Services

Environmental Law

Boyd's broad environmental law experience includes the following:

  • Compliance advice regarding many regulatory programs and issues, including air, hazardous waste, solid waste, water, wetlands and coastal uses, transportation of regulated materials, reporting requirements, and emergency response requirements;
  • Permitting under a wide range of regulatory programs, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous waste and solid waste programs, and the National Environmental Policy Act, and corresponding state laws such as the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and Louisiana Department of Energy and Natural Resources (LDENR) regulations, including Clean Water Act Section 404 permits, coastal use permits, and public trust and environmental justice analyses;
  • Defense of lawsuits challenging the issuance of or seeking to reverse or modify environmental permits;
  • Advice regarding petitions to object filed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with respect to air permits;
  • Defense of enforcement actions, including those brought by the EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the LDEQ, and the Louisiana State Police;
  • Handling of environmental issues in the sale or lease of properties, the sale of businesses, mergers and acquisitions, and other transactions, including environmental due diligence, environmental site assessments and compliance audits, negotiation of environmental representations, warranties, and indemnities, and transfers of environmental permits;
  • Negotiation of wetland mitigation agreements, including agreements with mitigation banks and agreements for permittee-responsible mitigation;
  • Issuance of environmental regulatory and permitting opinions in connection with the development and financing of industrial projects;
  • Advice regarding environmental insurance in transactions;
  • Handling of claims for recovery of environmental costs under comprehensive general liability (CGL) policies, including pollution exclusion issues;
  • Advice regarding property remediation, including under the LDEQ Risk Evaluation/Corrective Action Program (RECAP) and state voluntary cleanup programs;
  • Defense of remediation actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), including participation in and negotiations with potentially responsible party (PRP) groups;
  • Prosecution and defense of claims and lawsuits seeking remediation of property, recovery of response costs, and related damages, including working with environmental expert witnesses and taking and defending expert depositions; and
  • Defense of oilfield site restoration ("legacy") lawsuits.

Other Services

Examples include:

  • General business and contracting advice
  • Real estate and other commercial transactions and agreements
  • Zoning and land use matters
  • Representation before city and parish councils
  • Representation at public hearings
  • Representation before legislative committees
  • Representation of municipalities and other political subdivisions

Representative Environmental Matters

Representative matters include:

  • Environmental permitting and regulatory advice to the developer of a new chemical manufacturing facility in Louisiana;
  • Environmental permitting and regulatory advice and negotiation of wetland mitigation agreement and permittee-responsible mitigation agreement on behalf of the developer of a new industrial facility in Louisiana;
  • Regulatory compliance advice and defense and settlement of LDEQ enforcement actions on behalf of an operator of chemical manufacturing facilities in Louisiana;
  • Defense and settlement of LDEQ enforcement actions on behalf of an operator of bioenergy facilities in Louisiana;
  • Representation of the operator of the Louisiana bulk liquids storage terminal facility in the defense and resolution of enforcement actions by EPA Region 6 and LDEQ related to alleged releases and other violations during the flooding event, including advice regarding release reporting and responses to EPA requests for information;
  • Representation of lenders in environmental due diligence and permit review in connection with financings of construction of a new methanol plant and an LNG liquefaction and export facility in Louisiana;
  • Lead environmental counsel in issuance of environmental regulatory and permitting opinions on behalf of developer of solar energy facilities in southeastern U.S.;
  • Representation of the purchaser of oil and gas producing properties in Louisiana, including advice regarding environmental due diligence and indemnities and other terms of transaction documents;
  • Advice regarding environmental due diligence, indemnities, and related terms of transaction documents in connection with the acquisition of owners and operators of steel manufacturing facilities in Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee, and post-acquisition regulatory and compliance advice;
  • Representation of the operator of a Louisiana grain storage facility in the defense and resolution of alleged Clean Water Act violations asserted by the DOJ on behalf of EPA Region 6 and LDEQ enforcement action related to the alleged release of waste oil to a bayou and insurance coverage claims for cleanup and other costs under a CGL insurance policy;
  • Representation of the owner of closed industrial facilities in Louisiana and Mississippi in the sale to the purchaser of brownfield properties, including negotiation of indemnities and other environmental provisions of transaction documents;
  • Lead environmental counsel in representation of developer of storage tank terminal facility on Mississippi River in St. John Parish, Louisiana, in acquisition of property and obtaining initial minor source air permit and other environmental permits for facility, successful resolution of litigation challenging issuance of initial permits, and successful defense of litigation seeking reversal of LDEQ's subsequent issuance of Title V (major source) and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) air permits for facility (Judgment dated 12/19/2018 in Louisiana Environmental Action Network Inc. v. The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, Suit No. 670056, Section 25, 19th Judicial District Court, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana);
  • Lead environmental counsel regarding obtaining air, water, and other permits for a storage tank facility for crude oil, petroleum products, and other liquid fuels on the Mississippi River in St. James, Louisiana, successful defense of litigation seeking reversal of LDEQ's issuance of air permit (In the Matter of: Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Permitting Decision: Regarding State (Synthetic Minor Source) Permit No. 2560-00292-00 to Petroplex International, LLC, 2010 CA 1194 (La. App. 1 Cir. 3/25/11), 58 So.3d 1155), and advice regarding a parish land use ordinance and representation at parish council meetings regarding the same;
  • Lead permitting attorney in obtaining RCRA, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act permits for a former commercial hazardous waste incineration facility; successful defense of lawsuits seeking reversal of permits (Coalition for a Good Environment, et al. v. Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, 99-2843 (La. App. 1st Cir. 10/18/00), 772 So.2d 715, writ denied, 2001-0129 (La. 4/12/01), 789 So.2d 589, and 2001-0130 (La. 4/12/01), 789 So.2d 590);
  • Supervision of risk assessment and RECAP evaluation of an alleged hazardous waste disposal site in Louisiana and negotiation of a consent decree with DOJ, EPA, and LDEQ regarding the client's potential liability for response costs related to the site.