Environmental Science Associates

Amidst executive orders and recent court decisions, there have been a number of new developments around the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act, particularly as it relates to the authority of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). While we expect additional guidance soon, ESA’s federal and NEPA experts including Eric Beightel, Meredith Parkin, J.D., PMP, and Tony Overly, RPA, have taken stock of where we are today, and the potential changes we may expect to see in the near future as it relates to NEPA and environmental policy. Read the latest at: https://lnkd.in/gD3NwQem #NEPA #NationalEnvironmentalProtectionAct #NEPAUpdates #CEQ #CouncilOnEnvironmentalQuality #EnvironmentalPolicy #PolicyUpdates #FederalUpdates

Students, there’s still time to apply for our Summer Environmental and Business Services Internships! Applications will be accepted through February 12 for our in-person internships across our offices in California, Oregon, Washington, and Florida with some hybrid flexibility. This is a great opportunity for those interested in business services, environmental, engineering and planning fields, to work directly with ESA’s multi-disciplinary teams across many types of environmental projects and business support. Apply for these internships at the following links: Environmental Internship (California, Oregon, Washington) https://lnkd.in/gETutTTP Environmental Internship (Florida) https://lnkd.in/guAa-jeq Business Services Internship (all offices): https://lnkd.in/g8tg35uT #SummerInternship #Internships #JoinUs #EnvironmentalCareers

We’re delighted to share that Patrick Tennant has rejoined ESA as our Environmental Compliance Director! In his role, Patrick will oversee ESA’s field compliance work, ensuring team safety and proactive risk management, and facilitating effective service delivery. With Patrick’s direction, we will also expand and enhance our efforts on major infrastructure projects, and offer crucial support to the energy, transportation, and water sectors. “It’s great to be back at ESA and to be taking a strategic leadership role in the development of our Environmental Compliance practice,” says Patrick. “Being able to safely and efficiently deploy ESA’s specialists to our client’s worksites—local and remote—is critical to our success.  Being able to collect data, report compliance status, and find innovative solutions to keep projects and construction moving, supports the goals of our energy, water, and transportation infrastructure clients. I’m excited to build off our current successes and to play a lead role in the development of new strategies to support our compliance projects and clients on current projects and those yet to come.” It’s great to have you back, Patrick! #EnvironmentalCompliance #ConstructionMonitoring #FieldCompliance #Safety #RiskManagement #Infrastructure

Always great to see our friends from the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society, we had a great time hosting this year's retreat!

🏛️ There’s been a lot happening in your news feed, and our new Federal Strategy Director Eric Beightel is here to lend some perspective. Check out this latest blog: https://lnkd.in/gRMATyNk #FederalPolicy #PolicyUpdates #EnvironmentalReview #Permitting

The fires in Los Angeles have caused devastating loss to life, homes, and critical areas of wildlife habitat. Topanga Creek, a relatively undeveloped watershed in Los Angeles, was in the direct path of the Palisades Fire, which burned more than four miles of river habitat. Recent storms have increased concerns about sediment and debris flow, threatening the federally endangered tidewater goby and Southern California steelhead trout, which are the last known steelhead population in the Santa Monica Mountains.  Topanga Creek holds a lot of significance for us at ESA, as we've been studying these species and the surrounding habitats for many years in support of the Topanga Lagoon Restoration Project. That’s why we’re especially heartened by the swift response from our friends at the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains (RCDSMM) to rescue these species. Last week, partners and volunteers from RCDSMM, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the US Geological Survey, and California State University Channel Islands helped relocate more than 750 tidewater gobies to temporary facilities at Heal the Bay and Aquarium of the Pacific. And efforts to rescue the steelhead trout are ongoing in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. We are thankful to RCDSMM for these heroic efforts as the community struggles with such loss, and offer our support on this crucial effort. Read more about this work at: https://lnkd.in/grPc5kFv

🎉 Big news: ESA is thrilled to welcome Eric Beightel, outgoing Presidentially appointed Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, as our Federal Strategy Director! In his previous role, Eric helped lead the national effort to streamline the environmental permitting process for major infrastructure projects, and oversaw a portfolio of more than $75 billion. At ESA, he will serve as a strategic advisor to our clients, covering the full range of regulatory challenges and help them navigate the ever-evolving environment of federal policies, processes, and funding requirements. “I am so excited to join ESA and work with experts across environmental disciplines to create actionable advice for clients to position their projects for success in this dynamic regulatory and policy environment,” says Eric. Welcome, Eric—we can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together! Learn more about Eric in our latest blog: https://lnkd.in/gd8sa3Uq

🥶 Brrrr, it’s cold out there! As temperatures have plummeted across Florida this week due to a winter storm affecting much of the Southern US and the Gulf coast, Florida’s native West Indian Manatees are flocking to warmer waters. At the Three Sister Springs wildlife refuge in Crystal Springs, more than 500 manatees have been spotted together! Unlike other aquatic mammals which have a protective layer of blubber, manatees only have a thin layer of fat and must maintain their body temperatures. They depend on warm water sources like hot springs, which remain a consistent 72 degrees, to keep them warm in the winter and during cold snaps. Frigid weather isn’t the only threat these animals face—red tide, collisions with watercraft, habitat and seagrass loss, habitat fragmentation, and illegal hunting all pose risk to their populations. Earlier this month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced a proposal to retain the West Indian Manatee to be listed as threatened (their status was previously listed as endangered until downlisted in 2017), while a subspecies, the Antillean manatee, would be uplisted to endangered. In response to this proposal, the FWS will be hosting a public informational meeting and hearing on February 26, and is seeking comments through March 17, 2025. We will be closely monitoring their status and regulatory updates. For more information on the status of Florida’s manatees and more of Florida’s protected species, check out our species resource guide: https://lnkd.in/garYzJcQ And check out this clip from WCJB TV20 News https://lnkd.in/gAF7JUCD

📣 Attention job seekers! ESA has multiple job opportunities available throughout the firm. We are looking for qualified candidates who are passionate about advancing a more sustainable and resilient future for our communities and wild places, to join our interdisciplinary teams throughout California and Seattle, Washington. Currently we are seeking: 🎤 Communications Specialist (Variable Part-Time): https://lnkd.in/gy2UV58p ⛏️ Senior Paleontologist: https://lnkd.in/g-dmAbFk 👷🏽 Senior Biologist & Project Manager: https://lnkd.in/geDergXn 🐸 Designated Biologist: https://lnkd.in/gXT-aTZg 🏛️ Senior Regulatory Permitting Specialist: https://lnkd.in/gpKkNhNS 🐟 Senior Fisheries Scientist: https://lnkd.in/gU25TijE 💼 Contracts Administrator & Project Coordinator: https://lnkd.in/gypvpmRz Joining ESA means becoming part of a close-knit team of environmental and business-services professionals that support and help plan, design, permit, mitigate and restore projects across our communities, infrastructure systems, open spaces, and wildlands. We are a 100-percent employee-owned firm, and provide medical, dental, and vision insurance benefits (paid at 70% for you AND your family), annual allocations of company share through our Employee Stock Ownership Program, a 401(k) plan with company match, and paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays, and many other benefits to support your wellbeing and professional growth. Benefits may vary depending on part time schedule. Looking for additional positions? Check out all our opportunities at: https://lnkd.in/gE2zbYk2 #JoinUs #JobOpenings #NowHiring #EnvironmentalJobs #JobAlert #WorkThatMatters

In need of a little nature break in your social feed? Take a look at these gorgeous photos taken by biologist Christine French while visiting the Sonny Bono Natural Wildlife Refuge at California’s Salton Sea. Christine spotted snow geese, greater yellowlegs, egrets, sandhill cranes, ruby-crowned kinglets, great blue herons, belted kingfisher and many other types of shorebirds, perching birds, and waterfowl. The Salton Sea is a critical stop on the Pacific Flyway, and during the winter months, more than 200 types of resident and migratory birds rest, feed, raise their young, and winter across the Sea’s 400 square miles. This includes many types of threatened and endangered species such as the Western burrowing owl, which was recently listed as a candidate for the California Endangered Species Act. We’re thankful to see that California has committed more than $250 million for restoration efforts in the Salton Sea to protect this essential avian habitat and ecological refuge in the years to come. You can learn more about these ongoing efforts from a story we produced earlier: https://lnkd.in/gj7QMZFQ All 📷's ©Christine French #SaltonSea #Biologist #SonnyBonoNaturalWildlifeRefuge #PacificFlyway #Birding #WesternBurrowingOwl #EcologicalRefuge