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Examine our Wetland Services
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-Experience from delineating
-Careful delineation and documentation to provide reliable boundaries using applicable technical guidelines.
-Documented opinion letters showing absence of wetlands to satisfy municipalities and conservation districts.
-Formal paperwork to secure state or Federal agency jurisdictional confirmation.
-Second opinions and revision of previously approved boundaries where warranted by site conditions.
-Technical skill to evaluate wetland values and significance.
Wetlands sometimes appear to exist only in the eye of the beholder.
Schmid & Company staff take pains to utilize agency technical guidance and to compile factual data to support our determinations and secure boundary acceptance from regulators.
We routinely encounter inaccuracies in published sources such as soil surveys and National Wetland Inventory or state wetland maps.
Of greater concern to our clients, we sometimes encounter site-specific mistakes made by other consultants---mistakes that disrupted development projects.
Where appropriate, we provide landowners with documentation to demonstrate the complete absence of wetlands from properties where wetlands are not an issue for development approvals.
We often provide informal guidance as to the approximate extent of wetlands based on a preliminary field walkover when formal documentation is not needed.
WETLAND PERMIT APPLICATIONS
-Threshhold analysis for necessary approvals
-General permit applications for minor encroachments
-Transition area (buffer) approvals
-Individual permits with discussion of alternatives and mitigation
We typically work with project designers to fit projects into the limits of encroachments allowed by waivers, Federal and state general permits, and (in New Jersey) transition area requirements. Hundreds of our projects fall into this category. Where the mandatory limits of these relatively simple approvals cannot be observed, we prepare the complex documentation required for individual permits.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLESWETLAND MITIGATION DESIGN
-Evaluation of mitigation options for clients
-Functional assessment of wetland values lost
-Design of compensatory wetland enhancement or creation
-Post-construction field monitoring of mitigation sites
-Licensing of mitigation banks
-Two decades of successful wetland mitigation project experience and resulting credibility with regulators
ENFORCEMENT RESOLUTION
Schmid & Company strives to help its clients maintain compliance with environmental laws and regulations at all times. Over the years we have worked with many clients to resolve violations which arose prior to our involvement in their projects. Our technical skill and credibility assure regulators that compliance will be achieved and environmental values protected. Our clients appreciate our success in redirecting fines into successful site restoration that enables projects to move towards completion.
EXPERT TESTIMONY - Presentations at public hearings
- Depositions and court testimony
- Schmid & Company staff offer outstanding credentials as experts in ecology, wetlands, environmental regulations, and assessment.
- We have presented comments at countless public hearings, regulatory meetings, and depositions.
- We have represented diverse clients in state and Federal courts.
- We also routinely work with attorneys to prepare and present our clients' cases using the soundest judgement based on the facts.
ENVIRONMENTAL INVENTORIES, ASSSESSMENTS, AND IMPACT STATEMENTS
Schmid & Company staff have analyzed the environmental impacts of many kinds of proposed development activities in 10 states, including coal mining facilities, industrial facilities, transportation facilities, commercial developments, and residential developments. We have written Environmental Impact Statements under contract to the US Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps of Engineers, Interstate Commerce Commission, various agencies of state and local governments, and a diverse array of private sector entities. We have prepared comprehensive analyses of environmental regulations of nationwide scope.
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATORY ANALYSIS
Schmid & Company staff have completed major reviews of environmental regulatory programs for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the US Department of Commerce, and the President's Council on Environmental Quality. We frequently are asked by private sector clients to examine proposed changes in environmental regulations and prepare formal comments to agencies. We have examined the implementation of environmental regulations by agencies on behalf of several conservation groups.
ADDITIONAL PROJECT WORK... & IMAGES