Impact assessment and EHS: top growth areas in US E&S consulting

Summary 

• US market is entering a phase of steadier, sustainable growth with well-established service areas contributing most to revenue increases.
• Impact Assessment and EHS services contributed significant new revenue in 2024, maintaining double-digit growth rates. 
• The two biggest service areas, water and waste management, and contaminated site assessment and remediation, are sustaining market stability with steady growth.
• Sustainability and ESG was the fastest-expanding segment in 2024 on a percentage basis. 

 


Environment Analyst’s recent US market assessment found that E&S consulting revenues grew 9% year-on-year in 2024, surpassing $25bn.    


This comes after exceptional double‑digit expansion in 2022–23, reflecting a shift toward steadier, more sustainable growth as stimulus‑driven surges faded, federal uncertainty tempered public‑sector pipelines, and activity rebalanced across service areas and client sectors.

Impact assessment and EHS service areas see double-digit growth 

In 2024, revenue from impact assessment services, the second fastest growing area that year, and environment, health & safety (EHS) services both grew over 10%. Together these two areas occupy almost a third of the market. 

Investment into, among other things, data centres, energy and transmission infrastructure, and water system upgrades, is creating demand for a combination of impact assessment, environmental risk, due diligence and transactional services to enable the development of new sites, as well as for management and ongoing compliance services.   

The impact assessment and EHS service areas have strong 5-yr CAGR forecasts for 2024-2029. For the former, the review and change of NEPA guidance, with different departments publishing their own, is creating uncertainty for clients which consultants can support with. That said, workforce shortages in government agencies is slowing down the delivery of some projects. 

Long-term, infrastructure such as data centres, grid upgrades and onshoring of manufacturing facilities will drive demand for these services. Within EHS, environmental management & compliance is driving the most demand. 

Despite federal deregulation, investment in projects such as data centres is creating more demand for ongoing compliance support as growing numbers of assets are constructed and operated. Clients are increasingly spending on EHS and environmental management systems to reduce future liability costs. 

Steady growth for biggest service areas 

The water and waste management service area remains the largest, despite below average growth in 2024. While its share decreased slightly due to strong growth in other areas, the service area remains stable with funding for projects from the IIJA and State Revolving Funds (SRF) secured through to 2026. It is forecast to grow steadily and remain the largest service area.  

Aging infrastructure is being upgraded around the country, clients must navigate regulations on new contaminants, and data centre developments are driving more water modelling and reuse projects.   

Contaminated site assessment and remediation, the second largest service area by revenue, saw measured growth in 2024. Like water and waste management, the segment has remained stable of late. Clients seeking PFAS-related services, for identification and assessment, and increasingly for remediation, are adding to demand. 

Although cuts to the Superfund are slowing its prospects, increased defense spending and mining, key priorities for the current administration, are driving demand. Strengthening PFAS regulation in the US, and globally, also promote more of these services.  

Sustainability and ESG soars

The fastest growing service area in 2024 was sustainability and ESG strategy. This is the smallest area by revenue but is on one of the strongest trajectories.  

Perhaps surprisingly, given the rhetoric and actions from the US government this year and last, sustainability & ESG strategy has the highest percentage growth forecast of all the service areas out to 2029. 

This is because of how small a base it is starting from, and the growth it has demonstrated without any federal climate reporting mandates in the US ever coming into place. US businesses operating in blue states where climate reporting is on the cards, or in the EU where CSRD impacts them, will still need advisory support – the sum of this demand is likely to exceed that of a few years ago. Further, ESG is still essential for securing investments globally. 

However, leaders do point out that some ESG consulting teams have been facing tighter budgets and workforce cuts.