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 Expertise in wetland science and regulatory issues is a major strength of our firm. In addition to wetlands regulated by the federal government under the Clean Water Act of 1972, overlapping wetland regulations have been adopted by state, regional and local regulatory agencies such as departments of environmental protection, departments of natural resources, water management districts, and city and county governments. ESI staff are trained and experienced in application of the 1987 Corps of Engineers Wetlands Delineation Manual and methodologies of the state gencies. Delineation and characterization of wetlands greatly assist in defining regulatory issues. ESI has delineated thousands of miles of jurisdictional wetlands throughout the Southeast and can either provide sub-meter GPS mapping of the jurisdictional limits for planning purposes or can coordinate with registered land surveyors to plot the jurisdictional limits.
 ESI provides leadership in the permitting process and works with clients to achieve project objectives while minimizing impacts and permitting requirements. We have been involved in numerous innovative wetland planning studies incorporating Wetland Evaluation Technique (WET), Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP), Hydrogeomorphic Assessment (HGM), Advanced Identification (ADID), Landscape Ecosystem Classification (LEC), Wetland Rapid Assessment Procedure (WRAP) and Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM).
When impacts require compensatory mitigation, ESI designs and implements wetland restoration plans, supervises restoration construction, acquires and installs plant materials, and monitors and reports restoration success.
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