Environmental Impact Assessment & Permitting

• Aquatic Ecotoxicologists
• EHS Compliance Experts
• Energy Transition Experts
• Environmental Scientists
• Fisheries & Biological Experts
• Geographic Information Systems Specialists
• Impact & Permitting Experts
• Wetlands Delineation Specialists

• Commercial Developers
• Construction & Engineering Companies
• Financial Institutions
• Government Agencies & Municipalities
• Insurance Companies
• Large Industrial Companies
  • Energy
  • Manufacturing
  • Oil & Gas
  • Petrochemical
  • Power
  • Pulp & Paper
• Law Firms & Legal Counsel
• Public Utilities

As regulatory and reputational scrutiny on new projects increases related to their impact on the surrounding environment, our experts help clients understand the long-term effects involved in acquiring new property, building new facilities, and replacing or decommissioning a site’s existing operations.

We advise clients on compliance with international, national, state, and local regulations and standards to ensure projects achieve necessary approvals and avoid time consuming, costly delays.

Our process includes:

• Field Surveys & Modeling
• Financial Option Analysis
• GIS & GPS Data Visualization / Management
• Impact & Risk Mitigation
• Individual Resource Analysis
• Project Feasibility Assessments
• Regulatory Permitting
• Stakeholder Engagement Planning & Implementation

Our experts provide comprehensive support to clients in ensuring that all necessary licenses, permits, and project documentation are secured and accurate in a timely manner. We have long-standing relationships with regulatory agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to help conduct effective negotiations and allow clients to achieve their required permits/licenses and meet project deadlines.

We have been engaged on large capital projects that require interfacing with multiple agencies and leverage a wide breadth of environmental experts at our firm to execute more elaborate permitting reviews and natural resources services.

We are engaged to provide permitting support in projects including:

• Air
• Cultural Resources
• Noise
• Process Safety
• Stormwater
• Threatened & Endangered Species
• Waste – Solid & Hazardous
• Wastewater
• Water
• Wetlands

Cooling water intake structures can cause adverse environmental impact by pulling large numbers of fish and shellfish or their eggs into a power plant's or facility's cooling system. Organisms may be killed or injured by heat, physical stress, or by chemicals used to clean the cooling system. Larger organisms may be killed or injured when they are trapped against screens at the front of an intake structure.

We help clients navigate complex EPA compliance requirements, including evaluation of existing intake and cooling water systems, desktop and actual field studies to assess existing conditions, and assisting clients in interfacing with state and federal agencies in alignment with project timelines while managing operational and business risks associated with permit compliance.

Our experts leverage a deep understanding of fish/fish habitats, power plants, and cooling water intake structures (CWIS) to deliver comprehensive 316(b) compliance support while avoiding capital expenditures, when possible.

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) is a permit program that regulates point sources of pollution discharge into the waters of the United States.

The NPDES is a critical component of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and our experts assist clients throughout the permitting process to meet compliance requirements and negotiate on their behalf regarding permit limits and monitoring. Our experts help navigate complex requirements laid out in the NPDES permit program to ensure project-specific permit compliance is achieved. We provide specialized expertise in each facet of NPDES permitting including:

• General Wastewater Permit Compliance
• Industrial Wastewater Permit Compliance
• Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan Compliance
• Stormwater (SWPPP) Permit Compliance

We provide strategic guidance during the initial application process and provide ongoing support and recommendations along the way to facilitate turnkey NPDES permitting.

We provide expert advisory regarding permitting and compliance with Sections 7 & 10 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Our experts identify and evaluate the environmental impact of projects on protected species and their habitats and interface with the proper regulatory organizations to mitigate the level of impact.

We work with federal and state agencies to avoid and minimize project impacts on threatened and endangered species and/or their habitats. Our process includes:

• Planning – We provide guidance during the initial consultation process with USFWS and state agencies to facilitate proper permitting for projects. We deliver expert opinion throughout the formal consultation process to aid in receiving necessary permits.
• Surveys – We conduct desktop and field surveys to identify and document potential threatened and endangered species and/or their habitats that may be affected by the project.
• Permitting – We work with the USFWS and state agencies to develop avoidance and mitigation plans to prevent impacts to threatened and endangered species. Our team is experienced in developing the appropriate Biological Assessments to assist with determining the level of impact and obtaining permits. In cases where threatened and endangered species may be incidentally disrupted during the project, we work closely with clients to develop a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) to receive an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) in accordance with Section 10 of the ESA.

Wetlands are a complex ecosystem that provide food and habitat in the form of nursery areas for many different species of fish, shellfish, birds, and reptiles. They also provide a buffer zone for water runoff, helping to improve water quality and reduce flooding. Large wetland systems can also help reduce erosion and provide sediment control during hurricanes and tropical storms.

As human activities and communities continue to grow and encroach on wetland habitats, our experts work with clients to ensure projects are compliant with regulatory/permitting requirements and standards while mitigating environmental impact, including:

• Wetlands Planning – we deliver expertise in evaluating wetlands associated with land acquisitions, developments, and project planning and design.
• Wetland Delineations – our experts are qualified in wetland determinations and delineations in accordance with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) guidelines and certifications.
• Wetlands Permitting – we specialize in strategic planning to minimize permitted impacts, permit application development, and agency coordination throughout the permitting process.
• Wetlands Mitigation – our experts develop comprehensive plans to enhance or restore wetlands areas to offset any allowable damages or losses to wetlands that may occur over the course of your project.

Groundwater contamination, whether caused by heavy metals or other harmful materials, requires specialized expertise to assess the site and provide proper cleanup accurately. Our team has extensive experience in environmental investigations, site characterization and assessment, monitoring contaminants, and remediation services.