Welcome to the SCS Engineers Environmental Learning Center. Every month we record a live session on an environmental hot topic! We invite everyone to these open forums, where participants can ask questions throughout. The video recordings are available in our Learning Center to watch at your convenience. Best of all, we respect your privacy; these are educational videos, not sales pitches followed by a mountain of spam emails. Our videos are intended to share our experience in environmental fields with individuals to enhance problem-solving and innovation. Click below to visit.
Whether reducing methane emissions at landfills, repurposing contaminated properties, producing alternative energy, or sequestering carbon, we have focused on finding smart climate solutions and improving the natural environment since our inception in 1970.
SCS Engineers supports many businesses and municipalities taking steps to address climate change, which many consider the most important challenge facing our planet. Every business is resource-intensive, with most environmental issues occurring during the operational phase of business or production. The sustainable environmental solutions and testing we discuss in our videos we offer to the agricultural, construction, extraction, manufacturing sectors, and municipalities to help them attain their cleaner operating goals and often improve operating efficiency.
You’ll also find articles, papers, blogs and more videos on environmental topics from A-Z using our search and filter feature. Can’t find something – let us know at . Our professionals are ready to help.
Other Playlists Include:
Please send a request here if you’d like an invitation to our live sessions.
The FY 2023 Brownfields Multipurpose, Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup Grant Guidelines are now available (go to Open Solicitations). The application submission deadline is November 22, 2022.
Please see the link below for Multipurpose, Assessment, RLF, and Cleanup (MARC) Grant Application Resources: https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/multipurpose-assessment-rlf-and-cleanup-marc-grant-application-resources#Open%20Solicitations
From the official guidance:
SCS Engineers has a successful track record supporting communities interested in land recycling and obtaining EPA MARC Brownfields grants. Please visit our website for more information.
On Friday, September 9, SCS attended a meeting with CCLR and the State of Arizona on Land Reuse Grants. CCLR’s Ignacio Dayrit said that the guidance for EPA’s MARC Brownfields grants is expected to be released this week, opening the 60-day application period. If you plan to speak to any communities/non-profits about grant applications, now is the time to reach out to them. EPA Brownfield grants are often a significant funding source for assessing and cleaning sites with potential environmental contamination. This year, historical funding levels from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) mean more grants and significantly larger awards, making it a good investment to apply.
Although this information is subject to change before the guidance is finalized, here are the anticipated funding details:
SCS Engineers has a successful track record supporting communities interested in land recycling and obtaining EPA MARC Brownfields grants. Please visit our website for more information.
Engineering News Report’s Top 500 Environmental Sourcebook was published today. SCS continues to rank #1 in Solid Waste services and top-tier rankings in Sewer & Waste, Hazardous Waste, Chemical & Soil Remediation, and Site Assessment & Compliance.
ENR is one of the premier companies tracking the A&E industry, and these rankings are closely followed as they publish throughout the year. The ENR Top 500 Design Sourcebook, which publishes annually in April, also ranks SCS Engineers among the top 100 of 500 global design-engineering firms at #59.
Climate change and reducing our nation’s carbon footprint are important challenges facing our planet. SCS Engineers remains a leader in recovering and utilizing methane from landfills, a potent greenhouse gas. In the last two decades, we’ve expanded our role to include the utilization of biogas from agriculture, carbon sequestration, management of other greenhouse gas, and environmental impacts for multiple sectors while reducing methane production in landfills by diverting organics.
SCS designs and supports innovative environmental solutions with our in-house award-winning technologies to help our clients. With more data and control available 24/7, our clients can make more informed decisions, operate more efficiently, running cleaner and safer while delivering essential services, products, and properties. As employee-owners, we aim to seek the most efficient and clean operations for our clients, who are responsible for delivering essential services and supporting our nation’s economy.
Our environmental work is ongoing with many new exciting ways to support our clients and communities; it’s rewarding to share this recognition with our thanks to you.
Governor Pete Ricketts has recently made appointments to fill Nebraska’s boards and commissions, including Michael J. Miller to the Governor’s Council to Keep Nebraska Beautiful (KNB). This is Miller’s third term on the nonprofit’s Board of Directors.
Mike Miller is a Vice President and Project Director in SCS Engineers’ Omaha, Nebraska office. As an environmental due diligence expert, he provides environmental management and consulting to the private and federal sectors. These services help municipalities, businesses, and industries operate efficiently and cleanly. He develops and implements environmental health & safety programs and solutions at industrial facilities in the agricultural processing, chemical processing, distribution/transportation, metals, and pharmaceutical manufacturing sectors.
An avid outdoorsman, Mike is a big fan of the School Chemical Clean-Out program and is impressed that KNB has affected projects at hundreds of schools. There is a big need for technical and financial support, and this program provides both for schools large and small, urban and rural, public and private.
