a) The Consultant shall perform professional and technical services required for Caltrans Headquarters (“HQ”) Environmental Support Services, on an “as-needed” basis to support Caltrans, Division of Environmental Analysis, District 43. Specifically, the Consultant may assist Caltrans in developing approaches for the administration and use for the delivery of future statewide project-level requirements and to comply with applicable statutes, laws, regulations, and policies pertaining to the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”), the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), and other applicable statutes, laws, regulations, and policies pertaining to biological resources, historic preservation, and cultural resources management. b) The Consultant may assist in the development and maintenance of guidance (manuals, policy, templates, Standard Environmental Reference) that are critical tools for Caltrans Districts to use in the project delivery process statewide. The Consultant may assist with updates and maintaining the guidance, for its continued use and suitability at a project level. c) This Agreement is for the following specific Environmental Support Services Caltrans HQ NEPA & CEQA Support Services (Attachment 1A) d) The Consultant shall conduct the appropriate level of environmental analyses, and must be able to evaluate, monitor and address changes due to changes in state and federal laws, new or revised legislation, or statutes. The Consultant may be requested to assist in the development of templates, policy, and guidance. The Consultant's services are intended to increase efficiency of environmental compliance, permit products and processes that are required for project approval under state and federal statutes and regulations. e) National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) is a procedural law that requires Federal agencies (Caltrans acting as Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”)) to look at the full range of environmental resources within the project limits and examine the potential impacts and ensuring compliance with other environmental laws (involving air, water, threatened and endangered species, environmental justice, cultural resources, floodplains, etc.) f) The California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) generally requires state and local government agencies to inform decision makers and the public about the potential environmental impacts of proposed projects, and to reduce those environmental impacts to the extent feasible. g) Attachment 1A contain additional laws, executive orders and regulations that Consultant shall adhere to in the development of materials in support of the Standard Environmental Reference (“SER”). h) Architectural and Engineering Services This Agreement is for Architectural and Engineering (“A&E”) services, as described in California Government Code Sections 4525, et seq., and California Code of Regulations, Title 21, Chapter 12, Article 1, section 1520.1, except that non-A&E incidental and ancillary services are permitted if the cumulative value of all such non-A&E services do not exceed 15% of the total expenditures under this Agreement. Non- A&E incidental services are further addressed in Section D, Non-Architectural and Engineering (“A&E”) Services.
