The attorneys involved in environmental, compliance, enforcement and permitting have experience in all major environmental programs and corresponding regulations and state laws.

Experience includes the Clean Air Act (“CAA”), Clean Water Act (“CWA”), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (“EPCRA”) Toxic Substances Control Act (“TSCA”); Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) Oil Pollution Act (“OPA”) Hazardous Materials Safety Transportation Act, (“HMSTA”), and Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, & Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”).

We address environmental permitting and compliance issues that arise in a broad range of industries; our clients include those in steel and heavy metals manufacturing, explosives, propellants and munitions, construction and road construction, chemical manufacturing, paints and coatings, adhesives, inks and solvents, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical products, paper and plastics; commercial laundries, dry cleaning plants, lime operations and cement manufacturing, railcar manufacturing and maintenance, tanker manufacturing and maintenance, ammonia systems,  alumina manufacturing and aluminum extruding, petrochemical refining and storage, building and roofing materials, cell tower construction and use, batteries manufacturing and recycling, lighting, food and beverage processing, transportation of chemicals and mining products, laboratory products, soaps/surfactants/cleaners, fertilizers, and the waste treatment and disposal industry.

Air Pollution Control  The air attorneys in our practice group have experience in permitting as well as compliance and enforcement, and rulemaking and variances. On the permitting side we have assisted clients in obtaining PSD permits for greenfield sites and have considerable experience in the complicated area of New Source Review associated with construction permitting. We have assisted numerous clients in Title V permitting, NESHAPs/MACT and Greenhouse Gas permitting issues. On the enforcement and compliance side we have experience in PSD, NSR, the NSPS and NESHAPs issues in a broad range of industries. We have represented clients in responding to Requests for Information, and have experience in the full range of enforcement actions, from Notices of Violation, through settlements, litigation and appeals of enforcement decisions. We regularly represent clients In rulemaking proceedings--we not only participate in deferral and state rulemaking procedures initiated by the government but assist clients in developing site specific rulemaking and obtaining variances. We have experience in all of the USEPA regions and in many states and have good relationships with regulators across the country.

Water Pollution Control   We have extensive experience in all aspects of water pollution control and permitting arising under the major federal water statutes. We regularly assist clients in obtaining NPDES permits across a broad range of industries, and in stormwater permitting and wetlands permitting  for the construction and development industries. Our attorneys also assist clients with water quality certifications , including for hydropower plants.  We have considerable experience in defending enforcement actions involving wastewater discharges, stormwater discharges,  groundwater contamination issues and defending companies and developers in actions involving wetlands permitting and compliance. We also have experience in envhave broad enforcement experience not only on the federal level  but at the state and local levels.

Resource Conservation & Recovery Act  The Environmental, Safety & Toxic Torts Practice Group has deep experience in all facets of RCRA and its implementing regulations and state counterparts. Our robust experience includes compliance counseling, defending  enforcement matters, Part B permitting for complex industrial sites; corrective action, and prosecuting and defending RCRA Citizen Suits. Our experience derives from over two decades of representing facilities that generate, treat, store, dispose and recycle wastes, facilities with USTs and ASTs, landfills, waste piles, land-farms, OB/OD units, surface impoundments, wastewater treatment units, and incinerators. We have experience in waste characterization, cleanup standards and land disposal issues. Our group resume includes extensive in-house experience with a major waste management company, experience in all aspects of RCRA rulemaking, defense of countless complex RCRA enforcement actions, and defense and prosecution of citizen suits. In addition to the waste disposal industry we have represented waste transporters in the bulk transport and rail industries, waste recyclers and reclaimers (including solvent recovery and oil reclamation facilities) and tire recyclers, metals reclamation facilities (including scrapyards, aluminum recycling and electric arc furnace facilities), waste-to-energy recycling facilities, and cement kilns.

UST/AST  Issues  The Environmental, Safety & Toxic Torts Practice Group has extensive and deep experience in all facets of the Underground Storage Tank (“UST”) provisions of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), and various state programs addressing aboveground storage tanks and implementing federal RCRA UST regulations and  programs. We represent facilities in a broad range of industries which utilize ASTs and USTs in the handling, use, storage and distribution of chemicals, petroleum products and wastes. Our group resume includes experience in federal and state UST/AST rulemaking, defense of countless enforcement actions arising from or relating to the use of USTs/ASTs, and defense of citizen suits relating to USTs/ASTs.

Asbestos  The Environmental, Safety & Toxic Torts Practice Group has unique experience in asbestos issues arising under Environmental, OSHA and MSHA laws as well as toxic torts relating to asbestos exposure. Experience includes the mining, manufacturing, use, removal and disposal of asbestos and asbestos containing products including laws aimed at the protection of workers exposed to asbestos in workplace settings; renovations and construction projects in structures with asbestos; the abatement and disposal of asbestos, and the workers’ compensation, personal injury, and toxic tort liabilities associated with exposure to asbestos.  Our unparalleled strength at the federal, state, provincial and local levels in the OSHA/safety aspects of asbestos regulation and liability, combined with experience in the manner in which environmental regulations address asbestos abatement and disposal, places us in a unique position to address the three major areas of asbestos liability:  compliance with safety and OSHA regulations addressing workplace exposure; compliance with environmental regulations addressing renovation, reconstruction and abatement, and personal injury/toxic tort litigation involving asbestos exposure.

Right to Know  Our attorneys have experience in all aspects of  compliance and enforcement,  and recordkeeping and reporting associated with the EPCRA and its Section 311 Extremely Hazrdous Substances provisions, Section 312 Hazardous Chemicals Inventory Reporting provisions and the Section 313 Toxic Chemical release Reporting Provisions. We have experience across the country, in a wide range of  industries, responding to federal and state enforcement actions with respect to reporting, particularly in the wake of a chemical spill or release, including ammonia releases. We also have extensive experience in the OSHA Hazard Communications Standard.

Spill and Release Reporting and Response  We routinely assist clients in making determinations of whether or not to report a spill or release of a hazardous substance and in developing the appropriate response thereto. We have handled numerous federal enforcement actions against clients accused of failure to report, or late reporting of  a release of a broad range of chemicals, including ammonia releases. Our practice includes attorneys experienced in Risk Management Programs and in the complex are of Process Safety Management.