Environmental Compliance and Analysis

The Louis Berger Group (Berger) brings a unique combination of experience and capability to move projects expeditiously through the planning and permitting process to construction. Our environmental specialists have provided services for a wide range of facilities including transportation and other site development projects. Since the passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and similar statutes, Berger has been involved extensively in the preparation of environmental documentation, including environmental impact statements EISs) and environmental assessments (EAs).

Many of the environmental contracts that Berger has held have been Indefinite Deliver Contracts (IQCs) for Department of Defense (DOD) agencies. The firm is currently supporting EFA Chesapeake under two IQCs and has recently supported USAF Space Command and the Baltimore and Kansas City Districts, Corps of Engineers under IQCs. Berger has held an IQC with the Federal Bureau of Prisons for the past eight years to evaluate the environmental impacts of constructing large Federal detention facilities across the United States. Berger has also maintained IQC contracts with the U.S. Postal Service, the General Services Administration, and other clients.

The most comprehensive installation IQC contract performed by The Louis Berger Group was provided to Ft. Riley, Kansas through the Kansas City District COE. Over the course of six years, Berger prepared environmental documentation for all facet's of the installation's activities, including:

The Louis Berger Group is the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) environmental and site selection consultant for the siting and construction of Federal detention and correctional facilities nationwide. Work is performed under a five-year contract requiring rapid mobilization of staff and quick response to DOJ requests. To date, Berger has performed more than 100 feasibility studies, site inspections, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements EISs in more than 20 states.

For the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Baltimore District Berger analyzed the conditions of the Juniata River Basin. The Juniata River is 124 miles long and drains approximately 963 square miles of rough mountainous country. In this largely rural area, land is generally forested along the steeper elevations and cultivated in the valley bottoms. The Raystown Study expanded an earlier effort conducted for the Juniata River Basin to provide more detail about problems specific to the Raystown Watershed. An important element of this project was analysis of emerging agricultural trends toward higher density livestock operations.

• Berger also provided documentation of problems, needs and opportunities affecting the watershed including nutrients, sediments, acid mine drainage and other water pollutants; status and need for storm water management and flood control measures; current and future effects of septic systems and wastewater treatment systems; and opportunities for ecological restoration.

The Louis Berger Group provides to the same expertise for our private clients. The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is one such client. Many visitors to the Kennedy Center park along the roadways surrounding the site. Parallel parking along these roadways restricts the width of travel lanes available for through traffic, causing traffic backups and delays during events at The Kennedy Center, and increasing the potential for vehicle and pedestrian collisions. The construction of an extension to the existing parking facility would provide visitors an additional 800 parking spaces within the immediate vicinity of The Kennedy Center.

Services provided by Berger in support of this project included conducting site investigations and analysis performed to document environmental conditions and the anticipated impacts of the proposed project. Berger conducted an Environmental Assessment with related public outreach and coordination, prepared a Phase IA Cultural Resources Study, and prepared an Applicability Analysis pursuant to the Clean Air Act. The project also included the preparation of a visual impact analysis to assess project impacts on the surrounding landscape. Part of the public outreach and education campaign involved the creation of a 3D-computer visualization video of the proposed project to illustrate architectural design and viewshed characteristics.

Signature Project

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