Experience
Environmental and Natural Resource Permitting
Assists clients in obtaining and defending permits and other government approvals by providing legal and practical guidance from initial scoping to appeals; manages complex permitting timelines; and effectively engages with regulators and other project stakeholders throughout the permitting processes.
Specific experience in Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC) and Washington Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) permitting, CWA Section 401 certification, CZMA consistency certification, NEPA review and ESA consultation, solid and hazardous waste permitting, and local land use authorizations.
Environmental and Natural Resource Litigation
Represents diverse client base in environmental, natural resource, and related subject matter in all stages of administrative, state, and federal litigation.
Representative matters include:
- Defense of project proponent in Washington state court challenge to solar project on agricultural lands.
- Obtained precedential Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 4 exception and conditional use permit for development of solar project on forestlands.
- Obtained Washington EFSEC site certificate for solar project utilizing Council’s novel “streamlined” application and permitting process.
- Representation of fishing trade association in Ninth Circuit appeal involving fishery management plan issued pursuant to the Magnuson-Steven Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
- Representation of seismic exploration and energy infrastructure clients in multiple Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) consistency certification appeals before the Secretary of Commerce.
- Defense of public utility and mining company in state court against wrongful death suit stemming from mining accident.
- Appealed Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation against tribal health provider stemming from crisis management during Covid-19 pandemic.
- Assisted in defending various clients (including a public port, a landfill facility, and commercial shellfish hatchery) against citizen suits brought under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
- Assisted in representing mining client in challenge to its mineral prospecting on national forest lands, involving National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and federal lands issues.
- Pro bono representation of asylum seekers in federal immigration proceedings and of Native American tribal members in case involving native artifact repatriation case before the Alaska Supreme Court.
State and Federal Regulatory Counseling, Due Diligence, and Enforcement Defense
Provides regulatory compliance counseling, risk assessment, and enforcement defense under various federal environmental laws including the CWA, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and analogous state laws.
Performs environmental due diligence in connection with real estate, corporate, and natural resource transactions and advises clients on environmental provisions in transaction agreements and insurance provisions.
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