The ARAP program is one of Tennessee’s most important environmental regulatory programs. However, the science of water resources can be very technical, so navigating the program can be complicated.
You may be able to get your ARAP on your own, but you may need an environmental consultant. In this article, we’ll discuss how a consultant can help you and when you might want to consider hiring one.
General Notes
- Consultants have technical expertise that can be essential to or very helpful for your ARAP process.
- Hiring a consultant is an additional cost, but a good consultant can reduce costs from delays and mistakes, reduce effort and frustration, and increase project success
- Even if you complete your ARAP application yourself, sometimes you have to hire a consultant to complete a technical assessment.
- Other times, you may not need a consultant for technical assessments. If your project is relatively minor, it can be worthwhile to complete your ARAP application yourself.
The Role of an Environmental Consultant
An environmental consultant is a trained professional, often an environmental scientist or biologist, who offers services collecting, analyzing, and providing scientific information. Consultants offer a variety of services based on their specific expertise. So, you’ll need to find a consultant with experience in the subject you need. Consultants may work for themselves or for a consulting or engineering company.
In the environmental permitting sector, the information environmental consultants typically produce informs the decision-making process of the project. Some consultants only offer services to conduct assessments. Others offer services to complete the permit application process on your behalf, preparing documentation and acting as your point of contact for the reviewing agencies.
When Do You Need an Environmental Consultant
Technical Assessments
The permitting process sometimes necessitates determinations which require specific scientific assessments. These assessments are scientifically technical, requiring an understanding of multiple complex scientific principles and/or training in specific scientific methodologies. Examples of these technical assessments include Hydrologic Determinations, Wetland Delineations, Threatened/Endangered Species surveys, wetland quality assessments such as the Tennessee Rapid Assessment Method (TRAM), and the stream quality assessments such as the Stream Quantification Tool (SQT) (soon to be updated and potentially renamed).
If you need any of these assessments, you most likely need to hire a consultant to complete them. The most notable exception is for jurisdictional determinations. If you are a private owner of a personal residence or family farm, you can request jurisdictional determinations from TDEC directly. If you don’t have any wetlands or ponds on-site, then you have all you need. However, wetlands and ponds need delineations as well, which you’ll need a consultant to conduct.
For more information on aquatic resource inventories and jurisdictional determinations, check out our free Applicant’s Guide to Aquatic Resource Inventory.
Permit Complexity
The second consideration for deciding if you need a consultant is the complexity of your proposed activity. The more technically involved your project is, the more complex your permit application will be.
If your proposed activity can be covered under a General Permit, it will be easier for you to complete the simplified application process. Because TDEC does some of the work for those permits in advance, the information required in the application and the overall process are both easier to manage.
If your proposed activity needs an Individual Permit, the information required and the overall permitting process will be more involved. Most of the time, if you need an individual permit, your impacts are greater than de minimis. If so, you’ll need to quantify those impacts and provide compensatory mitigation. Most often, applicants need a consultant to do that for them.
Sometimes, you need an individual permit for de minimis impacts that just aren’t covered by any of the general permits. In those cases, mitigation is not required and you may be able to complete the permitting process on your own.
Applicant Involvement
The final reason you might want to hire a consultant is your level of involvement. You may not want to deal with your application or may not feel comfortable with the needed skills. The TDEC application process is possible for those of us who are not environmental scientists to complete. However, the process involves some technical communication and a lot of work on computers.
Writing about a project so that the reader can clearly understand the technical details of the project can be very challenging. Permit writers and reviewers can help applicants fill in any gaps by asking questions in a phone call or email or reviewing the project together on a video call or on-site meeting. However, even with verbal communication, there will still be a need for clear, written communication, because the paperwork carries legal weight in the process.
Similarly, the application process requires a lot of work on computers. If you struggle to use computers, you can go to your local field office for assistance, but you will need to continue to do so while you complete the application process. If you are uncomfortable with that or just don’t want to worry over it, you can hire an environmental consultant.
Environmental consultants can prepare, submit, and communicate about your application for you. They can serve as your liaison to TDEC, saving you time and effort navigating the process.
Figure 1. “Do You Need a Consultant to Apply for ARAP?”, ©TN Environmental
Applying for ARAP: 3 Strategies
When it comes to applying for ARAP, you have a few options for your application strategy.
- Full Consulting: If you don’t want to or can’t complete the application process yourself, you can choose a full consulting strategy. You’ll hire a consultant to complete any technical assessments and your application.
- DIY: If you don’t need any technical assessments or can get what you need directly from TDEC, and you want to complete your application yourself, you can choose to do-it-yourself with a full DIY method.
- Hybrid: Finally, if you need some technical assessment(s) but you want to complete your application yourself, you can choose a hybrid approach and just hire a consultant for the specific services you need.
Resources for Applicants
Finding a Consultant
If you need someone to conduct one of the required scientific assessments or to complete your application for you, you can hire an environmental consultant. You can find consultants online using the related program and assessment keywords. It’s usually not necessary to hire the most expensive consultant, but it can be worthwhile to avoid hiring the least expensive.
TN Environmental Services
Whether you’re planning to hire a consultant or handle your permitting yourself, TN Environmental is here to help you navigate the process with clarity and confidence.
We offer a variety of consultation and consulting services for ARAP applicants, from our environmental scientist and former TDEC permit writer, Melody Phillips. See our full list of services on our Work With Me page.
Need resources for DIYing your application?
Check out our ARAP resources page, here. Our ARAP Application Guide is a great place to start!
Get Help from TDEC
TDEC has numerous offices across the state to help Tennesseans navigate the regulatory programs. You can find your closest field office and phone numbers for the main office reception line at this link. TDEC Field Offices