NEPA Compliance & Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental impact assessments are often required for federal, state, and local project approvals.  Birch Ecology and our consulting team have considerable experience evaluating environmental impacts of proposed projects for compliance with federal, state and local regulations.  Our team of consultants includes professionals in a variety of disciplines who have collaborated to produce complex Environmental Assessments, Environmental Impact Statements, and local Environmental Impact Reports.  In particular, we have experience documenting the impacts of proposed land exchanges and evaluating environmental impacts for Section 404 Wetland Permits for a variety of project types.   We have also prepared environmental sections of State of Colorado 1041 Permit applications, Great Outdoors Colorado Environmental Checklists, and Colorado Department of Transportation Access Permits, and helped our clients to gain approval for these projects.  In addition, we often support clients with local environmental reviews necessary for PUD approvals, annexation agreements, and site plan reviews. We play an important role in these projects by attending planning board hearings, city council meetings, and public open houses to answer questions and discuss potential impacts.

Sneezeweed (Helenium hoopsii).

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTS AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS

EA’s and EIS’s are technical, multi-disciplinary documents designed to allow the public and agency officials to understand and evaluate the potential impacts of a proposed action.  We have experience with the entire EIS process, from public scoping and identification of alternatives, to development of purpose and need statements, preparation of detailed review drafts, working with agency personnel to incorporate edits, reviewing and summarizing public comments, developing final drafts, and managing project files and references to support the Record of Decision.  Our ecologists have experience working as with both the BLM and U.S. Forest Service to prepare NEPA-compliance documents as a third-party contractor.

Subalpine wetlands in the Holy Cross Wilderness, Colorado.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORTS

We have considerable experience preparing reports to evaluate and document potential environmental impacts as required for local project approvals.  These have included PUD approvals, annexation agreements, and land use and zoning reviews.  We evaluate potential impacts based on field reconnaissance, database reviews, and details of the proposed project, then carefully summarize the results of our analyses in clearly written reports with maps, photographs, and tables.

Yellow pond lily (Nuphar polysepala).

PUBLIC HEARINGS & COMMENTS ANALYSIS

Public meetings and public comments are a key part of the NEPA process.  Our team has experience organizing and conducting public scoping meetings, preparing graphics and informational handouts to clearly illustrate the proposed project and potential alternatives, then interacting with the public to answer questions and collect written comments.  We have experience creating detailed databases to categorize and track public comments to prepare a Scoping Report and develop alternatives.  We use a similar database process to track comments on the Draft EIS and where and how those comments have been addressed.

Avalanche lily (Erythronium grandiflorum).