Ruth Silman concentrates her practice on complex environmental and land use matters. She leads Nixon Peabody’s Climate Change Team, a group of lawyers and environmental scientists/engineers who are assisting the firm’s energy, industrial, and financial clients to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities emerging from legislative, regulatory, and judicial responses to the issue of climate change.
Ruth represents clients concerning the land use implications of complex real estate transactions, including zoning, environmental impacts, permitting, and compliance. Her extensive environmental experience includes addressing air quality, hazardous waste assessment and remediation, brownfields redevelopment, wetlands protection, stormwater, wastewater, septic system, and water quality issues at the federal, state, and local level. Ruth advises clients regarding environmental management systems and environmental audits.
Ruth provides support to real estate transactions, including due diligence and advice regarding appropriate contractual protections and environmental insurance. Ruth has represented clients before state and federal courts and administrative agencies in environmental and land use litigation matters. She is involved in renewable energy efforts, including representing solar energy and wind power developers. Her experience spans various subjects including the development, permitting, construction, and operation of renewable energy facilities.
Ruth has written and lectured on the Clean Air Act, climate change, renewable energy, permitting and siting challenges, brownfields, zoning, regulatory takings, insurance coverage in environmental cases, underground storage tanks, wetlands, the Massachusetts Rivers Protection Act, and environmental audits.
Ruth previously worked for the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Division and analyzed the legality of potential policies under the federal Clean Air Act for the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM).