Environmental Permitting
Permitting large projects under the Clean Water Act in the age of ever changing regulations and policies requires more than a command of the law, politics, economics, and environmental aspects. It requires dogged determination.
– Andrea P. Gray
Over Two Decades of Experience. Over Two Decades of Results.
Andrea Gray has 20 years of experience as an environmental consultant for large-impact Clean Water Act permitting projects including drinking water reservoirs. Her experience includes:
- Negotiating with state and federal agencies.
- Managing legal and technical aspects of permitting projects including: engineering, impacts to streams and wetlands, impacts to cultural resources, and impacts to endangered species.
- Preparing federal permit documentation including: alternatives analysis, needs analysis, joint public notice, and comment responses.
- Preparing state permit documentation including: water withdrawal applications, reservoir management plans, interbasin transfer analysis, watershed protection plan, and drought contingency plan.
- Preparing and oversee project schedules and budgets.
- Securing project financing through GEFA.
- Land acquisition for both reservoir and mitigation properties.
Representative Projects, Services, and Experiences
She has worked on the following public water supply projects:
- Indian Creek Reservoir (Carroll County Water Authority)
- Yahoola Creek Reservoir expansion (City of Dahlonega)
- Owsley Fork Reservoir (Berea, Kentucky)
- Bear Creek Reservoir (South Fulton Municipal Regional Water Authority)
- Bear Creek Reservoir (Newton County)
- Glades Reservoir (Hall County)
- Beech Creek Reservoir (Haralson County Water & Sewer Authority)
- Various NRCS reservoir Environmental Assessments
Lake Zwerner and the Yahoola Creek Reservoir
In June 2021, she and the Carroll County Water Authority team secured a Section 404 Permit for the construction of the Indian Creek Reservoir in Carroll County, Georgia followed by the issuance of water withdrawal permits in November 2021. The project team continues to work through an Environmental Impact Statement with NRCS (Natural Resources Conservation Service) to obtain project funding.
In July 2020, she and fellow project manager, Laura Benz, secured a Surface Water Withdrawal Permit for the Middle Chattahoochee Regional Water & Sewer Authority which was the first permit issued from the Chattahoochee River South of Atlanta in over two decades. The Authority, after 20 years of pursing its own water supply, secured sufficient water to meet the needs for the citizens of Union City, Fairburn, and Palmetto for the next 50 years.
Andrea Gray has also provided environmental consulting services relating to large commercial and residential developments.
In addition to environmental permitting, Andrea Gray has also successfully navigated FERC permit exceptions on Lake Oconee, defended EPA enforcement actions, acted as Newton County Environmental Court Solicitor, and overseen mitigation site selection/credit purchases.