Please join the Association of Environmental Professionals and several esteemed thought-leaders for a virtual luncheon webinar on transportation policy alignment for environmental practitioners.
In this session, our panel will discuss the scope and time-sensitive nature of addressing our climate crisis, the reasons why we are collectively not meeting related state’s climate goals, and what we can all do to move our plans, projects, and programs into alignment. Speakers from UC Berkely, the California State Transportation Agency, California Department of Transportation, and Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (formerly OPR) will share compelling reasons and helpful examples of how your private-sector clients and public-sector agencies can:
Based on AEP member feedback, this session is designed to provide key points and specific examples that could help you ‘make the case’ for strategic environmental decisions that are in alignment with state climate policy goals.
Speaker Bios
Zachary Miller, AICP, Principal Planner at Governor's Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (formerly the Office of Planning and Research)
Zach Miller is a Principal Transportation Planner at the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI). Zach specializes in addressing transportation impacts under CEQA, in particular the requirement for vehicle miles traveled (VMT) analysis as the basis for transportation impacts. He is currently leading a state interagency task force to develop a programmatic VMT mitigation framework that provides the opportunity for qualified infill housing projects to serve as mitigation for transportation and housing projects that have significant VMT impacts under CEQA. Prior to joining LCI, Zach spent over 15 years working on a variety of project types in the fields of transportation planning, long-range planning, land use planning, and environmental impact analysis. Based on previous experience as the Program Manager for the Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, and in CEQA and transportation consulting, Zach understands the challenges of transportation planning and policy from multiple perspectives.
Darwin Moosavi, Deputy Secretary for Environmental Policy and Housing Coordination at the California State Transportation Agency
Darwin Moosavi was appointed Deputy Secretary for Environmental Policy and Housing Coordination at the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) in August of 2019 by Governor Gavin Newsom. In his current role, Darwin focuses on initiatives related to reducing vehicle miles traveled, housing and transportation coordination, and climate resilience, amongst other issues. He was lead author of CalSTA’s Climate Action Plan for Transportation Infrastructure (CAPTI) published in 2021 and currently works on its implementation. Before joining the team at CalSTA, Darwin served as Sustainability Project Manager the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), leading initiatives to champion walking, bicycling and transit use, promote zero emission vehicles and integrate equity considerations into the Department’s work. Under the administration of Governor Brown, Darwin was appointed as a Senior Planner at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), where he worked on various transportation policy issues centered around building sustainable communities and reducing vehicle miles traveled. Darwin spent several years helping build the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) program, and later served as its Program Manager at the Strategic Growth Council. Darwin earned his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning from UC Davis and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University, with an emphasis in Transportation Planning.
Eric Sundquist, Deputy Director for Sustainability at the California Department of Transportation
Eric joined Caltrans in 2021 serving as the sustainability advisor in the Director’s Office of Equity, Sustainability and Tribal Affairs (ESTA). In that role Eric led the Department’s effort to evaluate and minimize vehicle-miles traveled in assessing project transportation impacts, and in developing metrics around equitable multimodal access to destinations. Prior to Caltrans, Eric was Director of the State Smart Transportation Initiative (SSTI) at the University of Wisconsin, Madison from 2010 to 2021 and a Senior Associate there from 2007 to 2010. SSTI works with state DOTs nationally to modernize policy and practice around policy goals including environmental protection, equitable transportation service and impacts, and cost-savings. Eric has been active in the Transportation Research Board, chairing the Social, Economic, and Cultural Issues Section and serving an officer on the Major Cities and Transportation and Sustainable Transportation committees. Eric held several positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology including Research Scientist from 2004 to 2007 and Research and Teaching Assistant from 2003 to 2004. He held editor and reporter positions at several publications, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the (Norfolk) Virginian Pilot, the (Fredericksburg, Va.) Free Lance-Star, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the (Newport News, Va.) Daily Press and Times Herald from 1981 to 2007. Eric has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Miami University of Ohio, a Master of Humanities degree from the University of Richmond, a Master of Science degree in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in City Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Webinar Link will be emailed to all registrants a day or two before the event.
Cost: FREE for AEP members (any chapter), $30 for non-members
Non-members may pay via PayPal on the registration website or check payable to AEP. Mail check to AEP c/o Janet Dallas, Treasurer, 2020 L Street, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95811. If those payment options don’t work for you contact Janet Dallas at janet.dallas@aecom.com or (916) 607-1775, and we can work something out with you.
If you have any issues with registration, contact Janet Dallas, AEP Chapter Treasurer at janet.dallas@aecom.com or (916) 607-1775.
If you need to cancel, please contact Janet Dallas.
| 5/28/2025 |    |
