Environmental Permitting & Compliance

Our approach

Building and operating energy projects requires unavoidable regulatory interaction, permitting and compliance.

With a constantly evolving environmental landscape, you need counsel to guide you through today’s regulations and prepare you for what’s coming tomorrow.

We negotiate and obtain permits, achieving compliance for the following: air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste disposal, and developing quantitative and qualitative systematic processes assessing the potential impacts of proposed projects and acquisitions.

We look for the best possible outcome for our clients and work back from there.

Our positive relationships with regulatory agencies and key technical staff prove invaluable. And, when necessary we defend our energy clients in administrative and judicial enforcement actions brought by EPA, states or citizens.

We focus on the following aspects of environmental regulation:

• Air and water pollution control
• Siting and permitting of industrial facilities
• Environmental impact reviews
• Transactional due diligence
• Defense of enforcement actions including citizens suits
• Defense of challenges to permits issued under various environmental programs, both state and federal
• Brownfields redevelopment and site remediation
• Environmental litigation

We work with

• Developers
• Independent power producers
• Electric and gas utilities
• Electric transmission owners
• Natural gas pipelines
• Universities

Recent Experience

• Athens Generating Project, the first merchant combined cycle generating facility proposed in New York, and the first project reviewed under NY’s now expired Article X siting statute. The project involved significant CWA section 316 (b) issues related to impacts on Hudson River aquatic species.
• Cross Sound Cable in siting and permitting the first significant independent electric transmission facility in the Northeast, which was also one of the first applications of HVDC transmission technology in the United States.
• GenOn Energy Inc. in seeking permitting approvals for a 775-megawatt natural gas-fired combined-cycle combustion turbine power plant at its Bowline Point site in Rockland County, New York.
• Constellation Energy in connection with state approvals of NRC license renewals for its Ginna and Nine Mile Point Nuclear Plants and a power uprate approval for Ginna and in connection with Clean Water Act Best Technology Available matters for both plants.
• Tampa Electric in the settlement with EPA and Florida of alleged New Source Review violations at its electric generating stations.
• Covanta Energy in the resolution of citizen suits brought against its Warren and Essex energy-from-waste facilities in New Jersey.
• Rochester Gas and Electric in the resolution with New York State of alleged opacity and New Source Review violations in two separate proceedings.
• New York State Electric and Gas in its evaluation of a potential compressed air energy storage facility.
• Rochester Gas and Electric in connection with the demolition of two retired coal-fired electric generating stations.