Transportation Enhancement Activities Guidelines for the Caltrans Share

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In initial cycle, submit TEA Application. Submit Project Study Report (PSR) for project over $750,000.

Submit Project Report (PR) for project under $750,000.

Complete "Over and Above" TEA Eligibility Assurances Sign-off Sheet (See Appendix for a copy.)

Technical Assistance: Howard_Reynolds@dot.ca.gov

Table of Contents

About the Program……………………..........................................................................................1

Introduction
Purpose
Advantage

Types of Projects …………………………………………………………....................................1

Stand-alone TEA Projects
TEA that Augments Other Projects

Eligibility …………………………………………………………………….........................………3

What Qualifies?

A) Direct Relationship to Transportation System

B) Over and Above

C) Within the Categories

SHOPP (State Highway Operation & Protection Program) ………........................……..3

Who Can Access Funds?
Programming Procedures
Application Process
Statewide Plan Lists
Allocation Votes

Roles and Responsibilities ……………………………………………..................................5

Project Manager
District Programming
Headquarters Project Management
Headquarters Budgets
Headquarters TEA Branch Chief

Resources and Timelines …………………………………………......................................5

Resources for Delivery
Timeline

About the TEA Program

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About the TEA Program

Introduction	$40 Million dollars will come to Caltrans over the 6-year period of the Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-first Century. This is a set-aside of Surface Transportation Program funds, and can only be spent on enhancements. Projects must be over and above normal work. A match is required of non-federal transportation funds of 11.5 percent. These are federal funds, and federal rules must be followed, for example, in the environmental document and bid package. (Adding these funds to a state-only funded project will federalize the project.)
Purpose	The California Transportation Commission intends that these Transportation Enhancement Activities (TEA) dollars add onto State Highway projects where particular community or environmental enhancement opportunities can be found.
Advantage	The advantage to using TEA funds is that projects can respond to designer and community desires to go beyond minimum design, thereby building transportation facilities that contribute to communities’ unique sense of place and that respond to the need for non-motorized infrastructure.

Types of Projects

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Types of Projects

Stand-alone TEA Projects	TEA projects may be stand-alone projects, for example, - gateway landscaping in a roundabout, - bike lanes, - "mainstreet" sidewalks with street trees in park strips, benches, information kiosks, pedestrian lighting, - public art (sculpture, murals). - audio historic interpretation of transportation corridors Stand-alone projects should be a minimum of $125,000, including support costs.
TEA that Augments other Projects	TEA projects may be add-ons to normal transportation projects, such as - additional sidewalk and bike lanes on a bridge, - additional rock slope protection, - non-generic right-of-way fencing, - enhanced pedestrian/period lighting, - special materials on drains, - median refuge islands for pedestrians. Augmentation projects may be any size. Base projects must already be federalized.
What qualifies? A) Direct Relationship to Transportation System	Caltrans projects must be directly related to the surface transportation system. Projects need not be on Caltrans right of way.
B) Over and Above	TEA funds may only be spent on elements that are more than what is normally spent. TEA may not be used for mitigation, standard landscaping, other permit requirements and provisions negotiated as a condition of obtaining a permit for a normal [non-enhancement] transportation project.
C) Within the Categories	Projects must be selected from one or more of the twelve activities listed: Provision of facilities for pedestrians and bicycles Provision of safety and educational activities for pedestrians and bicyclists Acquisition of scenic easements and scenic or historic sites Scenic or historic highway programs (including the provision of tourist and welcome center facilities) Landscaping and other scenic beautification Historic preservation Rehabilitation of historic transportation buildings, structures or facilities (including historic railroad facilities and canals) Preservation of abandoned railway corridors (including the conversion and use thereof for pedestrian or bicycle trails) Control and removal of outdoor advertising Archaeological planning and research Environmental mitigation to address water pollution due to highway runoff or reduce vehicle-caused wildlife mortality while maintaining habitat connectivity Establishment of transportation museums. See website for a thorough explanation of eligibility.

