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Environmental Practice

Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP’s Environmental Practice Group is headed by Stephen L. Kass, Clifford P. Case, III (former partners at Berle, Kass & Case, a firm noted for its expertise in environmental law since 1972) and Christine Fazio and Leonard A. Miller, who directs the Group’s Washington, DC practice. The Environmental Practice Group was established in 1994 and now also includes Telisport W. Putsavage and William H. Sloane (Partner); Barry Neuman and Lynn M. Gallagher (Counsel) and associates Victor J. Gallo, Ethan Strell, Christopher Rizzo, and Judith Wallace, all of whom have prior professional experience at federal, state or municipal environmental agencies or non-profit organizations in the environmental field. In May 2006, Barry S. Neuman joined the Environmental Practice Group as Counsel in the Washington, DC office. Mr. Neuman has practiced environmental law and litigation for more than 30 years, and his practice spans virtually every federal environmental law at the trial court, appellate and administrative levels. 
 
The Environmental Practice Group represents both governmental and private clients in permitting for major projects and facilities, advises clients in the preparation of environmental impact statements and assessments under federal and state law, and represents clients in a broad range of environmental litigation and administrative proceedings, including all forms of environmental litigation in federal and state courts, environmental impact assessment and disclosure, land-use planning and development, regulation of hazardous and toxic substances, corporate compliance and environmental audits, historic preservation, governmental relations, and international environmental regulation. 
 
Principal Areas of Expertise:
 
Environmental and Land Use Review; Project Permitting - The Environmental Practice Group represents corporations and developers, governmental entities, and citizens’ groups in proceedings involving environmental reviews, permits, and regulatory activity. It also represents developers seeking approvals under local zoning, subdivision, waterfront, and wetlands regulations and has extensive experience with New York City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure and the comparable permitting procedures of other New York municipalities. The Environmental Practice Group participates in, and advises clients concerning, the preparation of environmental impact statements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), the D.C. Environmental Policy Act, and (together with local counsel) the corresponding statutes of other jurisdictions. Members of the Environmental Practice Group also serve as consultants to public agencies and private clients on environmental questions and advise corporate and institutional clients on environmental compliance of facilities and properties in connection with their acquisition, financing, operation, and sale.
 
Hazardous and Nuclear Waste; Corporate Compliance - The Environmental Practice Group regularly advises clients concerning the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and their state counterparts. As part of this work, Group members represent potentially responsible parties at federal and state Superfund sites (including serving as common counsel to PRP Groups), institute and litigate cost recovery actions against other potentially responsible parties, and litigate with the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Environmental Conservation, and other governmental agencies on behalf of corporate clients. They advise industrial, municipal, and institutional clients on compliance with RCRA, CERCLA, and the other federal, state, and local statutes and regulations governing hazardous wastes and substances. They represent companies of all sizes and their principals, as well as municipalities, in government enforcement actions and citizen suits. Environmental Practice Group attorneys also represent private applicants and public clients in licensing proceedings before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Corporate Transactions - In the transactional area, the Environmental Practice Group advises potential buyers, sellers, and lenders as to the potential hazardous waste and other environmental risks (or liabilities) involved in the transfer of real property, joint ventures, secured (or equity participation) financings, and mergers, acquisitions, and corporate reorganizations. This representation includes the supervision of environmental audits and the preparation of indemnification agreements with or among potentially responsible parties. The Group also provides on-going counseling and representation to clients in connection with unanticipated releases of hazardous materials onto their own or adjacent properties, as well as the development and implementation of corporate policies relating to environmental standards and procedures. Carrying out these assignments involves working closely with both the client’s in-house (or regular outside) counsel and, where appropriate, with Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP’s own corporate, securities, tax, real estate, or insurance groups.
 
Members of the Environmental Practice Group also counsel and represent clients in the recycling field. Mr. Case was the founder and for many years the President of the National Recycling Coalition and currently serves as Chairman of NRC’s EPA-funded Recycling Advisory Council.
 
