On August 28-29 2018, Principal Transportation Planner Mike Zeller attended a two-day course at California State University Sacramento on Federal Highway Program Funding. This Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) instructor-led training provided an overview of the Federal-aid Highway Program, focusing on various aspects of highway program funding unique to the Federal Highway Administration. Topics included: the operation of the Highway Trust Fund and its significance to the funding level of the Federal-aid Highway Program; the content and policy implications of authorizing and appropriating legislation; the FHWA apportionment process; obligation limitation, allocations, deductions, earmarking, and transferability; and the effect of policy and budget considerations on the use of Federal-aid funds.
On October 2, 2018, Principal Transportation Planner Mike Zeller attended the Regional Conservation Investment Strategy (RCIS) Best Practice Workshop in Sacramento, California hosted by the Nature Conservancy. With the Transportation Agency recently being awarded a Caltrans Adaptation Planning Grant to prepare a Monterey County Regional Conservation Investment Strategy, this workshop provided an excellent opportunity to meet and learn from representatives of other agencies that have already prepared an RCIS, hear the perspectives from the State regulatory agencies, and become more familiar with the latest issues related to the best practices for developing an RCIS.
Memoranda providing more details on each of theses educational events are attached.