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Results for "Local and State Agencies"

The Revised PM2.5 NAAQS and What It Means for Your Facility

On February 7, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lowered the annual primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS or the standard) for fine particulate matter from 12.0 to 9.0 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3). Fine…

Andrew Rogers Air Quality, Local and State Agencies
Planning for Environmental Justice

This blog was co-authored by former MFA Senior Planner Sarah Sieloff.   What Is Environmental Justice in Planning? National Community Planning Month is an opportune time to consider how pollution doesn’t impact all people equally. The…

Haley McDaniel Brownfield Redevelopment, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development
Should You Be Pursuing an EPA Brownfields Grant? Now is the Time to Decide

This post was originally written by Sarah Sieloff, former MFA Senior Planner. Why first-movers may see advantages this year It’s the most wonderful time of the year, sort of. EPA recently released updates related to this year’s…

Seth Otto, AICP, LEED AP Brownfield Redevelopment, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development
Navigating Legacy Pesticides with a New Model Remedy

The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) recently published a new model remedy that provides guidance for cleanup of historical orchards in central and eastern Washington. While the new requirements may seem daunting, once you are…

Carly Schaefer Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development, Real Estate
Cemetery Data Comes to Life in ArcGIS Online

A recurring theme in GIS is utilizing technology to prevent crucial data from being lost to time. Recording data, managing it, and exchanging it from hand to hand over time leads to vulnerabilities. Cemetery data is one such example. Imagine…

Gavin Jaravata GIS & Data Management, Local and State Agencies
Tax Increment Financing—A New Opportunity for Washington Communities

In Washington State, a recently passed bill provides local governments with a new tool to help spur revitalization in areas where private investment is lacking. Engrossed Substitute House Bill (ESHB) 1189 (also called the TIF for Jobs bill)…

Matt Hoffman Local and State Agencies
Washington State Tolling Gets A Massive Upgrade

If you’ve driven across SR 520 (the world’s longest floating bridge) or through the SR 99 tunnel or on one of the other tolled highways in Washington State, you likely paid your toll bill online or by calling a customer service…

Kathryn Murdock Communications and Outreach, Local and State Agencies
Recognizing the Service of Our Public Partners

This blog was originally written by former MFA Principal Communications Specialist, Charla Skaggs. Recognizing the Service of Our Public Partners Since 1985, Public Service Recognition Week has been observed during the first week of…

Abbi Russell Communications and Outreach, Local and State Agencies, MFA Staff and Culture, Ports
Addressing the Need for Affordable Housing in Spokane Valley

What’s a HAP? In 2019, the Washington State Legislature passed legislation encouraging all cities planning under the Growth Management Act to adopt actions to increase residential capacity, especially in areas with supportive transportation…

Matt Hoffman Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development
Planning for COVID-19 Recovery

October is National Community Planning Month and this year’s theme, Planning is Essential to Recovery, highlights how planning and planners can lead communities to equitable, resilient, and long-lasting recovery from the effects of the…

Seth Otto, AICP, LEED AP Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development
MFA Celebrates a Major Milestone in Remediating the Bunker Hill Mining and Metallurgical Superfund Site

As I drive through the Silver Valley in Shoshone County, Idaho, I see a tight-knit community rebuilding. Store fronts once empty and abandoned have come to life, filled with shops and restaurants. I see new infrastructure where festival…

Carly Schaefer Engineering, Environmental, Local and State Agencies, Mining
Celebrating Public Service

This blog was originally written by former MFA Principal Communications Specialist, Charla Skaggs. This week is Public Service Recognition Week, a celebration of all the ways that federal, state, local, and tribal government employees…

Carly Schaefer Local and State Agencies
Preparing for the Future of Bellingham Schools

This post was originally written by Heather Good, former MFA Senior Hydrogeologist. Thanks to years of hard work and diligence, Bellingham Public Schools (BPS) has had a lot to celebrate recently. In August 2017 BPS celebrated the grand…

Carolyn R. Wise, LHG, RG Environmental, Local and State Agencies
Separating the Science from the Rumors about PFAS

You may have heard of “PFAS” in a documentary or in the news recently. You also may have heard that, in the U.S., PFAS chemicals are in drinking water and in people’s blood. And you would be right to say—what!? How can this be? This…

Courtney Savoie, RG, LHG, PG Attorneys, Environmental, Health & Safety, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development, Ports, Sediment, Stormwater
Vancouver’s Lower Grand Employment Area is Booming

When you think of job creation and economics, look no further than the Lower Grand Employment Area (LGEA). The City of Vancouver, Washington recognized the potential for the LGEA to help preserve jobs in the city’s core and drive regional…

Stacy J. Frost, PE Engineering, Environmental, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development, Real Estate
Skagit County Celebrates the Return of a Brownfield to Productive Use

Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. (MFA) wishes to congratulate Skagit County on the recent completion of its new community justice center, which was developed on a former truck stop fueling station brownfield. The need for a new jail facility to…

Carly Schaefer Brownfield Redevelopment, Local and State Agencies
Stable Banks, Unique Conditions, Lasting Solutions

The success of a bank stabilization project hinges on the ability to explore a variety of potential solutions and identify the most effective option for any given site. MFA has seen success with many different types of projects, all with their…

Kathy J. Lombardi, PE Engineering, Local and State Agencies, Ports, Sediment
Demolition Brings New Chapter for Josephine County’s Dimmick Tower

It was a hot August day when I first saw the building—fenced off and surrounded by brown, crunchy grass, it was a five-story building with boarded-up windows and broken glass. When I finally got to enter the building, I suited up in Tyvek™…

Carly Schaefer Environmental, Health & Safety, Local and State Agencies
Public/Private Partnerships: Taking Action for Community Interests

In the world of economic development, nothing can add value to a large-scale project like a strong, mutually beneficial partnership between public and private interests. At the P3C Public-Private Partnership Conference & Expo 2015 in…

Carly Schaefer Environmental, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development, Ports, Real Estate
MFA Writes Two Winning USEPA Grants for the Cities of Spokane, WA, and St. Helens, OR

On March 9, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced the recipients of its 2015 Area-Wide Planning (AWP) Grant. The AWP grant program assists communities that are responding to local brownfield challenges, including multiple…

Seth Otto, AICP, LEED AP Awards, Brownfield Redevelopment, Environmental, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development
MFA Assists Yakima in Addressing Decade-Old Brownfield

Under the partnership of the City of Yakima and the Washington State Department of Ecology, Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc. is cleaning up a long-term community eyesore. The former Tiger Oil retail gasoline station located at the corner of Nob…

Carly Schaefer Brownfield Redevelopment, Environmental, Local and State Agencies
Precision Dredging Techniques Enhance Cleanup at Lake River

The benefits of precision dredging are numerous; I’ve seen them firsthand: streamlined regulatory approval, greater risk reduction, and increased water quality. MFA wrapped up a large-scale dredging project in February 2015 in Lake River,…

Carly Schaefer Environmental, Forest Products, Local and State Agencies, Ports, Sediment
Northern State Hospital: Past, Present, and Future Use

Over 100 years ago, the State of Washington took a bold step in opening the Northern State Hospital, a state-of-the-art residential mental health facility in Sedro-Woolley. The campus, designed by the world-renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape…

Carly Schaefer Brownfield Redevelopment, Local and State Agencies, Planning & Community Development