SHOPP

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Who Can Access TEA Funds?	The Caltrans TEA share is available for Caltrans to program. The Regional Transportation Planning Agencies (RTPAs) are receiving 75 percent of the TEA funds coming into California. The Caltrans share will not be used to supplant regional funds. RTPAs, counties, cities, non-profit organizations, or citizen groups may request that Caltrans fund a TEA project by itself, or contribute TEA funds to an RTPA-funded TEA or other transportation project. Both of these are allowed. Either Caltrans or another agency may implement the project. When an agency other than Caltrans will be the administering agency, a resolution from the governing body must accompany the application.
Application Process	Note: During the initial call-for-projects in spring 1999, Project Managers submit the TEA Application (a Project Study Report equivalent) for funding consideration. Send applications by may 28, 1999 to: Howard Reynolds HQ Landscape Architecture Mail Station 28 1120 N Street Sacramento, California 95814 After the initial round of projects programmed off-cycle to the SHOPP deadlines, projects will come forward in two ways: During a regular call for SHOPP projects, Project Manager submits a TEA application for a TEA project to augment a normal transportation project. The normal "base project" may reside in the STIP (State Transportation Improvement Program) or SHOPP (State Highway Operation and Protection Program). (For tracking purposes, TEA projects are programmed separately as TEA projects, then construction may be done at the same time as the base project.) Projects will be implemented off statewide plan lists.
Programming Procedures	Before Headquarters Programming includes the project in the SHOPP, the Headquarters TEA Branch Chief (the Program Advisor) will approve projects for eligibility and send recommended projects to the District Directors for their consent. Caltrans TEA projects will be shown project-by-project in the SHOPP (State Highway Operation and Protection Plan). The California Transportation Commission will adopt a slate of SHOPP projects on regular SHOPP cycles. In between, when projects are amended into the SHOPP by Caltrans, the projects will be presented as an information item to the Commission. Headquarters Programming will set targets for each district after the Fund Estimate is adopted. These are not a guarantee of funds. (Schedule from Mike Callahan goes here.)
Allocation Votes	All TEA projects funded by the Caltrans share, regardless of size, will receive an allocation vote from the Commission.

Statewide Plan Lists

Statewide Plan Lists Four statewide plans will be put into place, utilizing input
from Caltrans and interested agencies, organizations and
citizens. The statewide plans are:
1) Bicycle/Pedestrian
2) Historic Transportation Facilities
3) Transportation-related Archaeology
4) Scenic and Wildlife

Projects may be on or off the right of way. However, if State
dollars match the federal TEA dollars, the project must be
eligible under Article XIX of the California State
Constitution. (See www.dot.ca.gov/hq/TransEnhAct/ Elgibility)

Projects will be prioritized within each plan on relative value
and project-readiness

A technical advisory committee under the direction of the
TEA Branch Chief will bring a slate of projects forward to
management for programming into the SHOPP.

No dollar amount has been assigned for programming these
projects; projects will compete with other Caltrans TEA
projects on the basis of merit

Roles and Responsibilities

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Project Manager

In initial cycle, sumit TEA Application

District Programming

The SHOPP will contain a lump sum TEA reservation for major or minor projects. This program will not affect the Districts’ minor program.

Request allocation vote by California Transportation Commission for construction.

HQ Project Mgt.

Apply the resources. (statewide or project-by-project???- Youmans)

HQ Budgets

Include TEA funds and State match in the fund estimate.

HQ TEA Branch Chief

Review all PSRs for eligibility and deliverability prior to programming. Obtain District Director review of projects, prior to programming.

Resources and Timelines

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Resources for Delivery

The $40 million Caltrans share of TEA includes both capital and support dollars. When projects are amended into the SHOPP, the program is updated and resources are finalized.

Timeline

Caltrans will program TEA projects in the normal SHOPP cycle, starting with the 2000 cycle. (Begins Fall 1999.) Before that time, an initial round will be programmed through the amendment process.

Applications for the initial cycle are due May 28, 1999.

