Environmental Process

Federal and state laws require formal review of projects that may affect the environment. Both the federal law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the state law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) require the preparation of an environmental document. A combined environmental document is being prepared that will identify short-term, temporary impacts of project construction as well as long-term, permanent impacts of the project.

In November 2002, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Caltrans initiated the environmental process by announcing the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR). In December 2002 and January 2003, three public scoping meetings were held to address the scope and content of the environmental studies. During preparation of the environmental technical studies, FHWA and Caltrans made the determination to prepare an Environmental Assessment/Environmental Impact Report (EA/EIR), in lieu of an EIS/EIR. The Draft Environmental Document (DED) was released on May 12, 2006, with a review and comment period for agencies and the general public that extended until July 31, 2006. Two public hearings were held in June 2006. The Final EA/EIR is expected to be released in Fall 2007.

Environmental Technical Studies conducted for the Draft Environmental Document include: