Environmental Planning Overview

We provide technical and administrative services in the areas of environmental resource planning and management. Within the realm of environmental planning and management are: National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance and documentation, Cultural Resources Management and Historical Preservation, Environmental Justice, the Kennedy Environmental Resources Document (ERD), Threatened and Endangered Species consultation and coordination, Wetlands and Scrub Restoration, Kennedy Sea Turtle Lighting Guidelines, Gopher Tortoise Management, Osprey Nests, Least Terns and Black Skimmers, special projects and future planning.

Environmental planning provides a process to identify environmental impacts, issues, and requirements associated with a project and to incorporate them into project planning and decision-making. Environmental planning is done early in the planning process for proposed Kennedy projects and activities. This facilitates compliance with NEPA and other environmental laws and regulations, minimizes impacts to the environment, avoids cost and schedule impacts to proposed projects. Environmental planning is an integral component of Kennedy’s project review process. The environmental planning staff works diligently to ensure that environmental benefits and consequences of our actions are assessed and considered in the decision-making process.

To accomplish this mission, the Environmental Planning staff works closely with a group of highly skilled scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff that are part of the NASA Environmental and Medical Contract (NEMCON). A key component of NEMCON that supports Environmental Planning is the Ecological Monitoring Program. The Ecological Monitoring Program provides long term multidisciplinary scientific research and modeling of critical components of the local and regional ecosystems as well as operational support. Another unique aspect of the support provided by NEMCON is the Environmental Points of Contact (EPOCs). An EPOC is a contractor support person assigned to support a specific Kennedy institutional construction project. They also support programmatic projects. The EPOC is responsible for providing guidance on all environmental issues from project design kickoff through completion of construction. This support includes reviewing design packages, assistance with any required permits, and providing support to the construction contractor to ensure compliance with all applicable environmental rules and regulations.