Miller has this to say about getting his start on the Keep Nebraska Beautiful Council in 2013,
A landfill client of mine got me involved with KNB through its annual golf event. As an environmental consultant to the solid waste sector, I was very impressed by and supportive of his and his company’s support of KNB and the Mission to ‘take actions to improve and beautify our communities’ to promote healthy environments to live, work, and play within.
Nebraska is making great strides toward cleaner, greener, and more beautiful places to live through Keep Nebraska Beautiful. The nonprofit coordinates events in the State of Nebraska, such as the Great American Cleanup, America Recycles Day, Recycle Bowl, and National Planting Day. This effective community partnership includes representation from the public, private, and civic sectors.
Over the years, local affiliates throughout the state have joined Keep Nebraska Beautiful as Keep America Beautiful affiliates. These include educational and community-improvement programs addressing local needs such as litter awareness, cleanups, beautification, reuse and recycling programs, and neighborhood revitalization.
Successful organizations like these are sustainable through the generous support of their members and supporters like Mike Miller and you. Join in, or see what’s happening in your community.
We’re proud of Mike and all the staff at SCS Engineers who serve our communities and clients.
Congratulations on joining SCS Engineers! You’ll work on projects alongside our employees and management in the next months. Jump in, ask questions, and take advantage of working with some of the finest environmental engineers, geologists, scientists, and consultants in the U.S. You are now part of a national team solving some of the most challenging problems for our planet and our society. You’ve got the smarts and the desire, and we’re here to help build your skills.
If you are interested in making a difference, find your fit here!
Scrap facilities’ stormwater permits incorporate strict sampling requirements, numeric limits (generally referred to as benchmarks, numeric action levels, or numeric effluent limits), and mandated corrective actions. Furthermore, facilities face emerging challenges with increased regulatory scrutiny within environmental justice communities and communities implementing new stormwater utilities. Good planning can ease the operational, maintenance, and reporting requirements and provide positive results for your facility’s relationship with local communities and regulators.
If your facility is facing scrutiny or requires additional best management practices (BMPs) to meet stormwater permit requirements, follow this simple stepped approach:
Good planning and design create effective conveyance and treatment systems that improve stormwater quality and help you meet benchmark requirements. Proactive measures to plan for stormwater treatment systems will help existing scrap metal recycling facilities address corrective action and avoid Additional Implementation Measure (AIM) levels based on their benchmark monitoring results.
Need assistance with managing stormwater runoff at your scrap facility? Contact our Author, Scott Knoepke, to set up a meeting at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries’ 2022 Safety and Environmental Conference. Or reach out anytime; SCS’s environmental professionals are nationwide.
The construction cranes dotting suburban and urban areas indicate many cities’ new residential, office, and commercial building developments. Mixed-use development continues rising in popularity; the pandemic accelerated a swing already in motion. But there are other factors at play here, and one may surprise you. Today, our blog discusses these two factors and how brownfield redevelopment can play a role in addressing both.
One: Sustainability
According to Architecture 2030, a non-profit, non-partisan organization established to transform the building sector away from being a major emitter of greenhouse gases, there is work to do. As with almost all industry segments, tracking and reducing their carbon footprint is considered an essential element of doing business. It’s important to Americans and shareholders.
Brownfield redevelopment presents adaptive reuse of existing buildings and properties and is a sustainable form of construction. Completing the due diligence and environmental studies associated with redevelopment shows brownfields can provide cost benefits from a development perspective and in excellent locations with existing infrastructure. The conversion of existing land or buildings, as opposed to new-build construction, is far more environmentally sustainable.
An EPA 2020 study examines and reports the environmental benefits that continue accruing when brownfield sites are redevelopment. The study finds that accomodating housing and job growth decreases the need for more roads and reduces emissions from commuting.
As population density increases, real estate prices continue to rise, and less land is available, mixed-use development is an economical choice for developers. It is also one of the best-case scenarios for end-users because it prioritizes practicality and sustainability. Many potential sites exist in desirable locations or emerging areas. They should be available below market value and may have been on the market for a long time. The development of Comm-22 is a great example of a mixed-use community. Businesses find brownfields attractive options because they are closer to their customers – good for business and the environment.
Two: Grant Programs and Offsetting Expenses
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has grant programs that can pay for the assessment and cleanup of brownfields, but these programs are only available to governmental and non-profit organizations. However, a private entity may be able to team with these eligible parties. The bipartisan Congressional action has delivered the single-largest investment in U.S. brownfields infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests more than $1.5 billion through EPA’s highly successful Brownfields Program.
In addition, grants are available from some state agencies and the private sector through EPA regional programs – these are most often found within the transportation sector. Your environmental engineer or consultant can help you find funding; the firms with comprehensive environmental services keep watch as substantial federal infrastructure funding trickles down to the states in 2022 and next year. Note that each grant program will have its eligibility criteria, but many of these are designated for mixed-use developments supporting
Obtaining a grant or loan with the help of a qualified environmental consultant or an environmental attorney can be the difference in acquiring, cleaning up, and redeveloping a property. The grants don’t typically cover all the costs associated with the necessary cleanups, but they can cover most of these costs.
