Since 1971, ENSR has conducted over 180 studies for linear projects such as pipelines, transmission lines, fiber optic systems, and other transportation facilities. These studies have included conducting biological, physical, social, economic, and cultural resources baseline inventories; selecting and evaluating alternative corridors; and assessing potential impacts from the construction, operation, and maintenance phases of the project. Many of these studies also included preparing federal and state permit applications, for example, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) resource reports, state public service commission right-of-way applications, Rural Electrification Administration (REA) environmental analysis reports, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Forest Service environmental impact statements (EISs) and environmental assessments (EAs). This experience has made ENSR's staff very familiar with the technical operation and project management of this type of study.

Linear projects normally have required preliminary identification of alternative corridors by map or aerial photograph interpretation and study, constraint mapping of sensitive areas, fixed-wing or helicopter aerial reconnaissance of alternative corridors, and ground studies of particularly sensitive corridor segments. Impact assessment has usually considered air quality, geology and soils, water resources, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, threatened or endangered species, wetlands, cultural resources, visual resources, land use, transportation, noise, and socioeconomics. ENSR has compiled baseline information and assessed potential impacts for specific sections of environmental impact assessment documents.  We have also coordinated the entire corridor selection environmental program, organized and held necessary public scoping meetings and hearings, and prepared the environmental impact statement. ENSR has also served as the environmental management consultant on certain projects and provided expert witness testimony on routing analyses