LOCAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW Division of Local

LOCAL ASSISTANCE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION OVERVIEW Division of Local Assistance John Hoole, Chief Project Implementation South Winton Emmett, Chief Project Implementation North January, 2016

Outline What is Local Assistance What is Project Implementation What we do –Roles and Responsibility Overview How we do it –Implementation Process Overview Programming Barriers to Implementing Projects Best Practices Offices of Project Implementation

What is Local Assistance? The Division of Local Assistance and 12 District Local Assistance Offices assist local agencies in utilizing all available state and federal transportation funds in accordance with state/federal transportation statutes and regulations. Offices of Project Implementation

What are the Federal Funding Programs? Federal Programs include : National Highway Performance Program (NHPP) Surface Transportation Program (STP/STBGP) Bridges as part of NHPP & STP/STBGP Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) High Priority (DEMO), Earmarks, TIGER, Discretionary Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) including Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS) Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) National Highway Freight Program (NHFP) Emergency Relief (ER) Offices of Project Implementation

Federal Fund Requirements Project Eligibility l CMAQ – Can ONLY be used on projects that help reduce traffic congestion, improve air quality, e. g. HOV lane. Can not use to add a traffic lane l STP/STBGP – flexible eligibility l Other Programs – DEMO, HBP, ATP, HSIP, etc Match Funds Required l Federal funding programs generally require a non-federal match l Most programs require 11. 47% non-federal match l Toll Credit can be used to satisfy matching requirements in many cases Offices of Project Implementation

What are the State Funding Programs? State Funds: State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) BOND (Prop 1 B) Portions of ATP Local Funds: NOT Processed by Local Assistance Measure Funds Local Developer and Contribution Offices of Project Implementation

Offices of Project Implementation North: • Winton Emmett • Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 Implementation South: • John Hoole • Districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 Offices of Project Implementation

Roles and Responsibilities Regional & Local Agencies Federal Highway Administration California Transportation Commission HQ Project Implementation Team Offices of Project Implementation District Local Assistance Engineer

Roles and Responsibilities Roles & Duties of HQ Implementation includes: Federal Authorizations Processing STIP, Bond, and ATP Allocation Requests FTA and Other Fund Transfers Preparing/Executing Agreements Interacting w/ other HQ units on behalf of District & local agencies Advice on policy interpretation & implementation procedures Offices of Project Implementation

Roles and Responsibilities Roles & Duties of District (DLAE) includes: Initial and Primary Contact with Local Agencies Advise Local Agencies on Caltrans Local Assistance Policies/Procedures Receive Funding Requests from Local Agencies, Review for Completeness, Transmit to and Coordinate with HQ Conduct Field Reviews Invoice Processing Final Report of Expenditures and Closeout Coordination Offices of Project Implementation

Roles and Responsibilities FHWA Federal agency ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with all federal requirements on highway projects; approver of Federal Authorizations LOCAL AGENCY Initiates and submits “Request for Authorization” package to the DLAE Primarily responsible for implementing projects conception • environmental • maintenance planning • design programming • construction Offices of Project Implementation

ROW DESIGN PLANNING Project Authorization Process Federal Program (TIP) (LAPG) (Ch 7, 8) Authorize PE Obligate $ Field Review Environ. Studies (CTC vote) (Ch 3) (Ch 7) (Ch 6) (Ch 3) (Ch 11, 12) Federal Envir. Approval Final Design PS&E Authorize R/W Obligate $ Acquire R/W (CTC vote) CONST. FINANCE (Ch 15, 16) Master Agreement (Ch 4) Authorize Utilities Obligate $ Authorize Const. Obligate $ (CTC vote) (Ch 14) (Ch 13) (CTC vote) (Ch 3) Advertise Award Construct Program Agreement Progress Invoices PE, RW, Con to District (Ch 5) (Ch 17) (Ch 4) Final Rpt. & Invoice (CTC vote only for allocations – see LAPG Ch. 23)

