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The Local Transportation Climate Adaptation Program (LTCAP) Program was created by Senate Bill 198 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review. Transportation., Chapter 71, Statutes of 2022) to make the State’s transportation infrastructure resilient to climate hazards. The legislation of this bill established Section 14564 of Government Code.

Program Objective

The primary objective of this program is to provide competitive grants to local agencies for the development and implementation of capital projects adapting local transportation infrastructure to climate changes.

Program Distribution

The LTCAP Program received $148 million of General Fund in Fiscal Year 2021-22. In addition to State funds, the LTCAP Program is supported by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) (Public Law 117-58) which created a new resilience formula program, the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT). The PROTECT Program provides California with approximately $252.5 million dollars over five years through 2026 with funds for resilience improvements that protect surface transportation assets. The PROTECT funds will be administered through the LTCAP Program.

Eligibility

The Commission is required to develop program guidelines for the selection of projects that meet all of the following criteria:

• Increase climate resiliency and protect at-risk transportation infrastructure using California’s climate projections, as specified in Planning and Investing for a Resilient California: A Guidebook for State Agencies;
• Are consistent with state, regional, or local climate adaptation reports, plans, and the Adaptation Planning Guide, including meeting the climate resiliency goals of the region where the project is located;
• Include outreach conducted by the local agency to under-resourced and vulnerable communities related to the proposed project, consistent with the California State Adaptation Strategy; and
• Incorporate environmental equity, protects vulnerable and under-resourced communities, and provide meaningful benefits to underserved communities, consistent with the California State Adaptation Strategy.

In addition, the Commission is required to prioritize projects based on the following criteria:

• Degree of risk for reoccurring damage or infrastructure failure due to climate threats.
• Benefits to preserving or enhancing regional or statewide mobility, economy, goods movement, and safety and other benefits associated with protecting the infrastructure.
• Benefits to preserving or protecting adjacent communities, the environment, and other critical infrastructure.
• Degree to which the project incorporates environmental equity, protects vulnerable and under-resourced communities, and provides benefits to underserved communities, consistent with the California Adaptation.

Notification Process Update

Local Transportation Climate Adaptation Program applicants may request funding to strengthen and protect essential evacuation routes that provide and support evacuations caused by emergency events, including the:

• Installation of communication and intelligent transportation system (ITS) equipment and infrastructure.
• Installation of counterflow / contraflow / lane reversal measures.
• Installation of shoulders.
• Construction of new or redundant evacuation routes.

PROTECT legislation requires that, for any of the above Community Resilience and Emergency Evacuation activities, applicants must demonstrate the insufficiency of evacuation routes through data-driven and evidence based documentation which supports the need for additional evacuation facilities and aligning with the purpose and definition of evacuation routes.

Examples of data-driven and evidence based supporting documentation may include, but is not limited to: Hazard Mitigation Plans, Regional Transportation Plan (or Sustainable Communities Strategy, if applicable), Evacuation Plans, etc.

The documentation will be evaluated as a part of the Screening Process identified in Section 12(C)(5) of the final 2023 Local Transportation Climate Adaptation Program Guidelines.

For questions or clarification, please contact Rebecca.Light@catc.ca.gov