environmental law
Environmental law involves many competing interests, complex regulations, and difficult choices. As a result, the advice of experienced environmental legal counsel can be indispensable when developing a strategy to assure your interests and priorities are protected.
We have handled a wide variety of cases under numerous environmental law. Our work has stretched from negotiating settlements with several U.S. EPA regions, States, and private parties to working with consulting firms and groups of parties to implement environmental remedies. Every new case involves new issues in the evolving framework of environmental regulation and with our experience we are well prepared to respond to your needs in all areas of environmental law.
Learn more about our environmental experience and how we can help you address your environmental issues on this page below.
Environmental Permitting
Applying for and maintaining compliance with environmental permits can be a complicated process. Successful application for, and maintenance of, environmental permits – such as a Clean Water Act permit to discharge process water or storm water or a RCRA permit to handle hazardous wastes – often require knowledgeable environmental counsel with experience negotiating with regulatory agencies. Further, a successful permitting process can often hing on counsel that can advocate for you in the face of adverse regulatory, political, or community challenges. Environmental permitting services we provide to industrial, commercial and real estate clients include:
- Developing a strategy to negotiate with regulators to obtaining permit provisions that maximize operational flexibility and assure long-term compliance.
- Reviewing permit applications for compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Review and provide comments on draft permits.
- Respond to public comments in the permitting process.
Inspections and Enforcement Defense
The Environmental Protection Agency and it's state equivalent regulatory agencies are charged with initiating enforcement actions to correct alleged violations of environmental permit provisions, statutes and regulations. These alleged violations often stem from an environmental regulator's inspection of your facility. A successful defense of these enforcement actions generally require zealous advocacy with an in-depth understanding of the regulatory framework and knowledge of government practices and enforcement priorities. We have a wealth of experience dealing with regulatory agencies and defending clients against alleged violations, advocating to eliminate or reduce penalties, and helping client's take steps to assure compliance with a host of environmental requirements.
- Assist clients in the response to agency requests for information and notices of violations.
- Advising clients on preparing for governmental inspections.
- Assess compliance status of ongoing operations.
- Develop unique solutions to potential non-compliance issues through informal negotiation with regulators.
- Develop and implement defense strategy in administrative actions.
- Successful resolution of alleged violations through administrative settlement agreements, consent decrees and informal compliance schedules.
Contaminated real estate
Contaminated properties may be burdened by regulatory restrictions that negatively impact development plans or leave an unsuspecting purchaser liable for cleaning up contamination caused by a previous owner. Therefore, it is often imperative to conduct appropriate environmental due diligence as part of a real estate acquisition, especially the acquisition of commercial and industrial properties. Often, parties can limit their potential liability through conducting a Phase I Environmental Site Assessments (Phase I ESA) or contractually transferring the responsibility for clean up prior to sale. Whenever real property transactions involve environmental contamination, engaging counsel with experience with the underlying environmental statutes and regulations is often central to protecting your interests.
- Coordinate environmental due diligence for numerous transaction involving client's purchase of real estate.
- Develop sales agreement provisions to fund the investigation, clean up, and redevelopment of contaminated property.
- Prior to real estate purchase, advise client on regulatory requirements for cleanup of petroleum underground storage tank releases.
- Advise client's on release reporting obligations to federal and state regulatory agencies.
Superfund or CERCLA
Superfund is a federal statute designed to clean up of property contaminated with hazardous substances. It involves a complex process that includes investigating the nature and extent of contamination, identifying and implementing a remedy, and monitoring the remedy over several years to assure it is effective and protective to human health and the environment. Along with these challenges lurk potential disputes with regulatory agencies regarding assessment of the remedial action's success or failure and disagreements between private parties implementing a remedy. When these issues arise, you will want to have counsel working for you who understands your priorities and protects your interests. A large portion of my practice has included assisting clients with Superfund matters.
- Negotiating with regulatory agencies to assure Superfund response actions are necessary, cost-effective, and in compliance with Superfund's remedy selection and implementation requirements.
- Defending clients against contribution and cost recovery actions and prosecuting those same claims as plaintiffs' counsel.
- Achieved settlements allowing cash-outs and cash-in participation in RI/FS and RD/RA groups, and successfully negotiated various aspects of remedial action implementation with EPA project managers and their counsel.
- Negotiate appropriate follow-up actions following agency five year reviews of remedial action.
- Obtain financial assurance instruments necessary to guarantee implementation of remedial action.
Solid and Hazardous Waste
A facility's waste is often governed by RCRA, the federal solid and hazardous hazardous waste management law, and its state equivalents. These statutes involve a complex web of regulations often leading to clients having to deal with issues ranging from permitting and facility registration to waste handling procedures; including storage, manifesting, transportation, and disposal rules. Environmental counsel can help you navigate this maze of rules and advocate on your behalf to demonstrate to regulators that your facility is in compliance.
- Establishing waste analysis plans for profiling and sampling client's waste stream.
- Negotiating agreements for solid waste disposal.
- Assist in establishing and renewing financial assurance instruments for permitted facilities.
- Negotiating work plan provisions for clean up of releases under hazardous waste permits.
Clean Water Act
Surface water quality standards and permits for discharging of pollutants into surface water are generally governed by the Clean Water Act through EPA's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, the Corps of Engineers' Section 404 Dredge or Fill permit program, or a similar State permitting program. Common issues that clients may face under the CWA include allegations that they discharged contaminates in excess of permit limits, failed to meet permit milestones to reduce pollutant discharge levels, or altered stream flow without a Section 404 permit. Being able to navigate successfully through the vast sea of intertwined federal and state water laws is frequently key to getting a CWA dispute resolved.
- Assist clients in negotiating and obtaining operationally feasible permit conditions.
- Help clients demonstrate compliance with storm-water permit obligations.
- Advise clients development projects that require a section 404 “dredge or fill” permits.
- Defend clients in administrative actions alleging non-compliance with effluent limitations.
Clean Air Act
EPA regulates air emissions through a variety of programs under the Clean Air Act (CAA). Those program requirements often require permitting, are comprehensive, and cover many different air emission sources. We assist clients in negotiating air permit provisions, responding to regulator's requests for information and notices of violation, preparing for CAA inspections, and help resolve alleged non-compliance.
- Applying for and obtaining permits for emissions from industrial facilities.
- Resolving allegations regarding failure to report VOC emissions.
- Responding to demands for air modeling.
- Resolving allegations asserting a failure to obtain a state air quality permit.
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA)
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act provides for federal regulation of the distribution, sale, and use of pesticides. The definition of a pesticide is relatively broad. Therefore, the type of activities and companies governed by FIFRA's regulations is also broad and includes pesticide producers, retailers, distributors, and applicators.
- Assist clients with navigating requirements for pesticide registration.
- Defending against enforcement of Stop Sale, Use or Removal Orders (SSURO) for alleged labeling violations.
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA)
The Toxic Substances Control Act authorizes EPA to regulate the production, use, and disposal of a host of chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, and lead-based paint. To enforce TSCA, EPA and its state equivalents often conduct enforcement compliance inspections of TSCA regulated entities and activities.
- Advise clients on appropriate disposal of PCB containing products.
- Defend administrative enforcement actions brought against clients alleged to have violated rules governing the abatement of lead-based paint and asbestos during building renovation projects.
To schedule a free and confidential consultation to discuss your Environmental matter or project, please contact us through our on-line form, or call or email us at 816.399.5328 or rustin@kimmell-law.com.