Environmental Specialties
Environmental compliance is interdisciplinary by nature.
Environmental services are inherently multidisciplinary. A diversity of professional perspectives in environmental analysis is valuable. Most often, driven by project location, context, characteristics, resource sensitivities, and level of controversy, the focus needs to encompass multiple study elements. In such instances, professionals with a range of technical expertise conduct research, collect and analyze data, and prepare special studies, respond to controversy, and/or support consideration of project approval. The Ascent team offers the broad spectrum of technical fields needed to support the environmental decision-making and permitting process. We work collaboratively with our clients and stakeholders to understand their goals, challenges, and opportunities and to deliver innovative and sustainable outcomes.
- Aesthetic and visual resource analysis
- Air quality and health risk assessments
- Cultural resource assessment
- Energy use and efficiency assessments
- GHG analyses, threshold development, and mitigation strategies
- GIS, mapping, geospatial analysis
- Geology, soils, and erosion
- Hydrology, water quality, and watershed management
- Natural resource assessment and planning
- Noise measurements, modeling, and mitigation
- Transportation, VMT, and evaluation analysis
- Bay Area Air Quality Mangement District
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife
- California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
- California Department of Parks and Recreation
- California Department of Corrections
- Catalyst Deveopment Partners
- City of Chico
- City of Hayward
- City of Napa
- City of Rancho Cucamonga
- City of Sacramento
- City of San Marcos
- City of South Lake Tahoe
- City of Vallejo
- Cordova Hills Development Corporation
- County of San Diego
- County of Tuolumne
- East Bay Regional park District
- Grossmont Union High School District
- Integral Communities
- La Familia Counseling Center
- Liberty Utilities
- Main B Development
- North Tahoe Public Utilities District
- River Islands
- Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency
- Santa Clara Valley Water District
- Unified Port District of San Diego
- University of California, Davis
On March 1, 2025, Governor Newsom proclaimed a State of Emergency to expedite implementation of fire fuel treatment projects. Among other provisions, the Proclamation directs the suspension of certain “statutes, rules, regulations, and requirements” for projects subject to approval by departments of the California Natural Resources Agency and the California Environmental Protection Agency for “critical fuel reduction projects” that are “initiated this calendar year.” It also called for the immediate update of the California Vegetation Treatment Program EIR to increase its usefulness and efficiency for “promoting rapid environmental review for large wildfire risk reduction treatments.” At its Regional Meeting in Marin County on March 27, 2025, the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force released more information to explain how CNRA and CalEPA will execute this directive.
Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) focus on reducing wildfire risk to people, homes, businesses, watersheds, cultural resources, infrastructure, natural ecosystems, and other values or resources within the community. CWPPs are collaboratively developed by local, state, federal and tribal partners, such as emergency responders, FireSafe Councils, local planning staff, and state or federal resource agencies. The California CWPP Toolkit, a great new resource, has been launched by the state. It is a free online resource containing a comprehensive guide, customizable template, best practices, and additional resources to help communities develop and implement effective CWPPs.
Two new state laws—Senate Bill (SB) 1425 and Assembly Bill (AB) 1889—require counties and cities to update their general plans to address equitable access to open space, rewilding, wildlife and habitat connectivity, and climate resilience. SB 1425 requires every city and county to review and update its general plan open space element by January 1, 2026, to include plans and an action program that address equitable access, correlated with the environmental justice element; climate resilience and other co-benefits of open space, correlated with the safety element; and rewilding opportunities correlated with the land use element. AB 1889, the “Room to Roam Act,” requires cities and counties to consider the effect of development on wildlife movement and habitat connectivity in the adoption or next revision of their general plan conservation element beginning on January 1, 2028. These new laws can guide the development of more inclusive, resilient, and ecologically connected landscapes across California.