Litigation - Members of the Environmental Practice Group have both depth and breadth of experience litigating environmental cases at the trial and appellate levels, before federal and state courts across the county and before administrative agencies. Their experience includes jury and bench trials, administrative adjudications, and all phases of pre-trial litigation, as well as dozens of appellate cases. They have substantial experience in alternative dispute resolution and structuring complex settlements.
 
Energy and the Environment - The Environmental Practice Group provides regulatory and licensing services to the energy sector and advises clients concerning regulations under the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and its state counterparts, such as the New York Public Service Commission. The Environmental Practice Group has served as counsel to both the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) regarding the siting, construction and operation of numerous new power plants throughout New York City and Long Island, as well as licensing issues related to hydro-power and nuclear-power plants and the construction of new transmission cables. The Environmental Practice Group is also at the forefront of renewable energy activities, as envisioned by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and assisted LIPA in reviewing a proposed off-shore wind project proposed in the Atlantic Ocean.
 
Climate Change - The Firm’s climate change practice continued to grow in 2007. We represented four former EPA Administrators in the groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court case of Massachusetts v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, in which the Court held, in a 5-4 ruling, both that EPA has the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases and unlawfully failed to exercise that power to address the risks posed by climate change.
 
In response to the federal government’s failure to place limits on greenhouse gases, New York and 10 other states -- Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont -- have joined in establishing the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI seeks to establish a regional carbon dioxide emissions trading program affecting major electricity generators, under which emissions are to be limited and then substantially reduced over a multi-year period.
 
To facilitate the ongoing administration of the RGGI program, in 2007 we helped form and now represent the regional organization, Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc. The goal of the new organization is to assist participating states establish and administer the infrastructure for a regional emissions allowance auction platform, a common emissions allowance tracking system, and a consistent and credible emission offsets and review process.
 
The Environmental Practice Group also advises clients on the role of climate change in environmental impact review under the National Environmental Policy Act and the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act, issued an advisory to clients summarizing state action to address climate change, and spoken at professional conferences on climate change, including a recent Pace Law School climate change litigation and an American Bar Association-Environmental Law Institute presentation on corporate disclosure of climate change risks. We continue to survey climate change developments in our regular “Environmental Law” column in the New York Law Journal.
 
A rapidly developing area of climate change-related activity is the trading of Certified Emission Reduction credits (CERs), generated by the construction of facilities that reduce the emission of greenhouse gases below specified levels. The Firm represents a major market participant in litigation concerning the trading of contracts for the purchase and sale of CERs.
 
Historic Preservation - Members of the Environmental Practice Group have extensive experience in both landmarking and historic preservation matters under the National Historic Preservation Act, the Section 106 review process of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the New York State Historic Preservation Act, and New York City and other landmarks ordinances. This experience includes representing developers who seek to rehabilitate and reuse properties of historic significance (or to develop adjacent to such properties), private clients and nonprofit organizations who seek to challenge developments that would adversely affect historic properties, clients who seek to take advantage of the tax credits available for the rehabilitation of historic buildings, and charitable organizations that seek to preserve environmentally sensitive land and open space in urban, suburban, and rural areas. Mr. Kass is the principal author of Rehabilitating Older and Historic Buildings (published by John Wiley & Sons), the leading one-volume summary of law and practice in this field for lawyers, accountants, developers, and government officials.
 
International Environmental Law - Environmental Practice Group members have represented European, Canadian, Latin American, Japanese and Israeli businesses and individuals in corporate transactions, property acquisitions, environmental reviews, and litigation. Mr. Kass also helped to develop proposed environmental regulations for the hydrocarbon industry in Ecuador and has written extensively on the new environmental law of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its Supplemental Agreements on Environmental Cooperation, as well as on the environmental implications of the ISO 14000 standards for corporations engaged in international trade. Mr. Kass is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and other professional organizations concerned with international development and has served as Chair of the New York City Bar Association’s Special Committee on International Environmental Law, the Association’s Committee on Inter-American Affairs, and the Association’s Council on International Affairs. He teaches International Environmental Law at Brooklyn Law School and has served as consultant to the NAFTA Joint Public Advisory Committee on issues related to citizen submissions under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.