A new property owner can obtain an environmental insurance policy to cover cleanup requirements, third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage, and associated legal expenses resulting from pollution or contamination. These insurance policies are available with various term lengths and deductible amounts to satisfy the concerns of lenders or equity investors.
Other solutions include “insurance archaeology” to find old insurance policies that may have coverage for “pollution conditions.”
Comprehensive Environmental Support Keeps Redevelopment on Track
Mixed-use development provides a healthy, safe place to work, play, and live along with job creation. The most important risk management strategy is to keep the project on schedule. Your environmental engineer and consultant have a thorough understanding of the environmental issues on the site and how those issues can impact your redevelopment plans and bottom line. It is critical to have environmental and legal support experienced in identifying, anticipating, and managing risks on brownfields.
SCS evaluates brownfields by performing a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) first to study historic site information and previous uses. SCS will perform a Phase II study if the Phase I ESA identifies potential issues (known as Recognized Environmental Conditions). Phase II includes collecting and analyzing samples (i.e., soil, soil vapor, and groundwater) to assess whether environmental impacts are present. If enough sampling is completed, the extent of the impacts can be estimated.
SCS Engineers has a long and successful track record with brownfields projects. Our clients appreciate the security of having comprehensive and experienced professionals who lower their risk keeping projects on schedule, safely remediating in-situ that lowers greenhouse gas emissions and can provide cost savings.
With proper planning and the help of a qualified environmental consultant, the mitigation or remediation of impacts can be incorporated into the acquisition and development processes and result in a vibrant, profitable project that is protective of human health and the environment.
About the Author: Luke Montague is a Vice President of SCS Engineers and a Project Director. He is a Professional Geologist and licensed contractor with two decades of experience in environmental consulting, general contracting, commercial and residential development, and property and asset management. He has performed and reviewed hundreds of Phase I environmental site assessments (ESAs), and has completed subsurface investigations, human health risk assessments, removal action work plans, site remediation activities, geotechnical investigations, asbestos and lead-based paint surveys, and asbestos air monitoring.
SCS Engineers is expanding its Phoenix, Arizona, office to meet the growing demand for sustainable environmental consulting and engineering. Recent employee-owners joining the firm are pictured upper left to right, including Samantha Montgomery, a technical associate; Mike Bradford, senior professional engineer; Cynthia Neitzel, a professional engineer; and Taylor Goins, field services working as part of SCS’s comprehensive team.
Montgomery’s focus is to prepare monthly, semi-annual, and annual greenhouse gas reports, along with processing and analyzing the data associated with those reports. She specializes in air quality compliance and permitting, particularly for landfills.
Bradford brings more than 20 years of experience in civil engineering and project management. He has been the principal engineer and engineer of record for a wide range of public and private sector capital projects in Arizona and across the country for solid waste landfills and other public works civil projects.
As a landfill project manager focusing on landfill gas collection and control systems and compliance reporting, Neitzel brings more than 20 years of experience. She has a background in landfill design, construction quality assurance, and air quality permitting and compliance.
Goins provides clients with landfill gas monitoring and other related environmental monitoring services, helping them reduce operational costs and protect air quality. He also operates and maintains other environmental pollution control systems.
“Mike and Cynthia bring invaluable experience creating and overseeing environmental solutions for municipalities and businesses, which provide essential services in our region,” said Pat Sullivan, senior vice president of SCS Engineers. “They, along with the rest of the team, join SCS to serve our clients who are actively seeking to protect public health and the environment as part of doing business, whether that’s remediating property, operating a landfill, lowering their carbon footprint, or running a fuel station.
SCS Engineers’ environmental solutions and technology directly result from our experience and dedication to our clients responsible for safeguarding the environment as they deliver their services and products. For more information about joining this remarkable national firm, please visit SCS Engineers Careers.
Engineering News Report publishes the ENR Top 500 List, which ranks global design/engineering firms by revenue. SCS Engineers again ranks in the top 100, moving up this year from #73 to #59. We thank our clients and our employee-owners for helping SCS continue to rank as a top-tier environmental services engineering, consultanting, and construction firm.
ENR is one of the premier companies tracking the A&E industry, and these rankings are closely followed as they publish throughout the year. SCS Engineers is also recognized in the Sewer & Waste List of Top 20 companies globally, ranking at #5, up from #10 the previous year.
Climate change and reducing our nation’s carbon footprint are important challenges facing our planet. SCS Engineers remains a leader in recovering and utilizing methane from landfills, a potent greenhouse gas. In the last decade, we’ve been expanding our role to include more utilization of biogas from agriculture, carbon sequestration, management of other greenhouse gas and environmental impacts for multiple sectors while reducing methane production in landfills by diverting organics.
SCS designs and supports innovative environmental solutions with our in-house award-winning technologies to help our clients. With more data and control available 24/7, our clients can make more informed decisions, operate more efficiently, running cleaner and safer while delivering essential services, products, and properties.
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