Our expertise can accelerate project execution, respond to natural resource needs, and improve the cost effectiveness of project development. Moffatt & Nichol has had the privilege to apply our planning and engineering design expertise to renewing and restoring ecological systems that have been degraded over time, using strategies that include the restoration of tidal action, waterway diversions, vegetation plantings, and shore protection to restore marshes and tidal wetlands.
In an ever more complex regulatory landscape, Moffatt & Nichol’s experience in coastal zones, waterways, and watersheds brings added expertise to help clients execute project planning, design, permitting, and construction, while recognizing the importance of schedule and budgetary constraints. Our environmental specialists support all phases of the permitting process, including permit applications, biological and habitat assessments, incidental harassment authorizations, and mitigation and monitoring plans. This expertise extends to federal, state, and local environmental regulations and codes, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Section 204 and Section 408 regulations.
A complex project may trigger a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) or State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) review. Moffatt & Nichol supports these challenging reviews at all levels, integrating engineering with environmental science to fully explore and identify project objectives and potential impacts early on. We have successfully led and completed NEPA and SEPA review for rail, road, bridge, coastal, and shoreline projects, and managed NEPA and SEPA review programs for port, marina, and ferry facilities across the United States. Our expertise ranges from simple programmatic categorical exclusions to complex environmental impact statements and records of decision and includes the follow-up review of environmental commitments through the permitting and construction process.
For clients tackling a project requiring mitigation Moffatt & Nichol brings expert guidance in leading the development of compensatory mitigation, including development of plans, habitat assessments, performance and monitoring standards, and coordination and negotiation with multiple regulatory agencies. Our experienced team is fully prepared to help guide mitigation decisions and determine the type and level of mitigation required under Clean Water Act Section 404 regulations.
As the world's population increases, it is becoming even more important to identify, protect, and/or restore these critical systems. Moffatt & Nichol has successfully completed water resource studies and projects to protect and expand these vital resources. Our services include watershed planning and restoration design, public outreach and permitting support, watershed modeling and analysis, water supply modeling, stream and wetland restoration design, preparation of construction documents, and construction observation.
Moffatt & Nichol has designed living shoreline projects which create vegetated shorelines that control erosion and reduce flooding, while simultaneously creating a more aesthetically appealing shoreline. Because these plantings are alive, they are sustainable, providing the added benefit of attractive public spaces for communities challenged with rising water levels and storm surge.
Human activity impacts our air and water. To create strategies to mitigate or eliminate the impacts, it is essential to have a thorough understanding of existing conditions. Moffatt & Nichol regularly helps clients to evaluate environmental conditions that may be impacted in the course of a project. Our services include qualitative in-air and in-water analyses of noise conditions, impacts to protected species during construction or proposed facility operation, activity-based computational modeling to quantify air emissions, and state-of-the-art water quality numerical modeling for lacustrine, riverine, and estuarine complexes.