Administration of Qualified Consultant Lists and Required Consultant Qualifications

This memorandum outlines the San Francisco Planning Department (Planning Department) required qualifications for inclusion on the department’s list of qualified consultants in the areas of general environmental review, historic resource evaluation, archeological review and monitoring, and transportation impact analyses for privately sponsored projects. 

The consultant lists are maintained to provide project sponsors with a list of qualified consultants; however, project sponsors may select firms that are not on the planning department’s list, provided that the consultants meet the qualifications outlined in this memorandum and are approved by the planning department for addition to the consultant list.

This memorandum also explains the requirements for being added to the qualified consultant lists outside the primary Request for Qualifications (RFQ) submittal period described in the Request for Consultant Qualifications memorandum, as well as the process and requirements for resubmitting qualifications during the two-year effective period of the consultant lists.

The Planning Department’s list of environmental consultants consists of firms that meet the department’s qualifications for conducting technical analyses for general environmental review, historic resources, archeological review, and transportation impact analyses. The establishment of this list is effective for a period of two years from the date the lists are formally established, tentatively targeted to be December 4, 2026, and effective for two years thereafter.

If consultants wish to be added to the qualified consultant lists after the initial request for qualification period of the RFQ submittal period identified in the Request for Consultant Qualifications, this memorandum describes the procedures for doing so.

Project sponsors may select any consultant on the consultant lists. Project sponsors may contact environmental consultants directly for the sole purpose of initiating contracting discussions. After a project sponsor has selected a consultant, all further communications and work must be at the direction of the Planning Department as the CEQA lead agency.

The applicant shall enter into a direct contract with the consultant—whether pre-qualified on the list or approved for use by the Planning Department—and the contract shall govern the full scope of parties’ contractual arrangements. The scope of the contract between the project sponsor and their selected consultant must be developed in compliance with the Protocols to Ensure Objectivity in Consultant-Prepared Materials.

If a project sponsor or environmental consultant requests to be added to the consultant list, the sponsor or consultant shall submit the consultant’s qualifications to the Planning Department before submitting a project application, consistent with the RFQ requirements.

The consultant shall submit the firm’s qualifications using the format as described in the Request for Consultant Qualifications document.

The Planning Department will review the submittal to determine whether the proposed consultant meets the Planning Department’s qualifications before any environmental work begins and before a project application is accepted.

Consultants that are qualified by the Planning Department are not guaranteed a contract with a project sponsor, as project sponsors are solely responsible for the selection and payment of their consultants. All work prepared by the consultant is performed for, on behalf of, and at the direction of the Planning Department. The Planning Department retains the right to update the consultant list, as described further below under the reevaluation process, if qualifications change during the two-year consultant list period. Consultants selected to perform work are required to work under the supervision of the Planning Department.

This memorandum now identifies the required qualifications for inclusion on the Planning Department’s consultant list and the process for submitting qualifications to the Planning Department for review. 

Consultants prepare almost all Environmental Impact Reports (EIR’s), Mitigated Negative Declarations (MND’s), or other complex CEQA document (ie. an Addendum or General Plan Evaluation) in San Francisco. Environmental review documents must address all topics contained in San Francisco’s Initial Study/environmental evaluation checklist, available at Environmental Review Resources. The checklist generally aligns with Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines, but contains some additional topics specific to San Francisco, such as analysis of wind impacts. Environmental documents must be prepared in accordance with the Planning Department’s Environmental Review Guidelines and the Protocols to Ensure Objectivity in Consultant-Prepared Materials.

Environmental consultants will generally be expected to review and verify all subconsultant-prepared materials prior to submittal to the Planning Department. Consultants must reflect a proven ability to conduct environmental review in an accurate, adequate, objective, and legally defensible manner.

Required Qualifications

The following are the required qualifications environmental consultants must meet to qualify for inclusion on the general environmental review consultant list:

• Demonstrated experience that a firm can assemble and manage a team of professionals to conduct environmental review documents (e.g. EIR’s, MND’s, Addendums) for a range of environmental topics either in-house or through listed subconsultants as well as successful coordination and oversight regarding all aspects of a team’s work throughout the preparation of complex environmental documents.
• Experience preparing environmental review documents in San Francisco and/or other comparable large urban jurisdictions in the preparation of complex environmental and related documents (e.g. EIR’s, MND’s, Addendums). 
• Consultants shall demonstrate qualifications that senior team members have at least five (5) years’ experience in preparing CEQA documents (EIRs and MNDs).
• Demonstrate relevant experience in project management for the preparation of complex environmental documents.
• Ability to complete document production, including incorporating accessibility requirements consistent with WCAG 2.1 AA standards, conducting appropriate notification according to City and State requirements, attending hearings, tracking and recording oral and written comments, responding to comments submitted on environmental review documents and appeals, and preparing the administrative record for the project.

