BonTerra Consulting: News

Tom Smith to Co-Teach UCLA Extension Seminar

January 17, 2006

Thomas E. Smith, Jr., AICP, FSMPS, one of the Founding Principals of BonTerra Consulting, a leading environmental consulting firm with offices in Pasadena, Costa Mesa, and Temecula CA, will co-teach the “Managing EIRs and EISs: Strategies for Success” seminar for the UCLA Extension, Public Policy Program on February 10, 2006. The Public Policy Program provides a forum for bringing together public officials, planners, attorneys, private sector representatives, community groups, and the research community to critically examine the public policy issues that are confronting Southern California, the state, and the nation.

Seminar offerings provide practical and timely information about changing laws and policies, planning practices, technologies, and analysis tools in the areas of urban planning; land use and planning law; environmental policy; public infrastructure finance; and transportation policy, planning and management.

This is the fifth year that UCLA Extension has asked Mr. Smith to conduct a seminar to educate both the public and private sectors on the requirements of managing the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) processes required by state and federal laws.

Assisting both private sector clients and public agencies for over 30 years, Tom Smith is considered one of the leading experts on preparing and managing EIRs, EISs, and other CEQA and NEPA documentation.

The seminar offered by UCLA Extension is targeted to individuals involved in the environmental process, including public agency and consultant project managers, applicants, and report reviewers. Topics to be covered include: the challenges of EIR and EIS Management; Selecting and Contracting Consultants; Managing an In-House Team; Scoping Public Involvement; Tools; Problem-Solving Examples; and Ethical Considerations.

Further information concerning the UCLA Extension, Public Policy Program course offerings can be found at www.uclaextension.edu/publicpolicy

An Environmental Planning/Resource Management Corporation