Caltrans will develop the statewide plans by summer 1999.

Caltrans will make the initial amendment to the SHOPP in summer 1999.

Appendix A

Transportation Enhancement Activities

Project Scoring

Each project nomination can receive a maximum of 100 points:

up to 60 points in interregional and community enhancement scoring and

up to 40 points in plan-specific scoring.

In the interregional and community enhancement scoring process, all applications are scored by the same point system. For the plan-specific scoring, projects are scored in only one of the four plan list divisions.

The four plan lists are:

1	Bicycle and Pedestrian	40 points
2	Historic Transportation Facilities	40 points
3	Transportation-Related Archaeology Historic Transportation Facilities	40 points
4	Scenic and Natural Environment	40 points

Total Possible Specific Score (1 Plan List only) 40 points

Scoring is applied to the activities on which the enhancement funds will be spent and on the immediate and direct effects of these activities. For example, future or suspected benefit of the project, not directly a part of the project, will not be subject to scoring.

Interregional and Community Enhancement(60 points)

The project score in this area is derived from the project’s primary effects – its intent and purpose – on the following elements.

a. Benefit to quality-of-life, community, environment. Examples might include provision of safe, aesthetic pedestrian facility at a rail station, removal of billboards on a rural scenic highway, provision for wildlife corridors or migration areas, correction of highway runoff impacts to resources. 0-10 points

b. Increases access to activity centers, such as businesses, schools, recreational areas and shopping areas. Connects or reconnects transportation modes, has multimodal aspects. Reinforces, complements the transportation system, fills deficiency in the system, reestablishes wildlife corridors, reconnects natural drainage or corrects erosion problems impeding access. 0-8 points

c. Implements goals in a transportation plan, or other adopted federal, state, or local plans. Examples might include water quality plans or historic preservation or other elements of general plans, natural community conservation plans. 0-8 points

d. Increases availability, awareness, protection or restoration of historic, community, visual or natural resources. 0-8 points

f. Encompasses more than one of the four plan-specific divisions. That is, the project has aspects of other activity-specific plans which would score meritoriously in and of themselves. There will be direct and intended public benefit from these merits; the benefits are not remotely related by function and proximity to the main project activity, or only suspected to occur by the main activity. 0-8 points

Plan-Specific Criteria (40 points)

The Statewide Plan-Specific Criteria are groupings of the 12 activity categories into four divisions with similar characteristics. This is done for the convenience of those who score the proposals. The four groups are not intended to affect the distribution of funds, nor to be anything other than a convenience in the scoring process.

A proposal can score in only one of the four Plan Lists.

The project score in each activity-specific division is designed to compensate for inability to score in other specific groups. It is not a way to double-count benefits.

1. Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan List (40 points)

This division encompasses:

Need for proposed facilities: shortage of bicycle or pedestrian facilities; missing link in connecting the intermodal system, importance of link; Necessity of proposed facilities to serve the system:

Degree proposed project meets needs or addresses opportunities for bicycle or pedestrian facilities:

2. Historic Transportation Facilities Plan List (40 points)

This division encompasses:

Current recognized level of historic significance (federal, state, or local):

Degree project activity will enhance, preserve, or protect the historic/archaeological resource:

3. Transportation-Related Archaeology Plan List (40 points)

This division encompasses:

Category 3: Acquisition of historic sites (archaeological)

Category 10: Archaeological planning and research

Current recognized level of historic significance (federal, state, or local):

Degree project activity will enhance, preserve, or protect the historic/archaeological resource:

4. Scenic and Natural Environment Plan list (40 points)

This division encompasses:

Degree to which scenic or aesthetic resources are rare, unique, or significant; degree to which potential for enhancement exists for landscaping or scenic beautification; protecting or reestablishing wildlife corridor, level of damage caused by highway runoff, current degree of visual blight:

Degree to which project will preserve, rehabilitate or develop scenic or aesthetic resource, or solves wildlife connectivity or highway runoff problem:

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