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CTC adopts interim timely‑use‑of‑funds policy for projects affected by 2024–25 Southern California wildfires
Summary
The commission approved an interim policy extending allocation and contract award deadlines for projects in five counties affected by late‑2024 and early‑2025 wildfires, increasing allowable time extensions for several SB1 programs and promising quarterly review of the policy.
The California Transportation Commission on June 2025 adopted an interim timely use of funds policy to provide relief to projects affected by the 2024–25 Southern California wildfires. The policy applies to projects in San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, Los Angeles and Ventura counties and covers multiple SB1 programs.
What the policy does: The interim policy (Attachment A to the staff item) makes several temporary changes to standard deadlines: it extends the deadline to request an allocation for FY 2024–25 impacted projects to the Commission’s December 2025 meeting; increases the allowable time to award a construction contract from six months to 12 months (retroactive to allocations approved at the January, March, May and June 2025 meetings); and raises the maximum allowable time extension for programmed projects in the Local Partnership Program, Solutions for Congested Corridors Program and the Trade Corridors Enhancement Program to 20 months. For the Active Transportation Program (ATP), the maximum allowable time extension increases to 24 months; staff said the ATP already allows longer pre-construction extensions and funds pre-construction activities, so ATP projects face different cascading delays.
Why it matters: Commission staff said the November–February wildfires caused project delays and constrained agencies’ ability to meet previously adopted timely-use deadlines. The policy is intended to preserve projects that are directly delayed by wildfire impacts and to limit administrative burdens on Caltrans and local implementers. Staff will evaluate the need for the interim policy on a quarterly basis and consider case‑by‑case exceptions beyond the stated allowances.
Commission discussion and next steps: Commissioners praised staff outreach and asked staff to consider whether the policy should be extended to other regions after additional analysis. Commissioners raised the statutory limitation on STIP deadlines and asked staff to coordinate with the legislative team on possible fixes if necessary. Commissioner Eager moved to adopt the interim policy; Commissioner Tiffany seconded. The motion passed.
Scope and qualifying criteria: The policy is limited to projects where implementers demonstrate delays directly attributable to the specified wildfires and to the listed counties where states of emergency were issued; staff said Caltrans and affected stakeholders participated in a May 22 stakeholder workshop during policy development.
Implementation: The interim provisions remain in effect through completion for projects that receive approved extensions under the policy; staff will continue case‑by‑case coordination with Caltrans to process extensions uniformly and consider additional relief when justified.
