Awards


Congratulations to the 2024 Scholarship Winners


AEP Student Scholarships ($2,000 each)

Elisabeth Rotschedl

Yarina Conde

Diversity in the Environmental Profession Scholarship ($1,000 each)

Abigail Costello

Mia Isabella Serna Lozano

Michelle Ramirez

Thank you to our 2024 Sponsors


Port of San Diego

Harris & Associates

HELIX Environmental Planning

ESA

RECON

Rick Engineering

Linscott Law & Greenspan Engineers

Great Ecology

Michael Baker International

AECOM

Sophia Mitchell & Associates

Rocks Biological

LSA

CR Associates

Fehr and Peers

Placeworks

Congratulations to the 2024 Award Winners


Outstanding Environmental Analysis Document: ND, MND, or EA

Kensho Residential IS/MND - City of Visa with support from Tideline Partners and Harris and Associates

Outstanding Environmental Analysis Document: EIS/EIR

Port Master Plan Update - Ascent Environmental

Outstanding Technical Report

Tijuana River Valley Invasive Species Removal and Restoration Biological Technical Report - County of San Diego and Helix Environmental Planning 

Outstanding Public Involvement
Port Master Plan Update and the Pepper Park Improvement Plan Project - Port of San Diego

Outstanding Innovation in Resilient or Sustainable Planning and Design

Zero Carbon Portfolio Plan - County of San Diego Department of General Services

Outstanding Planning Document - Plan, Policy, or Ordinance

Port Master Plan Update - Port of San Diego with support from Nexus Planning & Research, Ascent Environmental, Civitas, Intersecting Metrics and Chen Ryan Associates

Outstanding CEQA Streamlining

Market Street Affordable Housing Project - County of San Diego with support from Helix Environmental Planning

Outstanding Contribution to the Environmental Profession

Terri Fenner


Award Nominations


Award Nomination Criteria


Individuals, firms, or agencies can submit nominations for themselves or for others for projects located in San Diego or Imperial counties. Individuals and firms are limited to one nomination per category. The AEP Awards Jury will not be accepting self-nominations in the Outstanding Contribution to the Environmental Profession category. The AEP Awards Jury will review the nominations and announce up to three finalists for consideration to receive each award, except the Outstanding Contribution to the Environmental Profession award, in which only one recipient will be selected. All winners will be kept confidential until announced at the event. Finalists that are not selected as the winner may receive a Meritorious Award and be recognized for their achievement. AEP reserves the right to decline to give out an award in any category if a sufficient quantity or quality of submittals is not received. Final details regarding awards presentation and format will be provided to the finalists no later than two weeks prior to the awards event. The winners will be announced at the awards event.

 Send nominations to: Avneet Sidhu, Awards Committee Member at avneet@gridlegal.com .

  • Digital submittals in PDF or Word format are required and may be on downloadable from FTP or via email.
  • Please ensure that Avneet confirms receipt.
  • All submittals are required to include a qualification form for their appropriate awards category. Qualification forms are located below.
  • Complete nominations must be received before the nomination period closes on Friday, August 16, 2024.
  • Award nominations cost $60, payment will be coordinated at time of submission.    

Please direct any questions, concerns, or other inquiries regarding this process to Avneet Sidhu at avneet@gridlegal.com.

A two-page printable summary of the criteria for award nomination criteria is available here.


Outstanding Contribution to the Environmental Profession:

This award is given to an AEP member for unique, lifetime achievements and contributions in the environmental profession. The award can recognize lifetime achievements of excellence in the environmental profession and individual accomplishments in a specific environmental field or on an issue or topic. A letter of nomination explaining the individual's contribution to both the environmental field and AEP shall be submitted for consideration of this award. The San Diego Chapter Board will decide the recipient of this award.


Outstanding Environmental Analysis Document  EIR or EIS

This award is given to the agency and/or firm that published an outstanding environmental analysis or assessment document in 2023 or 2024 including an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), and joint CEQA/NEPA document involving an EIR and/or EIS. Supplemental, Subsequent, and Program versions of such documents may be considered appropriate for this award category. Projects shall be located within San Diego or Imperial counties. All documents submitted must be accompanied with a letter from the lead agency providing concurrence for the category nomination. Draft or Final documents will be accepted, as long as they have completed public review.