Transportation review consultants perform transportation impact analyses in support of the overall environmental and development review process. The Planning Department may request that consultants prepare transportation studies, travel demand, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) for atypical land uses, and loading and operation management plans, and transportation sections within environmental impact review documents, including alternatives and responses to comments.

Required Qualifications

The following are the required qualifications environmental consultants must meet in order to qualify for the qualified consultant list for transportation review:

• A minimum of two (2) years of professional experience in transportation planning, modeling, or engineering;
• Experience using tools, methodologies, and criteria to analyze effects on transportation conditions in an urban environment, including, but not limited to, impacts to: people walking, bicycling, riding transit, driving, vehicle miles traveled, loading, emergency vehicles, construction, and access to mobility for different user groups; 
• Strong writing, visual display (e.g., figures), database management, communications, and quality assurance/quality control skills; 
• Experience working with multiple parties (e.g., project sponsors, Planning Department, other agencies, and other consultants) to propose project-specific solutions for transportation (streetscape or site design) or related impacts (e.g., noise, air quality); and 
• Experience with or an ability to understand and apply transportation analysis requirements and processes in San Francisco, including the Planning Department’s Transportation Impact Analysis Guidelines for Environmental Review (October 2019).

Historical Resources consultants are required to demonstrate thorough knowledge, skills, and experience in historic resource analysis, as well as the ability to evaluate eligibility for the California Register of Historical Resources; apply the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (“Standards”); provide recommendations on the potential impacts to historic resources; assist in the development of preservation alternatives; where impacts have been identified, to draft mitigation measures to reduce impacts where applicable; and to assist in the implementation of mitigation measures. 

The Planning Department may request that consultants prepare Historic Resource Evaluations (HREs) and Cultural Resource Surveys, develop preservation-specific project alternatives and mitigation measures, create and implement mitigation monitoring and reporting programs, and develop and prepare sections and recommendations for the historic resource component of environmental review documents. 

The work of historic resources consultants under this consultant list is expected to conform to the Planning Department Preservation Bulletin No. 16 (once updated) and historic resource review requirements as outlined in the Historic Resource Review application under the direction of Planning Department preservation staff.

Required Qualifications

The following are the required qualifications environmental consultants must meet in order to qualify for the consultant list for historic resources:

• Consultants are required to satisfy the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards for Architectural History and/or Historic Architecture. 
• Consultants must have a strong understanding of the Standards, including common interpretations and guidelines based on those Standards, as well as other relevant historic preservation practices. Consultants should also indicate any specialized area of expertise, such as knowledge of cultural landscapes, cultural heritage, oral histories, or other particular skill areas. 
• Consultants must provide information demonstrating a strong expertise in the development of complex documentation, including historic resource evaluations, environmental mitigation measures when impacts have been identified, and preservation-specific project alternatives. The consultant should provide examples of such documentation as well as examples of design review and analysis of projects for conformance with the Standards. Consultant team must demonstrate the ability to develop and assist in the implementation of public interpretation programs.
• Consultants must demonstrate adequate staff with graduate degrees in Historic Preservation, Planning, Cultural Resources Management, or a closely related field along with demonstrated experience in those respective fields.

Historical Resources Areas of Specialization

Historical resource consultants that have expertise in cultural landscapes and/or cultural heritage should clearly indicate this additional expertise along with supporting documentation in the submittal. For these areas of specialization, please demonstrate satisfaction of the following respective minimal professional qualifications. These areas of specialization are desired but not required qualifications.  If a consultant meets these areas of specialization, it will be indicated in the qualified consultant list for historic preservation. Consultants meeting these specializations will be identified as such in the qualified consultant list for historic preservation and will be eligible to conduct work requiring these specialized skills.

