Bingham’s Environmental, Land Use and Natural Resources Group is recognized as one of the premier practices in the United States. With more than 50 lawyers practicing full-time in this area, we have a knowledge base that dates back to the beginnings of environmental law in the United States and a breadth of experience across the body of environmental law, which enables us to provide our clients with the rare combination of deep knowledge and exceptional litigation experience. Named the 2011-2012 Law Firm of the Year in Environmental Law by US News and World Report and Best Lawyers, Bingham’s Environmental, Land Use and Natural Resources practice group provides environmental litigation, compliance, counseling, permitting and transactional support to clients worldwide.
Our permitting experience is best exemplified by our recent work entitling thousands of megawatts of renewable energy, and in obtaining and defending public lands and natural resources permits for conventional energy projects throughout the United States. We have assisted developers in obtaining necessary entitlements from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, California Energy Commission, local jurisdictions, and other federal and state agencies; resolving related transmission and interconnection issues; and negotiating power purchase agreements.
We handle litigation stemming from enforcement investigations, multimedia enforcement actions, bankruptcy cases with environmental law aspects, contract-related issues, environmental insurance and mass tort claims. We also handle criminal cases and related civil proceedings conducted by the EPA and investigations undertaken by various federal agency inspector generals’ offices.
Our compliance and counseling practices leverage our decades of experience with the evolving body of environmental laws. We assist both U.S.-based and foreign-based companies with facility permits related to waste and water discharges and airborne emissions. We provide on-site assistance to help our clients both comply with information requests and defend their practices.
Our transactional team works with clients as deals are being structured to develop strategies and negotiate terms designed to minimize potential liability and reduce long-term environ-mental and related legal costs. We work with renewable energy developers; oil and natural gas companies; industrial, chemical and consumer manufacturers; buyers and sellers; trade associations; investors; potentially responsible party (PRP) groups; and municipalities. We help our clients obtain and defend state and federal permits for vital infrastructure projects.
Bingham’s environmental and natural resources lawyers are at the cutting-edge of issues in environmental, land use and natural resources law. Our practice spans a broad range of areas, including: