Our water resources group of lawyers is divided into two main teams — water quality and water supply. Our water quality team addresses the full range of issues under the Federal Clean Water Act and its state counterparts. Our water supply team covers issues relating to water supply, planning, allocation, minimum instream flows, and source water protection.
Water Quality
Over the last 20 years, our lawyers have represented clients nationwide from almost every sector of industry, including pulp and paper manufacturing, mining, transportation, electronics, telecommunications, petroleum, chemicals, and food and beverages. We represent businesses (both large and small), national and state municipal organizations, and individual communities throughout the United States.
Our lawyers serve as general counsel to the CSO Partnership, a national association of communities with combined sewer systems. We are also general counsel to the Virginia Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies, the Virginia Water and Sewer Authorities Association, and the Maryland Association of Municipal Wastewater Agencies.
Our services include every major aspect of law at both the federal and state levels. We provide the full range of services needed to participate effectively in both the legislative arena and the rulemaking process, including analysis, advice, drafting, lobbying, preparation of comments, and litigation, including judicial review of agency action. We also assist clients in every phase of the permit process and in defense of judicial and administrative enforcement actions, including citizen suits.
Water Supply
Our water supply practice includes water supply planning, regulatory, legislative, litigation, and enforcement matters. We routinely advise water suppliers in the Mid-Atlantic States on the full range of federal, state, and local issues that may affect their facilities and operations (e.g., Safe Drinking Water Act). We also assist industry in developing and permitting groundwater and surface water industrial water supplies and in negotiating agreements with water suppliers.
Wetlands
For more than a decade, we have been helping clients navigate the sometimes treacherous sea of wetland regulations. Few areas of environmental law have gone through as many dramatic program shifts. Consequently, our extensive involvement and experience in this regulatory program can be invaluable when trying to assess the total impact of the program on development of a property or on an industry’s ability to obtain a permit for a facility.
We work on wetlands issues across the country. The vast majority of our work has focused on development projects and enforcement actions in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. In addition to coordinating the permitting strategies for clients seeking the necessary federal, state and local wetland permits, we also assist in resolving the problems which may arise during the permitting process and in the related environmental practice areas of historic resources, endangered species and NEPA compliance.