Our Environmental Services

Providence has been involved with thousands of state and federal environmental permits in public and private sectors throughout the United States. Our diverse consulting team includes permitting and technical specialists in air quality, surface water quality, natural resources, groundwater, solid and hazardous waste, site evaluation, and remediation. Providence’s environmental team maintains a comprehensive understanding of federal, state, and local regulatory requirements to ensure our clients an unsurpassed knowledge base.

Every Providence project begins with a full understanding of our client’s operations, compliance status, and project goals to produce the most effective work product. Our range of environmental services includes negotiating complex permitting conditions and fulfilling reporting, monitoring, testing, modeling, risk management, and site evaluation requirements. We regularly provide ongoing monitoring services to ensure compliance with permitting and regulatory requirements long after a project ends.

Providence has significant experience in all facets of natural resource compliance. Maintenance of a positive relationship with state and federal resource and regulatory agency personnel is paramount in the regulatory compliance arena, and Providence has established an excellent reputation with relevant state and federal regulatory agencies throughout the southeastern United States. Our specialized consulting expertise ranges from endangered species to adaptive management, and our team of biologists and environmental scientists incorporate the principles and theories of ecology and biology to address our clients’ natural resource management concerns. Most important, we provide timely, accurate and scientifically sound assessments, compliance documents, biological assessments, and reports in all aspects of ecological and biological sciences.

NATURAL RESOURCE & COASTAL SERVICES:

• Wetland Delineations/Biological Surveys
• Regulatory Compliance
• Habitat Assessments
• Environmental & Biological Assessments
• Threatened & Endangered Species Surveys
• Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Data Acquisition

NATURAL RESOURCE & COASTAL SERVICES PROJECT EXPERIENCE:

• Marsh Creation & Post-Construction Monitoring
• Sensitive Resource Monitoring During Construction
• Pipeline Construction Compliance
• Projects Impacting Wetlands & Water Bodies
• Transportation/Infrastructure Improvements
• Aerial Mapping & Photography

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

Providence has been a leading provider of  NEPA compliance services for two decades. Our team has led the successful completion of numerous NEPA documents, from simple categorical exclusions (CE) to complex environmental impact statements (EIS) involving sensitive, controversial projects. In providing both the talent and expertise for NEPA projects, we bridge the gap between planners and engineers while satisfying the regulatory requirements. Our technical knowledge of current NEPA-related policies and guidelines is extensive; which is critical to ensuring documents and technical analyses are compliant and defensible. Our team is exceptionally experienced in providing NEPA analyses and documentation to federal, state, and local government clients that utilize federal funds to construct projects or require federal permits for projects. We regularly evaluate the environmental and economic impacts of proposed projects, including in-depth ecological analysis of impacted habitats.

NEPA SERVICES:

• Management of NEPA Process
• Environmental Assessments (EA)
• Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
• Categorical Exclusions
• Agency & Public Outreach
• Permitting & Compliance
• Environmental, Social, & Health Impact Assessments (ESHIA)
• Socioeconomic & Environmental Justice Assessments
• Endangered Species Act Biological Assessments

Cultural Resource Management (CRM)

Providence recently added CRM services to its Impact Assessment service line to provide a more robust regulatory compliance experience for our clients and stakeholders. The CRM team includes knowledgeable archaeologists with expertise in navigating the management of heritage assets and providing solutions for progress while preserving and protecting the past. 

The preservation of archaeological sites, historic architecture, and other cultural resources is a shared responsibility for all citizens, but understanding the regulations can be difficult. Providence can help. We now have the capabilities to be a trusted resource to ensure any actions for current or proposed projects comply with all environmental and historic preservation laws. Our team can provide regulatory actions from proactive investigations of project areas to site mitigations needed to minimize the disturbance and damage of sensitive cultural resources. We are ready to provide a path forward for any CRM needs.  

CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SERVICES:

• Section 106 and 110 Compliance Consultation
• State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), Federal Agency, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), and Tribal Coordination and Consultation Agreement
• Document Consultation - Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) and Programmatic Agreement (PA) 
• Cultural Resources Management Desktop Reviews 
• Phase I - Cultural Resources Survey 
• Phase II - Site Testing and Evaluations for National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) Eligibility 
• Phase III - Site Mitigation 
• Archaeological Compliance Monitoring 
• Artifact Analysis and Curation 
• Architectural Surveys
• Determination of Eligibility (DOE)/ Assessment of Effects (AOE)
• Conditions Assessments (Building, Cemetery, Facility, and Landscape)
• NRHP Evaluations and Nominations
• Historic Structure Reports
• Architectural Documentation including HABS Level Recording
• Viewshed Analyses
• Design Guidelines
• Cultural Landscape Surveys
• Chain of Title, Deed, and Census Research

Air Quality Permitting & Compliance 

Providence is committed to lifting some of the air quality regulatory burdens for our clients by developing compliance strategies and technically sound, cost-effective solutions. Whether you face a permitting issue, a dispersion modeling challenge, or an emission control problem, our dynamic team of air quality professionals has solutions. Our team provides comprehensive services related to pre-construction permitting and ongoing compliance for new greenfield construction or modifications of existing industrial operations. We offer expertise in all related areas, including feasibility analysis, permitting strategies, compliance strategies, and assistance related to enforcement actions, contested case hearings, and litigation support on air quality matters.

