
Stream Mitigation Bank - Black Hawk County, IA
Protecting and enhancing the environment while saving our clients time and money is the ultimate goal for our team of environmental experts. Through a holistic, multidisciplinary approach, we strive to balance natural resources and the built environment. Current knowledge of regulations, emerging issues, and best practices enable us to address challenges proactively.
Regardless of project complexity, we’ll help you navigate the environmental permitting process and explore strategic solutions for achieving regulatory compliance across environmental sectors.
From streets and highways to parks, trails, and drinking water, our project experience is diverse and evolving. Continuous education and training keep us current in the industry as we work to pioneer processes that preserve our natural resources and encourage economic development. Innovative solutions our team has produced include the Black Hawk Mitigation Bank, the first stream mitigation bank in the state of Iowa, and Squaw Creek, which utilized rock arch rapids as an alternative to dam removal.
We take pride in our ability to implement new environmental permitting options that help our clients achieve their goals.
Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (ESAs) are a vital part of the due diligence and decision-making process for lending and purchasing decisions and are also incorporated into NEPA documents.
Our team has completed hundreds of Phase I ESAs throughout the Midwest at locations ranging from small commercial businesses to industrial facilities and wind farms over 50-square-miles in size. We can evaluate the underlying land and proposed physical improvements of properties through an expansive list of methods.
We offer a broad range of environmental consulting services tailored to meet the needs of our clients while balancing the economic viability of projects with responsible stewardship of the natural environment. We serve industrial, utility, municipal, and commercial clients with NEPA documentation, wetland and stream delineations, federal and state agency permitting, due diligence, SPCC, and SWPPP development.
In-depth knowledge of the Endangered Species Act along with extensive field investigation experience enables us to accurately and efficiently identify listed species habitats in a project area, assess habitat values, prepare mitigation solutions, and obtain required permits.
Grounded in over 20 years of experience, our environmental science team provides consulting services starting with wetland delineation through wetland impact assessment. Expert knowledge of wetland vegetation, hydric soils, and wetland hydrology enables us to complete delineations that are uniformly accepted by federal and state agencies without costly re-investigation.
When compensatory mitigation is required to offset impacts to U.S. waters, we develop mitigation plans that are cost-effective while meeting USACE 404 permit and IDNR 401 Water Quality Certification requirements. A thorough understanding of planning documents, such as biological assessments and alternatives analysis, helps us promptly obtain permits.
Permitting success is critical to project success. We have the proven ability to work and negotiate with agencies, such as the USACE, USFWS, U.S. EPA, and multiple state natural resources departments. Our goal is to identify permitting needs early in the process to maintain project schedules.
Our team is skilled in identifying the need for a 401/404 permit early in the scoping and design phases. Obtaining these permits ahead of construction helps ensure the project starts on time.
Close working relationships with the Department of Natural Resources, along with local floodplain managers, help our environmental group mitigate potential permitting issues and gain important insight on proposed projects.
Public involvement and an interdisciplinary approach are essential parts of the NEPA decision-making process. Our staff has in-depth NEPA regulatory knowledge and is well versed in completing numerous forms of NEPA documents.
Compliance with the ever-evolving state and federal air quality laws and regulations creates a complex air permitting path for many organizations. We provide both general and Title V air permitting to meet a variety of applications.
Thank you for all of your help and assistance in 2016, you have been wonderful to work with. Athene could not have accomplished it without you and your team’s assistance these past several years.