Cultural Landscapes 

• Professional degree in Landscape Architecture, Architectural History, Historic Preservation, Urban Planning or related field and at least three years of professional experience evaluating cultural landscapes according to the National Park Service and other professional guidelines; 
• In-depth knowledge of the historic landscape history of the San Francisco Bay Area including industrial sites, parks, open spaces, natural systems, vegetation, etc.; 
• Expertise in plant identification through academic course work or related professional experience; 
• Ability to research and document labor and social history and industrial, manufacturing, or other processes associated with industrial or similar landscapes, such as shipyards; 
• A strong understanding of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for the Treatment of Cultural Landscapes and experience applying the standards in the development of treatment recommendations for cultural landscapes; 
• Previous fieldwork and documentation in Northern California to ensure adequate knowledge of regional climate, landscape design trends and research themes; and 
• Demonstrated expertise through authorship of technical and/or scholarly reports on cultural landscapes. 

Cultural Heritage 

• Professional degree in public history, social history, ethnic history, anthropology, sociology, or related field – and professional experience in evaluating cultural heritage; 
• Demonstrated familiarity with evaluation of cultural heritage according to the National Park Service’s National Register Bulletins: Guidelines for Evaluating and Documenting Traditional Cultural Properties and Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Properties Associated with Significant Persons;
• In-depth knowledge of the cultural and social history of the San Francisco Bay Area;
• Demonstrated expertise through authorship of technical and/or scholarly reports on cultural heritage;
• Consultants should explain their experience with or plans to outreach to and collaborate with these impacted communities, including but not limited to, American Indian, Black, or other people of color or LGBTQ communities. Respondents should also provide internal policies or related documents explaining their current and future efforts to advance social, economic, and/or racial equity in their cultural heritage analyses methods:
  • These requirements are to address the fact that some communities have been historically underrepresented in the preservation of cultural and historic resources due to the institutional and systemic mechanisms that have organized the distribution of power and resources differentially and unequally across race, gender, class, sexual orientation, gender expression, and other dimensions of individual and group identity. This manifests in unequal conditions that have valued certain cultural resources over others, excluded the heritage and history of people of color and other groups, and also deprived people of color of their historic and cultural assets through their forced removal (e.g. Ohlone from their lands and Black and Japanese Americans from the Fillmore), and exclusion (e.g. the City ordinances that limited where the Chinese population could live and work, racial covenants and Federal polices of redlining that blocked American Indians, Black people, and people of color from loans for homeownership). 
  • Therefore, the practice of evaluating and managing the cultural heritage of marginalized communities should be deeply informed by and often led by the community. The identification of cultural resources should utilize inclusive research methods that directly address past and current racial and social inequities, and expand outreach to descendant communities when cultural resources associated with respective groups are being evaluated; and 
• Demonstrated experience with oral histories.

Desirable Qualifications

The following qualifications are desired but not required for inclusion on the consultant list:

• Consultants with a strong background in Historic Preservation Planning.

Archeology consultants responding to this qualification request shall demonstrate well-established experience and ability to prepare complex archeological documents in support of environmental project analyses and/or to undertake required complex archeological field investigations and documentation in compliance with environmental mitigation programs. The work of archeological consultants is expected to conform to the Society for California Archaeology Code of Ethical Guidelines and the EP Consultant Instructions for Archeology (once completed) under the direction of the EP staff archeologist.

Archeology consultants must clearly demonstrate the respondent meets or exceeds all of the following qualifications for archeological consultants and for any area of archeological specialization for which the consultant seeks qualification.  

Required Qualifications

The following are the required qualifications environmental consultants must meet in order to qualify for the consultant list for archeology:

