Environmental consulting and engineering services provide design planning and assessment, project management, permit acquisition, and other services.

Features

Environmental consulting services help businesses and municipalities:

• prepare environmental impact statements
• comply with air quality regulations
• clean up contaminated soil, solid waste, and hazardous waste

Environmental consulting and engineering services provide:

• site remediation
• risk assessment
• environmental policy information
• regulatory advice

Environmental engineering services specialize in areas such as water supply and treatment, wastewater conveyance and treatment, environmental health and safety, and noise pollution. Environmental engineering services help businesses and municipalities remove contaminants from polluted sites such as closed landfills. Depending on the business transaction, an environmental consultant may conduct an environmental site assessment (ESA) prior to the transfer of a property.

Standards

In the United States, environmental consulting and engineering services may help wastewater dischargers obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). According to the Clean Water Act, facilities cannot discharge pollutants from a point source into any water of the United States without an NPDES permit. NPDES permits define limits for the amount and type of discharge. They also establish monitoring and reporting requirements. Environmental consulting and engineering services can also help an environmental engineer implement standards from ASTM International, an organization formerly called the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). For example, ASTM D5746 covers the environmental condition of property area types for defense base closure. E1527, E1528, and E1903 cover environmental site assessments. E1983 is for wetlands and E1984 is for brownfields.
 
The International Standards Organization (ISO) provides guidelines for the certification of environmental consulting and engineering services. These guidelines include ISO 9001:2000 for quality management and ISO 14001:2004 for environmental management. To meet various regulatory requirements, environmental consulting and engineering services hire trained personnel. For example, an environmental engineer may have a degree in either civil engineering or environmental engineering. Degree programs in these fields are ABET accredited, formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.

Related Information

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