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NEPA

South Carolina Transportation Challenges: Navigating from Conception to Completion

Kristen Maines, Mark Mohr, and Ward Marotti

Tuesday, May 21
Calvert Ballroom
2:00 PM

About the Session

Like most states in the nation, South Carolina is facing a transportation infrastructure crisis. In 2018, South Carolina was ranked the 3rd worst state for dangerous roads, and according to SCDOT, 10% of the interstate system in South Carolina is in poor condition. The Roads Bill of 2017 will provide roughly $600 million in recurring funds once fully implemented to be used solely for improvements to South Carolina’s roads and bridges. Now that funding has been identified, efficiently navigating the environmental planning and permitting process is a critical path to improving the safety and conditions of our roads network.

This session will present multiple South Carolina projects and lessons learned as case studies for public involvement, NEPA, 404/401 permitting, and compliance to showcase innovative solutions to common project challenges and delays. At a time when environmental review and project delivery schedules are at the forefront of our industry, we will focus on methods that improve the process for preparing efficient and timely environmental reviews and permits.

Focus areas:

  1. Early and comprehensive scoping to identify relevant issues and concerns (KM)
  2. Identifying and using effective public involvement tools (KM)
  3. Integration of compliance early in the planning process (MM)
  4. Preparing clear and concise NEPA commitments (MM)
  5. Effective mitigation strategies (WM)
  6. Mitigation compliance and monitoring (WM)

About the Presenters

Moderator: Kristen Maines, DRMP, Inc.

Kristen is a senior environmental planner, project manager, and envision sustainability professional with over 19 years of professional experience. She has managed, authored, and/or collaborated on categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements on a wide variety of projects. Kristen has lived in nine states and is currently “living the dream” in Charlotte, North Carolina as a senior environmental planner for DRMP, Inc.

Mark Mohr, Three Oaks Engineering

Mark is a Senior Environmental Planner with Three Oaks Engineering in Columbia, SC. He has over 18 years of experience in the natural resource conservation and NEPA compliance field, and has extensive experience preparing State and Federal environmental review documents. His background includes roles as NEPA and Environmental Compliance Coordinator at the SC Department of Transportation, NEPA and Natural Resource Manager at the SC Army National Guard, and Field Biologist at the SC Department of Natural Resources.

Ward Marotti, WK Dickson & Co.

Ward Marotti is a Senior Project Manager who has been with WK Dickson for over eleven years. He has been involved in successful ecological restoration project planning, design, implementation, oversight, and monitoring for over 28 years in the Southeast, West, Gulf Coast, and South America. He is past-president of the National Association of Environmental Professionals’ North Carolina Chapter and currently holds a seat on the national organization’s board of directors.