Environmental Litigation
Environmental laws present a host of litigation risks and opportunities, ranging from government enforcement and citizen suits, to CERCLA cost recovery and contribution, and including regulatory challenges and the myriad other types of actions required to bring projects to fruition. At the heart of Crowell and Moring’s pre-eminent environmental and natural resources practice is our litigation expertise. Our bench includes former agency personnel, scientists, and experts in regulatory compliance, as well as seasoned environmental and tort litigators, who all enhance our litigation strength by creating innovative solutions that cut across a variety of legal issues. Our attorneys advise on, litigate, and resolve disputes under all of the major federal environmental laws and those of many states.
A sampling of our current and recent representative litigation matters is set forth below.
Enforcement Litigation
- Defending a cement manufacturer in a Clean Air Act enforcement action under the New Source Review preconstruction permitting program and the Title V operating permit program.
- Representing a large coal producer in settlement negotiations with the Department of Justice over alleged violations of its NPDES permits under the Clean Water Act and defending against the subsequent citizen suit and challenge to the negotiated Consent Decree.
National Environmental Policy Act Litigation
- Representing a coal producer intervening on behalf of the Bureau of Land Management in a NEPA challenge to an upcoming lease sale that also seeks to force the agency to certify the Powder River Basin as a coal producing region ineligible for “lease by application.”
- Representing a forestry association in NEPA and National Forest Management Act litigation regarding the Forest Service’s Sierra Framework.
Challenges to Regulatory Action
- Representing major trade association in federal court litigation challenging EPA’s first ever regulation of greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions under the Clean Air Act (“CAA”).
- Representing national trade association in action brought under the Clean Water Act, Administrative Procedure Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act challenging a series of actions by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding permitting and regulatory reviews for coal mining operations in Appalachian states.
Contaminated Site Litigation
- Representing a Fortune 10 company in an action brought under CERCLA against the United States for contribution relating to alleged contamination at former major underground uranium mine on Navajo Tribe trust lands owned and managed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs.
- Representing Fortune 50 company in Florida administrative challenge to remedial action plan relating to contamination at former manufacturing facility near Sarasota, Florida.