The nomination form for this category can be found HERE


Outstanding Environmental Document – MND or EA:

This award is given to the agency and/or firm that published an outstanding environmental analysis or assessment document in 2023 or 2024 including a Negative Declarations (NDs), Mitigated Negative Declarations (MNDs), Environmental Assessments (EAs), and joint CEQA/NEPA documents involving an ND, MND and/or EA. Projects shall be located within San Diego or Imperial counties. All documents submitted must be accompanied with a letter from the lead agency providing concurrence for the category nomination. Draft or Final documents will be accepted, as long as they have completed public review.

The nomination form for this category can be found HERE


Outstanding Planning Document- Plan, Policy, or Ordinance:

This award is given to an agency and/or firm that published an outstanding planning document that addresses environmental issues or gives special consideration to the environment in 2023 or 2024. Sample documents include but are not limited to General Plans, Development Plans, Resource Management Plans,  Ordinances, Policies, etc. Projects shall be located within San Diego or Imperial counties. All documents submitted must be accompanied by a letter for the regulatory agency providing concurrence.

The nomination form for this category can be found HERE


Outstanding Technical Report:

This award is given to an agency and/or firm that published an outstanding technical report, or utilized a unique technical approach in 2023 or 2024. Submitted reports may focus on the following issues, but are not limited to, Agriculture, Air Quality, Biology, Climate Change/Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Cultural Resources, Geology, Drainage and Hydrology, Hazardous Materials (PEA or Phase I/II), Noise, Storm Water, Historical Resources Reports, Vehicle Miles Traveled Assessments, Visual Impact Analysis, Wildfire, etc. Reports must be in a Final version to be considered for this award. Projects shall be located within San Diego or Imperial counties. All documents submitted must be accompanied by a letter from the regulatory agency providing concurrence for the category nomination.

The nomination form for this category can be found HERE.


Outstanding Public Involvement Award:

This award is given to an agency and/or firm that displayed outstanding achievement in community outreach and engagement over the past three years (2021-2024) in San Diego or Imperial counties. This award recognizes the firm or agency that effectively engaged the public in the environmental planning process and created a greater awareness of the role of the public in the process. All documents submitted must be accompanied by a letter from the regulatory agency providing concurrence for the category nomination. Emphasis is placed on the success of the outreach and the level of public participation during the process.

The nomination form for this category can be found HERE.


Outstanding CEQA Streamlining:

This award is given to an agency and/or firm that utilized a unique technical approach in 2023 or 2024 to streamline a project. Submitted reports may focus on the following streamlining provisions, but are not limited to, Exemptions, Ministerial Exemptions, Program EIR Tiering, Specific Plan Tiering, and Addendums. The project must be approved with streamlined review to be considered for this award. Projects shall be located within San Diego or Imperial counties. All documents submitted must be accompanied by a letter from the lead agency providing concurrence for the category nomination.

The nomination form for this category can be found HERE


Outstanding Innovation in Resilient or Sustainable Planning and Design:

This award is given to an agency and/or firm that published an outstanding document related to multidisciplinary innovation in green planning and design in 2023 or 2024. Appropriate documents for consideration in this award category may include, but are not limited to: Climate Action Plans, Climate Adaptation Plans, Sustainability Plans, Resiliency Plans, alternative energy programs, Resource Management Plans, environmentally-related Implementation Plans, Significance Thresholds Guidelines, and other non-impact analysis/assessment studies and reports.  This award is for documents that have made an effort to create and implement sustainable planning and to improve the natural environment through green planning and design. This category does not include CEQA/NEPA documents or technical reports. Projects shall be located within San Diego or Imperial counties. A letter from the approving agency providing concurrence for the category nomination is required as part of the submission.

The nomination form for this category can be found HERE


Environmental Photography Contest:

Continuing our tradition in photographic excellence, the Awards Banquet will again include an environmental photography contest. Photos must have been taken in 2023 or 2024. Submit photos by the submission deadline, and they will be displayed anonymously during the cocktail hour at the Awards Banquet, where banquet attendees will vote on the photography.  The winner's photograph will be featured in the next SDAEP Newsletter and on the SDAEP Website, highlighting the photographer and their employer. For the environmental photography contest, firms can submit multiple photographs as long as no two photograph submissions are from the same individual. Submissions shall be from current AEP members.



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2024 Awards and Scholarships Banquet


The SDAEP Awards Committee is excited to announce the 2024 Awards and Scholarship Banquet will be held in person on Wednesday, October 9th 2024 from 5-9pm. This year’s banquet will be held at the Encore Events Center located at 8253 Ronson Rd, San Diego, CA 92111.