Environmental Law

For years, Frost Brown Todd has been solving environmental and legal challenges for companies around the country. Today, we continue to add value in an increasingly complex environmental field. We are a true environmental resource, providing legal defense, regulatory and technical advice, and strategic planning for a broad range of clients, from Fortune 500 manufacturers to municipalities.

We have assembled an environmental team that is talented, diverse, experienced, dedicated, innovative, and above all, passionate about what we do. Many of our lawyers hail from the very industries they now represent. With varied engineering, science and technical backgrounds, including environmental chemistry, civil, chemical and environmental engineering, biology, physiology, occupational nursing and environmental health, we provide clients with an advantage in solving even the most demanding environmental issues. Our environmental team includes former legal counsel to state environmental agencies and assistant state attorneys general. Their federal and state connections, along with a strong knowledge of regulatory nuance and process, have helped to counsel and guide clients through numerous compliance and regulatory battles.

A Wealth of Environmental Experience

• Represent a large steel company in battles with U.S. EPA, the Department of Justice and the NRDC, among others, in air and waste management issues
• Represent several large pulp and paper companies on issues ranging from commenting on U.S. EPA's first major paper industry regulatory initiatives under the Clean Water Act to permitting new paper mills subject to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review requirements
• Represent two of the largest waste management companies in the country on siting landfills and transfer stations and a multitude of operating regulatory issues
• Represent a number of industrial operations, such as chemical manufacturing, foundries, metal finishers and platers, iron and steel manufacturing, power generation facilities, food and beverage producers, optical lens manufacturing, and a wide assortment of other heavily regulated industries
• Represent businesses with environmental needs in a variety of other sectors, such as phone companies, distribution and logistics companies, bulk terminals, hospitals, municipalities, real estate developers, construction companies, and financial institutions

Creative Solutions for Clients and Industries

Our staff includes environmental, health and safety professionals with strong technical backgrounds at rates comparable to those offered by environmental consultants. They help clients with everything from environmental permitting to community right-to-know filings, to environmental training and audits, to air quality modeling. With the help of a talented Information Technology staff, they even design internet-based environmental compliance and management systems.

Counseling Practice

• Guidance through the complex maze of federal, state and local regulations
• Compliance counseling and auditing
• Environmental permitting and reporting
• Developing environmental management programs
• Negotiations with regulatory authorities
• Commenting on and challenging legislative and rulemaking actions
• Overseeing and structuring site investigations and cleanups

Litigation Practice

• Defense of challenged permits and alleged regulatory violations
• Defense of government civil and criminal enforcement actions, citizen
  suits and toxic tort claims in federal and state court
• Appeals of unilateral government orders and unfavorable permit decisions
  or denials
• Administrative appeals before environmental agencies and boards
• Prosecution of condemnation actions, including impact of environmental conditions on valuation decisions
• Prosecution and defense of environmental liability claims

Transactional Practice

• Supervising site assessments and compliance audits, and evaluating and negotiating insurance options
• Analyzing the implications of environmental laws and regulations on business transactions and structuring solutions that seek to maximize opportunities and minimize exposure
• Negotiating agreements for complex real estate and corporate transactions
• Performing and/or managing environmental due diligence, including corporate-wide compliance audits and compliance plan development
• Structuring "brownfields" transactions and financing

Selected Environmental Services

• Air Permitting and Compliance
• Wastewater and Stormwater
• Hazardous, Solid and Infectious Waste
• Soil and Groundwater Contamination
• Superfund
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Wetlands and Endangered Species
• Historic Preservation
• Underground Storage Tanks
• Spill Response and Reporting
• Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Laws
• Natural Resources and Land Use
• "Brownfields" Laws
• Environmental Management Systems and Training
• Mining and Mineral Rights
• Safe Drinking Water
• Hazardous Materials Transportation
• Toxic Chemical Exposure
• Asbestos and PCBs
• Pesticide Regulation