Environmental Planning & Assessment
Complex environmental reviews require technical experts who collaborate effectively with project leads and lead agencies and understand community concerns and needs while advancing project goals. Integral guides public and private sector clients through CEQA, NEPA, and stakeholder engagement by integrating rigorous environmental analysis with strategic communication. Integral delivers comprehensive constraints analyses and environmental documents that support project authorizations and reasonable and implementable mitigation and monitoring requirements.
Technical Leaders
Bridgette R. DeShields Senior Principal, Technical Director - Permitting and Planning
Paula C. Gill, PWS Principal, Permitting and Planning
Naomi A. Schowalter Consultant
Matthew Jamieson Consultant
Featured Projects
Streamlining CEQA Compliance and Permitting for Critical Infrastructure Projects
CEQA and Permitting for PAH Remediation Site
Efficient Soil Vapor Investigation Planning for Former Chemical Distribution Facility
CEQA Environmental Documentation
We provide comprehensive California Environmental Quality Act compliance services from initial studies through full environmental impact reports. Our CEQA documents are clear and comprehensible to the public and integrate thorough environmental analysis that results in legally defensible environmental documents. We use strategic project planning to develop tailored documents that streamline regulatory compliance, reduce mitigation needs, and support project implementation.
CEQA Services:
- Categorical Exemptions, Initial Study/Negative Declaration, Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, Environmental Impact Report, and Addendum documents.
- Specific technical studies such as sea level rise, air quality/greenhouse gas, biological resources, water management, environmental justice, and more.
- Development avoidance and minimizations measures that can be built into the project descriptions and streamlined and implementable mitigation measures.
- Tribal coordination and compliance with AB52.
- Environmental justice assessment and community outreach.
NEPA Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Statements
Our federal environmental compliance expertise covers National Environmental Policy Act documentation from environmental assessments to comprehensive impact statements. We prepare NEPA documents that satisfy regulatory requirements while supporting your project’s strategic objectives and approval timeline.
NEPA Expertise:
- Categorical Exclusion
- Environmental Assessments for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others
- Environmental Impact Statements
Community Engagement for Project Planning
We facilitate meaningful tribal and stakeholder coordination and public involvement programs that build project support through transparent communication. Our community engagement strategies balance regulatory compliance requirements with sustainable development objectives while maintaining positive relationships between project proponents, agencies, and communities.
Engagement Solutions:
- Fact sheets and websites
- Responses to comments and presentations
- Coordination and public meetings
FAQ Section
For any discretionary project that may have a significant adverse effect on the environment and is subject to the approval of a California public agency (a discretionary action), unless exempt.
Before undertaking any major federal action that significantly affects the environment (includes state/local government and private projects where a federal agency needs to take discretionary action).
An exemption can be filed if the project fits within one of several exemption categories and does not trigger an exception to the exemption, including significant cumulative impacts. The decision between an Negative Declaration, Mitigated Negative Declaration or Environmental Impact Report (or an environmental assessment vs. an environmental impact statement) depends on the type of level of environmental impacts and whether mitigation is required to reduce the level of impacts to less than significant. This is determined, typically, by completion of an Initial Study and technical evaluations. Integral can help navigate this decision process for the most efficient and legally defensible approach.