Bureau of Land Management Seeks Feedback to Update Western Solar Plan

Matt Petersen is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Technical Director for SWCA. Matt has 31 years of experience as a resource specialist and has managed or provided NEPA oversight for over 30 large-scale environmental impact statements (EISs), including projects in Arizona, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, New Hampshire, Utah, Vermont, Texas, New Mexico, California, and Wyoming. This NEPA experience includes work with most major federal agencies and encompasses resource management plans (RMPs), ski areas expansions, fire management plans, stream restoration, mining, oil and gas, pipelines, transmission lines, wind farms, airports, and power plants. Matt has taught custom NEPA seminars for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Matt has developed and routinely teaches several open-enrollment NEPA courses to industry professionals, lawyers, and agency staffs. In addition, Matt is a regular instructor on NEPA impact analysis and third-party consulting for the BLM National Training Center (NTC). Matt recently developed the BLM National Training Center courses “NEPA Analysis for EAs” and “Kick-Start Your RMP,” both of which Matt has taken on the road to BLM field offices throughout the continental Unites States and Alaska. Technical expertise includes aquatic habitat impact assessment, mitigation, and restoration; hydrological modeling and analysis; and wetland delineation, mapping, and impact analysis. Matt is also experienced in the use and application of analytical models for quantitatively assessing natural resources impacts through the NEPA process.