Why You Should Consider an Environmental Professional on Your Project
Written By: Dan O'Connell
Post Date: 02-13-2025
Environmental Professionals provide technical and economic help to businesses and units of government in a variety of ways. They consist of engineers, geologists, biologists, geographers, soil scientists, and technicians. Environmental Professional’s work typically supports public infrastructure, industry, private development, energy and utility, and local government projects with protection, compliance, and mitigation of environmental regulations. Aligning yourself with a professional environmental consulting firm with experience in various areas can be significantly advantageous in several ways:
1. Providing Sound Environmental Due Diligence to make well informed Commercial Real Estate Decisions
Consulting firms with this experience can identify potential environmental hazards and historical uses of the property. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) addresses hazardous substance releases and allows governmental agencies to recover environmental cleanup costs from identified Responsible Parties. Responsible Parties are those identified as owners (past, present, and future), operators, and anyone involved with hazardous substances at a facility.
Conducting a Phase I ESA before acquiring a property provides liability protection under CERCLA for prior contamination. Thorough inspections, records reviews, historical resources reviews, and interviews are conducted as part of a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment to identify potential environmental hazards. If the Phase I ESA identifies potential environmental concerns, a Phase II ESA may be performed to collect samples and attempt to determine if an environmental concern is present. The Phase I and II ESAs are designed to provide CERCLA protection and assist those involved with real estate to make well informed decisions, particularly, as it relates to potential environmental liabilities and or potential cleanup actions.
2. Remedial Approaches to Match the Need.
Environmental consulting firms with remediation experience can provide cost-effective solutions for managing contaminated sites. Remediation is often performed after a hazardous substance release has been identified and may include sampling/long-term monitoring, excavating, pump and treat systems, or barrier placement. It’s important to align yourself with an environmental consulting firm to evaluate different types of remedial approaches as each contaminated site is different.
3. Navigating Natural Resource Protection to Streamline Projects
Environmental consulting firms that offer natural resource consulting services often provide wetland delineations, endangered resources and habitat assessments, and restorations. Firms with this experience can identify those resources, assist owners in navigating natural resource protections, provide advice on project design and can help implement compensatory mitigation projects that are needed to replace wetlands if they will be lost or degraded. Aligning yourself with an experienced natural resource consulting firm will help the project owner streamline projects and avoid potential fines and penalties if regulations are not followed.
4. Avoid Regulatory Fines or Penalties
Environmental consulting firms that offer environmental regulatory compliance services including those related to industry-related permitted activities such as wastewater discharge, stormwater discharge, air emissions, and/or hazardous waste management. Some environmental consulting firms perform compliance activities with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for publicly funded projects. Regardless of the type of permitted activity, environmental regulatory compliance experience will help the owner avoid potential fines and penalties by providing advisory services to maintain compliance with each type of permit.
In summary, hiring an environmental consulting firm with experience in these areas will help you navigate complex environmental regulations and minimize potential costly delays. Often, environmental consulting services are viewed as a necessary evil, or a cost burden. However, when compared to the cost-of-avoidance (the cost of avoiding the services), environmental consulting services typically provide the best path with the least resistance, ultimately improving project efficiencies and protecting the owner’s investment.
No matter what the project may be and no matter what market you may be in, environmental planning, protection, compliance, and restoration may need to be considered. Cedar’s Environmental Professionals frequently collaborate with our municipal and private development engineers, community planners, and funding specialists to provide the best value for our clients. Get in touch with one of our Environmental Professionals by clicking here.
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