Environment and Natural Resources

Our attorneys stand at the forefront of emerging traditional and energy-related environmental, climate change, and sustainability issues. We advise on national and regional compliance, permitting, rulemaking, development, business planning, and contamination matters. We also provide representation in litigation, during investigations, and for transactions.

We counsel energy sector clients on traditional environmental regulatory matters, and we assist in developing business strategies that capitalize on environmental opportunities or address regulatory challenges. We conduct environmental due diligence for clients involved in business acquisitions, sales, and financings, and conduct environmental review and permitting matters for a wide range of commercial, industrial, and other enterprises.

Our Group deals extensively with Superfund and natural resource damage activity on the administrative and litigation levels. We help clients address contamination liability issues and resolve disputes with regulators and others so that transactions or redevelopment plans can move forward. Our attorneys are active in air quality regulation and litigation and are well-versed on issues involving water pollution and water use, shale gas and mining activities, and environmental impact evaluation matters, particularly those arising in projects in which the government is involved. Our attorneys have played leading roles in a broad range of climate and sustainable development-related activities, from public sector program design and Supreme Court litigation to innovative management and compliance strategies.

Evolving To Meet Clients' Challenges

We reinvented our historically strong environmental regulatory practice to include the challenging new issues and competitive opportunities our clients face. Our attorneys help clients employ advocacy or litigation strategies to facilitate access to natural resources, including those involving the Marcellus Shale. We also help them apply new energy technologies and evaluate the effects of environmental regulation on electricity pricing.

Strength in Traditional Environmental Areas

We continue our commitment to traditional areas of environmental law, the decades-long backbone of our practice. To help developers successfully close complex transactions, we provide counsel on permitting, regulatory compliance, risk management, brownfields program rules, and water-related issues such as storm water control, waterway dredging, green infrastructure, and water and sewerage supply. For industrial clients, we advise on complex air-quality issues, including new source review permitting and enforcement, waste management, and wastewater discharge or reuse.

Our litigation strength is well-known. We handle governmental and third-party regulatory or enforcement claims and resolve claims relating to existing or historical contamination liabilities. Our attorneys represent clients in administrative, civil, and criminal proceedings, and have achieved successful outcomes in defending air-quality permits, contamination liability disputes, and challenges to environmental impact assessments. We also recognize when cases are more appropriately negotiated and settled, including those involving toxic tort and environmental damage claims.

Seeing the Future and Staying Ahead

Our attorneys review and analyze industry developments and evaluate potential legislation, regulatory developments, and relevant science. Currently, our attorneys are monitoring the impact of dwindling fresh water resources in newly threatened regions, the environmental and business impacts of climate change, and evolving programs, such as the initiative to restore the Chesapeake Bay.

Environmental Management

Clients wanting to improve their day-to-day practices and enhance their reputation in environmental stewardship rely on us to provide publicly responsive environmental advice and compliance programs. In development projects, we navigate clients through laws pertaining to threatened or endangered species or sensitive natural resources such as wetlands, as well as those pertaining to environmental remediation obligations. We counsel clients on emerging opportunities associated with green environmental and energy practices and with natural resource development projects, including mining or gas extraction activities involving resources such as waste coal or shale gas.

We also stay connected to the environmental community through leadership positions on bar committees, commissions, and trade and charitable organizations. We speak at major environmental conferences, hold teaching positions at law schools, and educate others through continuing legal education programs.