Socioeconomics & Environment

Navigating environmental regulations with socioeconomic analyses

RDN provides comprehensive and cost-effective assessments of the socioeconomic impacts of infrastructure and planning projects.

RDN’s multi-disciplinary staff perform socioeconomic and economic impact assessments and regional growth projections for large-scale energy, transportation, flood control, and community planning projects. These analyses often support Environmental Impact Statements and Environmental Impact Reports in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Our analyses provide vital, quantitative insights that inform long-term project feasibility. Potential impacts may include short- and long-term changes in population and number of jobs, residential and business property values and displacements, and cultural, community, and recreational facility utilization. We work closely with our clients to determine the unique requirements of each study, which may be customized to cover a broad range of other socioeconomic measures, from effects on tax revenues to the visual impacts of facilities. In instances where the anticipated impacts exceed acceptable thresholds, resulting in environmental impacts such as urban decay, we can also advise clients on potential mitigating actions and alternative scenarios.

Our corporate experience in this area includes evaluations of the socioeconomic impacts of construction and operation of oil and gas production and treatment facilities, uranium processing facilities, nuclear and conventional fossil-fuel electrical power generation facilities, community development plans, flood control structures, and linear transportation projects, including high speed railways.