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Joint Stewardship and Oversight Agreement between Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)

Introduction

On October 14, 2010 the California Department of Transportation and the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) signed the Joint Stewardship and Oversight Agreement (Agreement). This Agreement supersedes the prior version that had been signed on September 04, 2007.

The purpose of the Agreement is to provide a road map to effectively and efficiently manage the Federal-Aid Highway Program (FAHP) both in terms of program and project delivery. It defines roles and responsibilities, outlines authorities, and assures accountability. The Agreement also defines how Caltrans and the FHWA will utilize a Comprehensive Risk-Based Approach to manage the Federal-Aid Highway Program.

Agreement Summary

Projects for which defined approval authority is delegated to Caltrans are not subject to further approvals by the FHWA, unless it is jointly agreed. However, the FHWA reserves the right to perform reviews of all programs and projects at any time, while maintaining a focus on efficient project delivery. The reviews may include projects or programs with unique features, high-risk elements, unusual circumstances, and those included in process reviews. For the Project Responsibilities List, see Appendix B, Attachment 2, of the Joint Stewardship and Oversight Agreement.

High Profile Projects – Agreement Supplement

While Caltrans will be responsible for approval of project level activities for low risk projects, FHWA will maintain project level approval for High Profile projects. This risk-based approach to project oversight will be conducted in two steps: 1) selecting the projects that traditionally pose a risk to the health of the FAHP (High Profile projects), and 2) within the High Profile projects, further delegating approval authorities in activities that pose a low risk to the individual projects.

The guideline for selecting High Profile projects, signed on February 11, 2008 and amended September 2010, is included as Appendix B in the October 2010 Stewardship Agreement. This document is entitled California Stewardship & Oversight Agreement Approach to Identifying “High Profile” Projects. The goal of these guidelines is to identify High Profile Projects (HPPs) and FHWA approval and involvement early in the Project Identification (Planning)/Initiation (PID) Phase or the Local Assistance “Authorization to Proceed” milestone. Caltrans and FHWA will jointly determine which projects are considered to be HPPs based on a criteria described in this document. The HPP determination will be made at the Caltrans District level in conjunction with the FHWA.

Links and Documentation

Record of FHWA Involvement
Project Responsibility List has been included in Attachment 2 of Appendix B of the October 2010, Stewardship Agreement.
- Project Responsibility List
Joint Stewardship and Oversight Agreement executed October 14, 2010.
California Stewardship and Oversight Agreement Approach to Identifying “High Profile Projects” signed February 11, 2008.
For a list of Major Projects, a subset of High Profile Projects, a list of other HPPs, and sample and executed Major Project (High Profile) Oversight Agreements, see High Profile Projects.
The Joint Stewardship Agreement requires program and project overview throughout the project development process. Chapter 2 of the PDPM will be updated to reflect these changes. Until that time that this update is available, the Project Engineer should use Appendix NN of the PDPM, and the appropriate Appendix in either the Stewardship Agreement or the Supplement in order to document project Agreements with FHWA. See the PDPM web page for the latest version of these chapters. The Project Manager is the approving authority for these Agreements. For projects approaching RTL, see the RTL Guide.

This page last updated March 3, 2011