Services

  • Air quality, including Clean Air Act compliance, new source review, permitting, emissions trading, variance proceedings, and indoor air quality
  • Water quality, including Clean Water Act compliance, storm water management, wastewater treatment, waste discharge requirements, and NPDES issues
  • Water rights, including surface water and groundwater
  • Environmental litigation, defense of administrative, civil, and criminal enforcement actions (including internal investigations and voluntary agency disclosures), complex toxic tort actions, class actions, cost recovery and contribution actions, and defense and prosecution of citizen suits – under all major federal and state environmental statutes, including the CWA, CERCLA, RCRA, ESA, Proposition 65, and the Hazardous Substance Account Act
  • Natural resources, including NEPA, CEQA, NRD assessments and litigation, wetlands, and species
  • Complex large-scale renewable energy project permitting, including environmental review, and land use entitlements
  • Government entity representation, ranging from large national laboratories to individual cities and counties, in counseling and litigation relating to environmental, natural resource and land use matters
  • Compliance counseling under all major federal and state environmental statutes, including CERCLA, RCRA, TSCA, OPA, and EPCRA
  • Environmental due diligence in corporate and real estate transactions, including Phase I and Phase II site assessments, complex due diligence investigations, and Brownfields development planning and site disposition work
  • Product stewardship, including strategic planning for regulatory compliance, risk management and litigation avoidance, and product recalls
  • Product liability, including complex products litigation and product liability claims

Firm Highlights

Publication

Where Are We Now, Following Maui County, Sackett, and the Latest EPA Guidance?

The last few years have seen significant developments in our understanding of the reach of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). (Indeed, “reach” here can be interpreted literally and figuratively.) The two issues plaguing...

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News

EPA Designates PFOA and PFOS as Hazardous Substances

Don Sobelman provided expert commentary in the  Chemical & Engineering News article "EPA Designates PFOA and PFOS as Hazardous Substances." Excerpt from the article: Lawyers are warning anyone purchasing an industrial site where PFOA...

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Publication

Trends Guest Editorial: Wildfires and Wineries

Link to the article in Gradient's Trends  Spring 2023 newsletter. Recurring wildfires in the Napa and Sonoma Counties of California have created a set of niche problems for the surrounding wineries, on top of...

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Event

20th Annual Western Boot Camp on Environmental Law

Linda Gilleran is speaking at the Environmental Law Institute's 20th Annual Western Boot Camp on Environmental Law on the topic of Energy Law.

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Publication

New PFAS Listing Under Superfund Will Lead to Major Expansion of Liability

On April 19, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced its final rule designating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under Section 102(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation...

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News

Farella Announces 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders: Taylor Rottjakob and John Ugai

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that senior associates  Taylor E. Rottjakob and John M. Ugai have been named 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinders. Pathfinders have been identified as...

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News

Farella Braun + Martel Earns 2024 Best Law Firms® Rankings

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News

Lawdragon Names 7 Farella Lawyers Among “Leaders in Environmental Law”

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel is pleased to announce that seven lawyers were selected to The Lawdragon Green 500: 2024 Leaders in Environmental Law . Farella lawyers selected for inclusion: Sarah...

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Publication

New PFAS Federal Drinking Water Standards Create Major Liability and Litigation Risk

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has released a final regulation setting individual drinking water maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) for five per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These MCLs are incredibly stringent due to EPA’s stated concerns...

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Publication

Wind Energy Project Approvals and Tax Credits Look To Outpace Macroeconomic and Supply Chain Headwinds in 2024

A snapshot of the renewable wind industry on October 31, 2023, captures many of the current challenges and opportunities for the industry and regulatory agencies heading into 2024.  That day, the world’s largest offshore...

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