem restoration in Caltrans’ shared commitment, alongside the SWRCB, to promote environmental stewardship. Municipal coordination offers benefits to Caltrans and its partners in the form of cost-savings and capitalizing on combined resources to deliver quality projects.

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'Let's Change This to That'

The Stormwater Program’s public education campaign “Let’s Change This to That” just concluded its three-year campaign run and achieved significant results that made a lasting impact on the residents of the state of California. The paid media campaign delivered well over 1 billion total impressions which was close to two and one half times the original projection.

The campaign utilized a variety of media tactics including, news articles, billboards, radio ads, digital displays, social media influencers and paid/organic social media educating Californians about stormwater pollution prevention and the key pollutants of concern. Regular statewide cleanup activations and strong partner relationships helped the campaign collect over 123,000 pounds of litter, diverting harmful pollutants away from waterways at the source.

The campaign not only achieved remarkable results but also left an indelible mark on Californians inspiring meaningful behavior change as a trusted advocate and leader for environmental stewardship.

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Fish and wildlife

Caltrans biologists are located statewide in the 12 districts and Headquarters and bring expertise to a broad range of transportation-related biological issues. As part of planning, project delivery, and program teams, they tackle complex studies and consultations as they provide support for planning, capital improvements, operations and maintenance, as well as oversight responsibilities for local assistance, special-funded and consultant projects.

DEA’s Biology Offices of Biological Studies, Advance Mitigation, and Fish and Wildlife Connectivity provide leadership, direction, guidance and technical expertise in all areas of biological resource analysis, by developing and establishing policy, standards and procedures necessary to make wise transportation and natural-resource decisions.

The division also plays a leading role in establishing and/or improving fish passages and wildlife connectivity. State law mandates that Caltrans assess, prioritize, fund and remediate barriers on the state highway system for salmon and steelhead. DEA produces annual reports to the Legislature that report the status of Caltrans’ progress.

Online, the division posts interactive maps that detail the progress made on removing barriers to fish passage connectivity. Since the enactment of Senate Bill 857 in 2005, Caltrans has remediated 65 priority barrier locations. Those locations account for an estimated 920.48 miles of improved access to salmon and steelhead habitat. The full-span bridge remediation solutions provide further access for all other aquatic and land species.

To date, Caltrans has also identified 49 priority wildlife connectivity barrier locations that are continually evaluated to identify funding opportunities to advance habitat connectivity and to reduce animal/vehicle collisions.

The work within DEA is continually evolving and the division continually seeks innovative approaches to environmental-related challenges. One recent innovative approach was recognized by the California Association of Environmental Professionals, which gave the State Route 37 PEL (Planning and Environmental Linkages) Study its “Outstanding Environmental Resource Document” award. Many additional efficiencies identified by DEA have resulted in substantial cost savings (see Caltrans efficiencies report) for the state.

Work within DEA is often driven by legislation. Assembly Bill 1282 in 2017 brought together transportation and permitting agencies to collaboratively address statewide transportation permitting challenges. In the past year, DEA is actively working in partnership with internal Caltrans stakeholders and state permitting agencies on implementing the recommendations in a 2019 report to reduce permit processing time and provide greater certainty of permit requirements.

Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, authorized Caltrans to plan and implement advance mitigation solutions for its future transportation projects. This business practice allows Caltrans to reduce delays by proactively obtaining environmental mitigation in advance of – rather than during – transportation projects. DEA administers the mitigation program, whose primary goal is to address longer-term environmental mitigation needs resulting in improved environmental, economic and project delivery outcomes.

The program reached an important milestone last year with the first advance mitigation credits being secured and identified for use on a specific transportation project.

DEA is deeply committed to its core mission of advancing environmental and transportation outcomes to serve all people. The efforts highlighted above identify just some of the many activities occurring within DEA to meet this mission.

Learn more about the Caltrans Division of Environmental Analysis by visiting its online homepage.

Source: Jeremy Ketchum, Chief, Division of Environmental Analysis