Expertise in the area of environmental law is an essential element of providing comprehensive counsel for the purchase, use, development or disposition of real property.
Moreover, an effective environmental law practice cannot be isolated from other related practice areas. We handle a wide range of environmental matters before federal, state and local agencies. Our clients seek site assessments, permits, approvals and jurisdictional determinations, and they often need compliance consultation, remediation assistance and even defense counsel for related litigation. In this respect, we provide our clients with a complete range of services for commercial and residential real estate matters.
As a full-service real estate firm, our environmental law group is experienced in identifying and addressing environmental issues. As such, we are singularly effective at resolving, preventing and remediating environmental problems.
Common tasks that we undertake to proactively resolve, prevent and remediate environmental issues include the following:
- Review target properties before acquisition to identify any ongoing and/or dormant environmental issues.
- Analyze Phase I & II Environmental Site Assessments.
- Conduct all necessary due diligence to develop and preserve client’s Innocent Landowner Defense to Potential Responsible Party liability under State and Federal statutes, including prepare written reports and attorney review letters in compliance with “All Appropriate Inquiries” and ASTM requirements set forth at 40 CFR Part 312.
- Work with Environmental Consultants to develop appropriate Soil and/or Ground Water Management Plans, worker Health and Safety Plans, and appropriate offsite disposal plans, along with appropriate waste manifests and waste characterization, in connection with identified contamination at sites.
- Coordinate with Environmental Consultants, property owners and clients’ in-house teams on required notification to NYSDEC in connection with identified active petroleum spills and the presence of soil and/or groundwater contamination.
- Review whether local municipalities have complied with all applicable SEQRA requirements, in connection with their enactment of statutes and ordinances that impact the ability of our clients to operate or develop sites in those municipalities, including designation of lead agency, preparation of EIS and/or LEAF, and whether lead agency took a “hard look” at all relevant factors.
- Prosecute and defend litigations alleging flawed or incomplete SEQRA compliance.
- Develop proper Historic Preservation Plan in connection with the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) and the National Historic Preservation Act (“NHPA”), including the development of NEPA and NHPA plans for installation of wireless communication facilities under Section 106 of the National Programmatic Agreement provision for collocation and new towers.
- Work with Environmental Consultants to identify and determine whether proposed developments implicate the State Historic Preservation Organization (“SHPO”), including whether proposed developments are within the “Area of Potential Impacts” of recognized historic sites.
- Review and analyze potential impacts in connection with fresh water wetlands regulated by NYSDEC and/or salt water/tidal wetlands regulated by the US Army Corps of Engineers.