Federal Authorizations PE Authorization Covers preliminary engineering work associated with environmental process and final design Eligible reimbursement only after PE Authorization date. Final design can begin only after NEPA clearance May include preliminary R/W activities necessary to develop project alternatives Offices of Project Implementation

Federal Authorizations Right of Way Authorization If federal reimbursement is sought for any phase of the project, all R/W activities must conform to federal requirements NEPA environmental clearance required prior to authorization Must be obtained prior to negotiation w/ owners Covers: Appraisals RW Acquisition • Negotiation w/ owners • Relocation Assistance Offices of Project Implementation

Federal Authorizations Construction Authorization AUTHORIZE BEFORE YOU ADVERTISE!!! (Repeat 3 times) NEPA clearance required prior to federal authorization Right of Way Certification required Offices of Project Implementation

Agreements General Legal contract between Caltrans and Local Agency specifying project requirements, funding commitments, and other agency responsibilities Required for reimbursement Offices of Project Implementation

Agreements Master Agreements: Federal-aid State-only Program Supplement Agreements: Location, work & cost specific for each project E-76 Authorization/Agreement Between Caltrans and FHWA Offices of Project Implementation

Invoices (Risk-Based) Federal-aid Program is a reimbursement program Local agency first pays contractor, then seeks federal reimbursement Requirements for Reimbursement Master Agreement Program Supplement Agreement E-76 Finance Letter Award Package (for Construction) Indirect Cost Rate Acceptance Letter (if applicable) Offices of Project Implementation

Inactive Projects A Project becomes Federally INACTIVE when: There is no billing activities (invoices) for 12 months from either the last invoice or the original fund obligation (http: //www. dot. ca. gov/hq/Local. Programs/Inactiveproje cts. htm) FHWA Quarterly Inactive Project Reviews Invoice, Final, or cancel project Federally inactive projects are subject to deobligation Offices of Project Implementation

Project Completion and Maintenance Local Agency submits Final Report of Expenditures to closeout project Local agency maintenance obligations begin; lack of maintenance will result in sanctions Caltrans and FHWA process Final Voucher to close project (may take 21 months from FROE submittal) Local Agency retains project records for 3 years after FHWA Final Voucher date Offices of Project Implementation

Local Assistance – Quick Facts for California At any given time, there about 5, 000 “active projects” (of these, 4, 000 are federal) among 680 agencies These active projects represent $9 billion in federal funds, and a total of $16 billion in all fund types Federal funds for local agencies for FFY 15/16 are at about $1. 5 billion Offices of Project Implementation

Our Challenges Hard to predict cost, schedule, or number of projects – out of Local Assistance control Imbalanced delivery of the Federal Program (generally only 50% of the program has been obligated after 3 Q) Rules Keep Changing: MAP-21, FAST Act, NEXTEA Enhanced NHS, Performance Measures DBE, Buy America New funding programs Offices of Project Implementation

Programming Barriers to Implementing Projects Incorrect and Incomplete Programming Description, Fund Type, Fund Amount, Program Year, Phase Emission Benefit Calcs (CMAQ) Notation of: Toll Credit, PM 2. 5 eligibility, EPSP approval Offices of Project Implementation

Programming Barriers to Implementing Projects Lack of Coordination between the Programming Body and the Local Agency Time! 2 months to get an Admin Mod? ! 6 months for a Formal Amendment? !? !? !? CTC? DLA? FHWA? Offices of Project Implementation

Best Practices Coordinate with your Local Agencies early and often! Ensure project scope/cost/schedule line up with Programming Give the hammer a nail – don’t make us guess. Denote the use of Toll Credits, PM 2. 5 Eligibility, Emission Benefit Calcs, etc in the FTIP/FSTIP Encourage EARLY (in the FFY) Delivery please! Offices of Project Implementation

Local Assistance Website www. dot. ca. gov/hq/Local. Programs/ Offices of Project Implementation

Questions? Offices of Project Implementation