AIR QUALITY SERVICES:

• Air Dispersion Modeling, Training, & BEEST Software 
• Permitting & Compliance
• Environmental Compliance Management Systems (ECMS)
• Regulatory Compliance Analysis
• Ambient Air Sampling & Monitoring
• Audits & Audit Support
• Greenhouse Gas (GHG) management, emission calculations, and emission inventories
• Pollution control device selection, design, and regulatory support
• Risk management plan development
• Air quality training
• Litigation support

AIR QUALITY PROJECT EXPERIENCE:

• Permit Strategy Development
• Major & Minor NSR and Title V Permitting
• NSPS, NESHAP, & MACT Applicability and Compliance
• BACT/LAER Determinations
• ERC Documentation
• Emissions Reporting
• Consent Decree & Enforcement Negotiations
• ECMS Design, Management, & Implementation
• NAAQS, PSD, Increment, & State Standards Modeling
• MERA Analysis
• Fenceline Monitoring Locations Determination, Installation, Sampling, & Reporting
• AERMOD Training

Air Quality Monitoring & Measurement

Providence has earned a reputation as one of the leading air quality measurement service providers in the nation, offering turn-key services that includes ambient measurements. Ambient measurement and monitoring services include stack test program development, start-to-finish installation of stationary, semi-mobile, and fully mobile air monitoring stations, and complete Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) installation, operation, and maintenance. Our monitoring services also include emission surveys using specialized leak detection equipment such as the infrared camera for fugitive and point source Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) sources.

AIR QUALITY MONITORING SERVICES: 

• Cooling Tower Monitoring
• Ambient Air Monitoring
• Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems (CEMS)
• Meteorological Monitoring
• Infrared (IR) Camera Survey

AIR QUALITY MONITORNG PROJECT EXPERIENCE: 

• El Paso Sampling
• EMACT & BWON Water Sampling
• Ambient Air Monitoring Design, Implementation, & Management
• Fenceline Monitoring Location Determination, Installation, Sampling, & Reporting
• CEMS Design, Implementation, Commission, Operation, & Maintenance
• MET Station Design, Installation, Commission, Maintenance & Audits
• LDAR via IR Camera

Providence’s water quality specialists offer a progressive approach to water quality projects, serving to protect our largest natural resource while achieving compliance with all federal, state, and local environmental regulations. We have extensive water quality experience across a wide variety of projects involving environmental/ecological/hydrological modeling, permitting, field sampling, and regulatory compliance, and we offer proven expertise at providing scientifically defensible assessments and solutions to water quality problems.

WATER QUALITY SERVICES:

• Permitting & Compliance
• Monitoring & Assessment
• Inspection & Maintenance
• Water Quality Modeling

WATER QUALITY PROJECT EXPERIENCE: 

• Permitting Grassroots Facilities
• Permitting Facility Expansions, Modifications, & Renewals
• Dry & Wet Weather Sampling
• Effluent and Ambient Data Collection & Reporting
• Wastewater Treatment Operations & Maintenance
• Storm Water Inspections
• Cross Connection Surveys
• Backflow Prevention Device Inspections
• AST Inspections (STI-SP001 Tanks)

Facility Master Planning
Solid & Hazardous Waste Permitting
Beneficial Use and Soil Reuse
Construction Management/Quality Assurance
Cell Construction/Closure Design
Landfill Gas Sampling
Subsurface Characterization
Construction Plan Development
Annual Reporting

Providence’s engineers, geologists, and regulatory specialists are leaders in permitting, design, construction, and multi-media compliance for solid and hazardous waste disposal facilities. We have worked closely with public and private clients across the country for over a decade, and are dedicated to providing the most innovative, cost-effective, and customized waste management solutions.

Groundwater & Field Services

From groundwater sample collection for monitoring programs to soil collection for geotechnical analysis and site assessments, Providence offers cost-efficient monitoring, reliable field services, and on-target project management. Providence has excellent working relationships with the regulatory agencies, regularly communicating with these entities on our clients’ behalf, as well as providing any necessary correspondence, written documentation, and technical guidance. Our available assistance spans the breadth of the monitoring program, including the detection, assessment or compliance, and corrective action monitoring levels under solid and hazardous waste programs.

Site Evaluation & Remediation

Providence’s environmental scientists and engineers fully understand the interaction between environmental risks, the desired current and future uses of each property, and all applicable regulatory requirements. From environmental due diligence services that identify and mitigate our clients’ environmental liability concerns related to property transactions and redevelopment, accessing the nature and extent of contamination under various land use scenarios, evaluating risks to human health and ecological receptors in the environment, and then efficiently managing or eliminating any unacceptable risks, we strive to provide site-specific, cost-effective, and protective site investigations and remedial actions tailored to meet our clients’ specific needs.