Transportation Services
At Ecologic Solutions, we leverage our experience working with transportation authorities on State and Federal Highway Administration projects. This includes constructing, repairing, and rehabilitating roadways, highway expansions, airports, bridges, and seaports. We review these interagency projects to ensure the most efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally/socially beneficial outcomes. Our team will evaluate potential impacts, develop strategies, compensate impacts, and gain regulatory approvals for your project.
Services Provided
Environmental Assessment & Site Selection
Impact Avoidance & Minimization
Wetland Delineations, Permitting & Functional Analyses
Categorical Exclusions
Public Outreach & Education
Rare, Threatened & Endangered Species Surveys
Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) documentation
National Environmental Policy Act documentation (NEPA)
Interagency Coordination
Environmental Construction & Management
Compensatory Mitigation Planning, Implementation & Monitoring
Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
Monitoring & Maintenance
“Without Scarlatelli’s guidance and deep knowledge of the challenges and opportunities for urban restoration, environmental uplift and advancement of significant regional infrastructure projects would not have been possible.”
—Max Taffet, Vice President, Transportation, PortNYC Planning
Road and highway construction and improvement plans always involve potential impacts on the natural environment. Their public need component and linear nature increase both the likelihood of approval and the existence of unavoidable effects to wetlands, waterways, parklands, communities, and fish & wildlife habitat. These impacts require identification and quantification of impacts and then minimization, permitting, and compensatory mitigation.
Transportation Infrastructure Projects, Maryland
Maryland’s transportation systems, including roads, highways, waterways, and ports, required numerous upgrades that required multiple levels of environmental analyses, regulatory compliance, and public outreach. In addition, time-sensitive and limited budgets necessitated securing regulatory approvals quickly and implementing projects in strict compliance with permit conditions.
Island-Wide Infrastructure Improvement and Replacement Project, Guam
Environmental Lead for 36-projects to implement an island-wide roadway infrastructure upgrade. Conducted ecological assessments of all sites, including the presence of wetlands and Waters of the US, threatened & endangered species habitats, protected forests, parklands, and historic sites. Each project was evaluated regarding its ability to obtain a Categorical Exclusion and synthesized these findings into three Programmatic Agreements.
Interstate Highway Route 287 completion, Morris and Bergen Counties, Maryland
Conducted wetland delineations and Wetland Functional Assessments for the New Jersey Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration for wetlands affected by the highway’s 20-mile northern New Jersey link.
Saunders Road Widening Project, Virginia
Environmental Lead for proposed roadway improvements in the City of Hampton, VA that mapped and inventoried the current conditions of the Waters of the US, wetlands, terrestrial and aquatic wildlife habitats, parks and recreation resources, and rare, threatened, and endangered species. Analyzed alternatives, prepared a preliminary environmental assessment for a feasibility report; and guided the SEPA and NEPA processes concurrently.
Bridge construction and rehabilitation projects can negatively impact the aquatic ecosystem including, waterways, submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), endangered fish habitat, wetlands, parklands, migratory birds, and terrestrial ecosystems. These impacts require evaluation, avoidance and minimization, regulatory approvals, and compensatory mitigation.
Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge & Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, Maryland
As the Project Manager and Senior Environmental Scientist, oversaw the environmental permitting requirements for repairs to the substructure and foundations of the Millard E. Tydings Bridge, connecting traffic on Interstate 95, the Susquehanna River, and the Thomas J. Hatem Bridge, which conveys traffic on US 40 over the Susquehanna River.
Atlantic County Middle Thorofare Bridge, Maryland
Supervised the New Jersey Audubon Society’s collection of migratory bird monitoring using RADAR to evaluate the potential impacts of a proposed cable-stayed bridge on migratory birds. Participated in the Middle Thorofare Bridge Advisory Committee and the preparation of a NEPA Environmental Assessment document.
