Environmental Planning and
NEPA Services

In 1969, the U.S. Congress enacted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). First and foremost, NEPA is a planning process. NEPA requires that an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) be prepared for all major federal proposals that may significantly affect the quality of the human environment. An Environmental Assessment (EA) is frequently prepared to assist decision makers in determining if a proposal could significantly affect the environment, triggering the requirement to prepare an EIS.

We provide expert assistance in complying with all aspects of NEPA, environmental planning, and policy. Our mission is to make your planning and policy process as streamlined, seamless, and effective as possible.

HOW WE CAN ASSIST YOU

We are here to help you. Whether its streamlining your planning process or preparing a complex analysis, we can help.

CAPABILITIES

We can assist you with:

Cost-effective scoping, preparation, and review of NEPA documents (EAs and EIS) including programmatic EISs.

Investigating complex regulatory and analyses issues.

Applying state-of-the-art tools, techniques and methodologies, and strategies for resolving problems and preparing more effective analysis (The NEPA Tool Chest ™).

Preparing environmental and project planning analyses and documents

Resolving complex problems regulatory and analysis issues.

Identifying, scoping, and developing a defensible range of alternatives for analysis.

Effectively Integrating planning processes and requirements

Developing environmental and NEPA compliance strategies

Identifying and achieving a wide range of environmental goals

Applying state-of-the-art-tools, techniques and methodologies for improving existing planning processes.

Integrating NEPA with ISO-14000 Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

Developing national and international environmental policies.

Developing national and international energy policies.

Evaluating, analyzing, developing, or improving, new or existing environmental and non-environmental planning process.

Teach basic, advanced, and customized NEPA/Planning courses including the use of tools and techniques for promoting a more effective planning process.

LISTENING AND DELIVERING

We listen to your needs and then deliver the goods. Our mission is to make your planning and policy process as streamlined, efficient, cost-effective, and seamless as possible.

So, whether your problem involves resolving a quick environmental planning issue or an in-depth planning project, we can assist you with your needs. And no one can do it more effectively!

NEPA TOOL CHEST™

We have gained extensive experience developing innovative Tools and Techniques (TNT) for resolving problems and helping you to facilitate your NEPA and environmental planning process.

APPLYING MODERN TOOLS, TECHNIQUES, AND APPROACHES

Some of tools, techniques, and approaches that we have developed to streamline and enhance the effectiveness of your planning process include:

The Sufficiency Tool - Determining when the information and description is sufficient to satisfy NEPA's requirements. This cost-savings tool provides practitioners with a simple, quick, and consistently methodology for determining "How much is enough?"

The Tiering Tree - Tiering is a powerful but under utilized tool for efficiently planning actions. One should determine during early during the pre-scoping phase what future analysis should be tiered. The Tiering Tree Tool (under development) will provide an effective tool for determining the: "What," "When," and "How" of tiering.

Significance Assessment Tool - Determining the significance of an action can be tricky and risky from the standpoint of litigation. This tool provides a rigorous, defensible, and efficient methodology for determining the potential significance or non-significance of an environmental impact.

P-EIS Scoping Tool - Determining the issues and level of detail that is most appropriate for a Programmatic EIS (P-EIS). This cost-savings tool allows practitioners to quickly and consistently determining what material should be placed in a P-EIS and what should be deferred for later tiering.

The Smithsonian Solution Tool - Determining when a change to the description of a proposal is sufficient to require additional NEPA analysis. This innovative tool provides a set of tests for quickly and consistently determining when additional NEPA analysis is required.

Non-Federal Action Test - Determining when a non-federal action becomes 'federalized,' triggering NEPA's requirements. This regulatory tool can be used to quickly and consistently determine when NEPA applies to a 'nonfederal' action.

	Decision-Based Scoping and the Decision Identification Tree - The key to properly scoping a proposal is to first identify potential decisions that may need to be made.
	Integrating NEPA with ISO-14001 and Pollution Prevention Measures.
	Total Federal Planning - An integrated approach for unifying all federal planning processes under a single system.
	Integrating Value Engineering, Total Quality Management, and Systems Engineering principals with NEPA.