Our Environmental, Health & Safety lawyers provide strategic regulatory counseling grounded in deep enforcement, investigation, and litigation experience. We advise companies, boards, executives, developers, manufacturers, and governments on complex environmental regulatory challenges across the U.S. and globally. We help clients anticipate and manage risk, achieve and maintain compliance, and effectively engage with regulators on issues involving permitting, emissions, stormwater, climate change, and cross‑border enforcement.

Clients rely on us for early, practical, forward-thinking compliance advice and for strong advocacy when facing regulators, responding to investigations, or seeking changes to regulatory frameworks. Our counseling is further strengthened by our market‑leading environmental enforcement defense experience that helps clients navigate high‑risk matters with a clear understanding of how regulators evaluate compliance and enforcement decisions.

Vehicle, Engine, and Emissions Regulation

We counsel manufacturers and suppliers across the full emissions lifecycle, including pre‑certification, the certification process, post‑certification and in-use obligations, and enforcement defense. Areas of focus include:

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) emission control requirements
• Engine and vehicle certification, including EPA Certificates of Compliance and CARB Executive Orders
• Emissions‑related defects, field fixes, recalls, warranties, and reporting
• Advising in enforcement defense, including EPA information requests, self-disclosures and settlement negotiations
• Greenhouse gas (GHG) and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards
• Vehicle and engine importation requirements

Permitting, Site Compliance, and Facility Expansion

What environmental permits and regulatory issues arise when developing or expanding industrial facilities?

Environmental risks can arise across permitting, site conditions, and ongoing operations. We help clients anticipate and manage these issues, navigate regulatory requirements, and keep projects moving efficiently from planning through execution. Our experience includes:

• Resolving legacy environmental issues at major technology properties and other brownfields
• Advising on disputes over permits essential to new data center construction and operation
• Advising on permitting issues involving water quality, including discharges, “dredge and fill,” and ground and surface water withdrawals
• Advising on groundwater and surface water contamination issues, including PFAS
• Counseling on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) considerations and agency consultations (Interior, Federal Air Administration, Corps of Engineers, and state agencies), particularly concerning renewable and natural gas projects
• Obtaining air permits for expanding real estate portfolios
• Navigating Clean Air Act (CAA) exemptions and permitting requirements
• Providing Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and related environmental counseling
• Assisting with California Department of Toxic Substances (DTSC) site investigations

Operational Compliance

We advise on virtually all aspects of facility compliance, including:

• CAA and Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations
• Hazardous waste regulation
• Land use and stormwater compliance
• Protected species, wetlands, and cultural resources
• Federal and state Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) standards and other health and safety regulatory regimes

Materials, Products, and Supply Chain Compliance

Our chemicals and product content management practice helps companies navigate increasingly complex regulations governing the manufacture, use, and distribution of regulated substances and products across global supply chains. 

What is Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) compliance?

TSCA compliance governs the manufacture, import, use, and distribution of chemical substances in the United States, and increasingly affects global supply chains by imposing testing, reporting, and import certification requirements on companies operating across jurisdictions. Our experience includes: 

• Advising manufacturers, importers, distributors, and retailers on TSCA compliance and enforcement, including premanufacture notices (PMNs), Significant New Use Rules (SNURs), import/export certifications, Chemical Data Reporting (CDR), persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) rules, and related programs
• Counseling companies on California’s Proposition 65, including warning requirements, “no significant risk level” thresholds, private enforcement actions, and support for chemical listings
• Advising on Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) risks and regulatory developments across U.S. and EU regimes, including transaction diligence, FDA actions, and supply chain identification and response strategies
• Serving as product steward for complex supply chains, evaluating import compliance, enhancing supplier transparency, and addressing evolving certification requirements
• Supporting pesticide product regulation, including federal and state registration of antimicrobial and conventional products, and customs requirements for import/export
• Navigating overlapping EPA and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) jurisdiction, particularly for antimicrobial and other dual‑regulated products

Renewable Fuels 

Our team advises on the regulatory and compliance aspects of renewable fuels and energy transition projects, including biodiesel, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), and carbon management technologies. We bring deep experience with the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program and current enforcement trends, informed by our backgrounds at EPA.

• Advising on RFS compliance, including Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) generation and RFS reporting obligations
• Advising in enforcement defense, including EPA information requests, self-disclosures and settlement negotiations
• Counselling in rulemaking process
• Counselling environmental and regulatory issues for renewable fuel production and sustainable infrastructure projects
• Interpreting federal and state regulatory frameworks applicable to renewable fuels and emerging energy technologies
• Advising on state Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) programs, including pathway development and credit eligibility for domestic and international projects
• Supporting Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) regulatory compliance, including evolving state and federal requirements

Regulatory Advocacy and Climate Change Strategy

We also advise on legislative and administrative rulemaking, government affairs, and advocacy, including greenhouse gas regulation, California preemption waivers, congressional inquiries, and high‑profile hearings. Leveraging a global platform, we help clients navigate climate change related regulatory uncertainty through proactive counseling on permitting, disclosures, enforcement risk, and policy engagement. We also have extensive experience in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) counseling, including California’s carbon disclosure rules.