NOREAS has been assisting the Riverside County Transportation Department (RCTD) with all facets of regulatory permitting, biological compliance and native habitat restoration services since 2011. NOREAS provides on-call natural resources support to the County’s Transportation and Environmental Programs staff to facilitate their timely conformity with various biological regulations in terrestrial and aquatic environments. NOREAS’ expertise was instrumental in the development and approval of technical studies and permit applications/notifications in an expedited fashion for the Gilman Springs Road Improvement Project. The Project is unique because existing and planned development immediately adjoins its limits, creating a constrained pedestrian survey right-of-way and potential adverse noise-related affects to protected biological resources. Additionally, the project includes improvements within federal- and state-jurisdictional waterways that are designated as wildlife linkages within the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP). NOREAS prepared California Department of Transportation and California Environmental Quality Act compliant technical studies (i.e., Natural Environment Study [NES]), Preliminary Jurisdictional Determination Report (PJD), Clean Water Act (CWA) permit applications (e.g., Section 404 and 401), Lake & Streambed Alteration Notification, and MSHCP Consistency documentation for the Riverside County Conservation Authority. Furthermore, NOREAS personal relationships and credibility with regulatory staff allowed for the negotiation of environmental permits that were practical from an implementation perspective and economically viable. Additionally, NOREAS proactively vetted conceptual mitigation plan details – including habitat compensation and monitoring specifications, to expedite RCTD’s discretionary permitting approach and approval process. NOREAS’ strategy of developing conceptual mitigation measures offered RCTD an accelerated permit approval process, which saved valuable time and financial resources.