Division of Environmental Analysis

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The Division of Environmental Analysis (DEA) administers Caltrans' responsibilities under federal and state environmental law. The Program develops and maintains Caltrans environmental standards, policies, procedures, and practices that are implemented by the Department's 12 District Environmental Branches. Program staff work with the districts to identify and assess the effects of Caltrans projects on the state's natural and cultural environments, and identify ways to avoid or mitigate those effects.

DEA acts as the Department compliance lead and assists the Districts and our transportation partners in:

Complying with state and federal environmental laws;
Encouraging the public to participate in the environmental evaluation process;
Determining the environmental consequences of our activities;
Proposing prudent, feasible and cost effective strategies and alternatives to avoid or minimize adverse impacts of the Department's activities, and;
Ensuring the mitigation selected is appropriate.

In response to enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), in 1969, and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), in 1973, Caltrans formally initiated an environmental function. Subsequently, in response to the passage of a host of environmentally-related lawsand regulations and heightened public support for the environment, the Program has grown to become a substantive and inseparable part of Caltrans' planning, development, construction, operation and maintenance efforts.

DEA Leadership

DEA is headquartered in Sacramento, though each of the twelve district offices, located throughout the state. The Program, administratively under the Deputy Director for Project Delivery, is headed by a Program Chief who also serves as the Agency Preservation Officer. DEA has a highly-trained, professional staff of planners, engineers and environmental specialists who work with the District Environmental Branches to help their staff and project managers with the environmental project process.

Acting Division Chief

Jeremy Ketchum

Acting Assistant Division Chief

Jody Brown

Assistant Division Chief

Shaila Chowdhury

Sandra Rosas – Districts 1, 2, and 3 (Acting)
Cindy Anderson – District 4
Larry Bonner – Districts 5, 6, 9, and 10 (Acting)

Kelly Dunlap – Districts 7 and 12
John Chisholm – Districts 8 and 11

10-12-18 The Environmental Records Retention Policy has been added to Chapter 38 of the SER. See "Project Files and Document Retention" section for details.
09-25-18 The Annual Reports for the First Amended Section 106 Programmatic Agreement and the PRC 5024 MOU are now available.
09-25-18 The Historical Resources Compliance Report (HRCR) forms have been updated on SER Volume 2 and Cultural Templates pages.
09-14-18 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defined some project type descriptions belonging to 40 CFR 93.126 "Table 2- Exempt Projects" that are exempt from conformity and would not need a PM hot-spot analysis. This information is reflected in the updated Fact Sheet developed by both The Division of Environmental Analysis, Environmental Management Office and the Division of Transportation Planning, Office of Regional Planning that provides clarification on projects exempt from air quality conformity requirements under 23 CFR 93.126 "Table 2-Exempt Projects."
08-08-18 The Environmental Management Office is pleased to announce that Chapter 5 of the SER, "Preliminary Environmental Scoping," has been completely revised to incorporate the contents of the PEAR Manual and updated to include the most up-to-date information on PIDs, scoping tools, etc. The PEAR Manual has been retired and all of the PEAR templates and attachments have been moved to the SER Forms and Templates page.
07-27-18 The Environmental Management Office has updated the sample Air Quality Conformity Analysis Cover Letter on the SER Forms and Templates page. The sample letter includes the 2015 Quantitative Hot-spot Analysis Guidance and current FHWA contacts.