In response to the severe winter storms that affected California during December 2016 and January 2017, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a letter to Caltrans, in March 2017, granting conditional approval to local agencies to proceed with permanent repairs, under emergency opening (EO) procedures, for their Emergency Relief (ER) projects associated with the two winter storms. Due to the successful implementation of this action, this month FHWA issued a second letter to Caltrans in February 2018, expanding this conditional approval to all ER projects associated with ER eligible Disaster Events occurring after the December 2016 and January 2017 storms.
The initial approval is applicable to ER projects resulting from Disaster Events CA 17-1 and CA 17-2 that meet the conditions described in the FHWA letter dated March 14, 2017. The recently expanded approval applies to ER projects from Disaster Event CA 17-3 and later, which meet the requirements stipulated in FHWA’s letter dated February 14, 2018. ER projects not meeting the criteria must abide by the requirements stipulated in the Local Assistance Program Guidelines (LAPG), Chapter 11, which requires all permanent repair phases of the project, except Preliminary Engineering, be processed using regular federal aid procedures.
This supplemental guidance is intended for Caltrans HQ Local Assistance Headquarters Area Engineers, District Local Assistance Engineers and Local Assistance Environmental staff. Please refer to the following resources for more specific information regarding the Emergency Relief Program and Environmental Procedures:
- Local Assistance Program Guidelines, Chapter 11 – Emergency Relief Program
- Standard Environmental Reference, Emergency Projects – Environmental Process and Requirements:
- March 14, 2017 letter from FHWA: Emergency Relief (ER) Program – Statewide Approval of Permanent Repairs under Caltrans’ Emergency Opening (EO) Procedures
- February 14, 2018 letter from FHWA: Emergency Relief (ER) Program – Statewide Approval of Permanent Repairs under Caltrans’ Emergency Opening (EO) Procedures
- Further guidance can be found at: www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LocalPrograms/erp/manual.html
If you have any questions please contact Bob Baca at 916-653-9151 or Bob.Baca@dot.gov.