• Satisfy at minimum the Secretary of the Interior (“SOI”) Professional Qualification Standards for Archaeology (48 FR 44716, as amended); 
• At least one full-time team member minimally satisfies one or both of the SOI Professional Qualification Standards for prehistoric archeology and historical archeology; 
• RPA-certified (Register of Professional Archaeologist-certified); 
• Archeological consultants must have at minimum one staff member with demonstrated high level of knowledge and five-years of supervisorial field expertise in San Francisco Bay Area Native American archeology; 
• Historical archeologist consultants must have at minimum one staff member with demonstrated high level of knowledge and five-years of supervisorial field expertise in San Francisco Bay Area historic-period archeology, including familiarity with local archives; 
• Demonstrate the competency and experience to prepare an archeological research design and treatment plan (ARDTP) addressing Native American and historical archeological resources in San Francisco or in a comparable highly developed urban setting by providing list of relevant ARDTP or similar plan documents and one example plan; 
• Demonstrate sufficient staffing/personnel, equipment, artifact storage and laboratory facilities to competently mobilize and undertake large-scale archeological field projects in a highly developed urban setting; 
• In-house GIS-capability; 
• Demonstrate ability to produce and collaborate on public interpretation programs by providing specific project examples; 
• Demonstrate a good record of performance in finishing archeological reports in a timely manner, especially final archeological resource reports. 
• Demonstrate a good record of performance in the recording of archeological sites and depositing copies of archeological reports at the relevant California Historic Resources Information Center, such as inclusion in the submittal of an inventory of archeological site records and archeological reports submitted to the Information Center with submittal dates.
• Demonstrated ability to consult in good faith and respect with site-associated descendant groups and the willingness to reflect serious consideration of expressed concerns, views, and recommendations of such descendant groups in the treatment of associated archeological sites, including final technical or interpretive products related prepared for such sites. Specifically, demonstrated ability to collaborate with Native American representatives when archeological resources have been identified as tribal cultural resources or collaboration on non-archeological tribal cultural resources. Please provide specific project examples. 

Archeological Areas of Specialization

Archeological consultants having expertise in an archeological sub-discipline should clearly indicate this additional expertise along with supporting documentation in the submittal.  Consultants who meet these specialization criteria will be identified accordingly in the qualified consultant list for archaeology.

Archeological consultants having expertise in geoarcheology, Spanish-Mexican/California Colonial, Chinese, and Maritime archeology need to demonstrate satisfaction of the following respective minimal professional qualifications. Consultants who meet these qualifications will be recognized as such on the archaeology consultant list and will be eligible to conduct work requiring these specializations.

Geoarcheologist/geomorphologist

• Geoarcheologist/geomorphologist should have or be near completion of a post - graduate degree in geoarcheology and/or earth-science field (geology, physical geography, pedology/soil science, Quaternary studies) or have demonstrated professional expertise through both field experience and technical publications; 
• Minimally satisfy the SOI Professional Qualification Standards for Archaeology (48 FR 44716, as amended); 
• Previous fieldwork in the San Francisco Bay Area to ensure adequate knowledge of regional stratigraphy, soils, and research issues. 

The following qualifications are desired but not required for inclusion on the in the area of specialization of Geoarcheologist/geomorphologist: 

• Membership in Geoarchaeological Interest Group (GIG) of the Geological Society of America (GSA) or similar organization.

Maritime archeologist 

• Minimally satisfies the SOI Professional Qualification Standards for Archaeology (48 FR 44716, as amended); 
• A graduate degree in maritime archeology or maritime history; 
• Five years extensive field experience in underwater or marine archeology; and 
• In-depth knowledge of the maritime and Gold Rush period history of San Francisco.

Spanish-Mexican/Colonial Period Archeologist 

• Minimally satisfies the SOI Professional Qualification Standards for Archaeology (48 FR 44716, as amended); 
• Minimally satisfies the SOI’s Professional Qualification Standards for prehistoric archeology and historical archeology; and
• At least three years of professional experience in the study of Alta/Baja California/Southwest/ Gulf Coast Spanish-Mexican/Colonial archeological resources demonstrated through the authorship of technical and/or scholarly reports.

Chinese Resources Archeologist 

• Minimally satisfies the SOI Professional Qualification Standards for Archaeology (48 FR 44716, as amended); 
• Minimally satisfies the SOI’s Professional Qualification Standards for historical archeology; 
• At least three years of professional experience in the study of Chinese archeological resources; and 
• Demonstrated expertise through authorship of technical and/or scholarly reports on Chinese archeology. 

The Planning Department maintains authority to request updated qualifications or initiate reevaluation of consultants’ qualifications at any time. This process allows the Planning Department to determine whether the consultant still meets the qualifications outlined in this document. 

Firms that no longer meet the required qualifications—or that do not respond to requests for updated information—may be removed from the qualified list at the department’s discretion.

If you have any questions about administration of the consultant lists, please contact:

Chelsea Fordham
chelsea.fordham@sfgov.org
(628) 652-7579