Mitigating Wetland Impacts and Coordinating Various Regulatory Permits
San Francisco International Airport Runway Safety Area Project | San Francisco, CA
From 2009 to the present, LSA worked with the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and the regulatory agencies to obtain the necessary federal and State regulatory permits to fill approximately 3.5 acres of wetlands for the SFO Federal Aviation Administration-mandated San Francisco International Airport Runway Safety Area Project. As part of this effort, LSA conducted a wetland delineation, which required a close examination of ponding patterns and implications of introduced fill material. LSA prepared all of the permit applications and supporting documentation, including a Section 404(b)(1) Alternatives Analysis and a Biological Assessment for submittal to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service.
One of the more challenging aspects of this project was work related to locating suitable off-site wetland mitigation locations to compensate for wetland impacts because there were no on-site opportunities within the land-constrained airport. LSA identified several potential mitigation projects and assisted in finalizing negotiations with the project sponsor and agencies regarding SFO’s participation for mitigation credit. LSA obtained all regulatory approvals on time and in advance of the scheduled start of construction, thereby enabling SFO to avoid costly schedule delays on this time-critical project. LSA recently provided biological and archaeological construction monitoring support during the implementation phase of the Runway Safety Area Project, as well as technical assistance related to interpretation and compliance with the various environmental permits. LSA is currently assisting SFO with tracking the progress and associated agency negotiations for the off-site wetland mitigation projects that SFO funded to address wetland impacts due to the Runway Safety Area Project.