National Environmental Policy Act
 In 1969, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) established the Council on Environmental Quality to protect our nation’s natural resources and ecological systems, while enhancing social and economic progress. PBS&J has been helping its clients comply with NEPA for more than three decades.
Comprehensive Experience
Our comprehensive experience ranges from project planning and agency coordination to public hearings and conflict resolution. Our multidisciplinary baseline environmental studies and environmental impact assessments have supported major projects such as reservoirs, mines, power plants, transmission facilities, wind farms, highways, airports, oil/gas production facilities, water and wastewater treatment plants, ship channels, ports, and terminals. PBS&J’s technical personnel have extensive training and project experience in a wide range of fields, including:
- Terrestrial and aquatic (marine, estuarine, and freshwater) ecology
- Threatened and endangered species
- Habitat evaluation procedures
- Wetland determinations, permitting, and mitigation
- Socioeconomic and land use studies, including environmental justice
- Nautical and terrestrial archeology
- Cultural and historic resources management
- Air quality assessment, permitting, and compliance
- Geology and groundwater hydrology
- Soils, including prime farmland
- Hydrology, water quality, environmental toxicology, and water conservation
- Hazardous materials management
- Noise monitoring and modeling
- Aerial photo interpretation and mapping, including GIS
 Specialized Expertise
PBS&J has prepared environmental documents and successfully conducted permit negotiations with a wide range of federal and state agencies. Our experience includes the preparation of biological assessments and habitat conservation plans associated with Section 7 consultations and Section 10(a) permitting for endangered and threatened species impacts through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service. Other experience includes wetland determinations and mitigation plans for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Section 4(f) evaluations for the Federal Highway Administration, Section 316(a) and (b) demonstrations for the Environmental Protection Agency, categorical exclusions for actions not considered to have a significant effect on the human environment, and biological evaluations in support of special use permit issuance.
Overview of Services
 Project planning and initial agency discussions- Feasibility and siting evaluations
- Regulatory reviews of applicable laws
- Preparation of notices of intent
- Design and execution of environmental baseline assessments and potential impact studies
- Inventories
- Alternatives evaluations
- Preparation for and participation in public scoping meetings and public hearings
- Agency coordination
- Negotiation and conflict resolution
- Preparation of comment responses
- Mitigation planning
- Environmental assessments, environmental impact statements, environmental information documents, and environmental acceptability documents
- Expert testimony for litigation
- Finding of no significant impact and record of decision preparation
|