Monmouth County, Bridge Replacements, New Jersey
Prepared Coastal Areas Review Act (CAFRA), Waterfront Development, Coastal Wetlands, Stream Encroachment, Statewide General Permit applications, and created a final compensatory wetland mitigation plan for three bridge replacement projects.
Airport construction and improvement projects, including runway, facility, and hangar expansions, have inherent impacts on the natural environment. Therefore, projects must adhere to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines and often require review and approval by other jurisdictions, including the US Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), State and local transportation authorities, and municipalities.
Ronald Reagan International Airport, Virginia
Prepared a NEPA Environmental Assessment document on behalf of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, consistent with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines. Reviewed the impacts of FAA-mandated runway improvements to ecosystems, including wildlife habitats, floodplains, and the groundwater—evaluated effects to communities and neighborhoods, historic and archeological resources, and parks and recreation facilities.
Atlantic City International Airport, New Jersey
Created a Habitat Restoration and Management Plan for an Endangered Species Mitigation Bank on behalf of the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) to provide advance compensation impacts due to planned infrastructure improvements and expansions. The plan evaluated methods to eliminate shrubs and invasive vegetation using the Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) to monitor the management and improve the habitats of integral native species: upland sandpiper (Bartramia longicauda), grasshopper sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum), and the State threatened frosted elfin (Callophrys irus) butterfly, all in close coordination with the Grasslands Advisory Committee.
Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey
Provided wetland delineations and obtained US Army Corps of Engineers authorizations for runway expansions mandated by the FAA. In addition, supplied compensatory mitigation for impacts to wetlands and Waters of the US Ratios using the Indicator Value Assessment (IVA) method and credits provided by the Mill Creek Combined Wetland Mitigation Site.
Railway projects included new rail lines, improvements, expansions, and maintenance facilities. Their linear nature ensures unavoidable impacts to wetlands, waterways, terrestrial systems, fish & wildlife habitat, parklands, and water quality, and these impacts require assessment, minimization, regulatory approvals, and compensatory mitigation.
MARC Train Maintenance Layover Facility, Maryland
Lead for wetland delineations on two proposed sites for MTA’s MARC Train maintenance facility in Harford and Cecil Counties, supporting a NEPA Environmental Assessment and Coordination. In addition, conducted a compensatory wetland mitigation site search, developed a conceptual mitigation plan and acquired all wetland/waterway permits.
Frank R Lautenberg Rail Station, New Jersey
As a member of the Meadowlands Interagency Regulatory Committee provided a regulatory review for the NJ Transit Rail Station in Secaucus and provided compensatory wetland mitigation for unavoidable impacts to seven acres of intertidal wetlands.
Amtrak Fourth Rail Expansion, Maryland
Project Manager for collecting and presenting supporting environmental data, including wetland delineations and functional analyses, for inclusion in the NEPA Environmental Assessment documentation for an 18-mile railroad expansion project in Anne Arundel and Baltimore Counties.
Ports face increasing competition for interstate and international commerce, while inadequate soil and sediment erosion control practices precipitate the need for dredging and beneficial reuse of dredged material. Improvement projects allow ports to modernize, improve capacity and efficiencies while reducing threats to the natural environment, and reduce emissions, and plan for sustainability in the face of climate change and sea-level rise.
Port Administration Air Pollution Reduction Project, Maryland
Implemented successful public outreach strategies and lessons learned documentation to advance Maryland’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, the Maryland Port Administration’s voluntary programs to combat air pollution, and global climate change related to commercial activities at the Port of Baltimore.
Staten Island Marine Development Beneficial Dredge Spoil Reuse, New York
Oversaw the compliance and modifications to the NYC Harbor Dredge Spoil Beneficial Reuse Project, where spoils were deposited to designated sites to enable the creation of Amazon and IKEA warehouses and distribution centers, as well as other commercial development projects. In addition, designed, obtained funding for, and managed the first-ever population dynamics and habitat management study of the newly discovered Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog (Rana kauffeldii) on protected portions of the site.
