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City of Sunny Isles Beach, Florida Marine and Coastal Professional Engineering Consulting Services (CCNA) | RFQ No. 18‐02‐01 Aptim Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. 8 01C032018D that formal consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and/or National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) often leads to lengthy delays in permitting. Therefore, whenever possible, we try to design projects that will qualify for authorization under regional Biological Opinions (BO’s) for endangered species and their critical habitat. Identifying and utilizing streamlined permits and consultation will help us to obtain state and federal authorizations for the City’s projects in a cost‐efficient and expedited manner. We understand that there are areas of hardbottom located offshore of the City, which provide essential fish habitat (EFH) and potentially support threatened coral species. These resources affect regulatory actions by requiring greater oversight and coordination by local, state, and federal agencies. APTIM has experience designing and permitting projects in the vicinity of hardbottom in south Florida, and will use this experience to help address agency concerns to prevent delays in permitting. We approach every project with the design goal of avoiding adverse effects to natural resources, but in some cases, successful marine and coastal projects involve some degree of unavoidable environmental impacts. In these cases, our biologists work closely with state and federal agencies to develop mitigation and monitoring programs. We have worked closely with FDEP and NMFS biologists to design hardbottom mitigation projects throughout Florida and to monitor artificial reefs to document their colonization by fish and benthic organisms. If the City requires a marine project in an area of sensitive resources, our design team will work to avoid impacts to the maximum extent practicable, but will develop a cost‐ effective and successful mitigation solution if impacts cannot be avoided. In addition to the need for state and federal permits, our projects may also require local permits and must adhere to local ordinances and rules. We recognize that Miami‐Dade County and the City have codes, resolutions, and ordinances that help to ensure that projects align with the local values and vision. APTIM will work with the City to design, permit and implement projects that meet your needs while balancing project needs with the protection of natural resources. Environmental Assessments and Monitoring Identifying natural resources is vital to the successful design and permitting of each project. The approach that we take in providing environmental services for each individual project starts with early coordination with clients and agencies to provide baseline data and environmental documents to facilitate and often expedite the permitting process. The presence of hardbottom, seagrass, endangered species and their designated critical habitat, as well as the location of a project within Outstanding Florida Waters (OFW), can have important implications to the design of a marine or coastal project. For each project we design for the City, we will start by researching available historical and recent environmental site data, including analysis of aerial imagery for detection of potential submerged resources. Following a desktop review of environmental data, APTIM biologists will conduct an on‐site environmental assessment, if needed, to document current site conditions. We understand that Miami‐Dade County staff have conducted nearshore hardbottom and artificial reef monitoring throughout the County in support of the beach nourishment program in compliance with APTIM biologists conduct benthic resource surveys in support of project design, permitting and permit compliance.