Practice Areas: Environmental Solutions

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 changes, including dramatic program shifts as wetlands regulations. 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 discharge facility.

We work on wetlands issues all across the country, but most of its work in this area, to date, has focused on permitting and enforcement actions in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina. Besides coordinating the permitting strategies for clients seeking the necessary federal, state and local wetland permits, we also assist clients in resolving the problems which may arise in the permitting process and in the related environmental practice areas of historic resources, endangered species and environmental impact analysis.

Several of our attorneys are involved in wetland regulatory work. Dan Slone is the vice-chair of the American Bar Association’s Wetlands and Endangered Species Committee (a subcommittee of the Real Property, Trust and Estate Section of the ABA) and has written and spoken extensively about wetlands, historic resources and endangered species.

Representative Work

• obtaining the necessary permits for a controversial, large scale solid waste facility in Virginia (general permits were utilized despite the Corps’ initial position that an individual permit would be required);

• managing the wetland, mitigation bank and related issues for a theme park proposed in Virginia;

• obtaining wetlands permits and resolving historic resources issues for a large planned unit development adjacent to a national parkland in Maryland;

• coordinating permits for a Town Center in Maryland on behalf of the County and the private developer;

• overseeing the permitting of wetland impacts for the revitalization of a canal vital to a major urban renewal project and the accompanying installation of new sewer project;

• defining the strategy and implementation plan for obtaining all wetland permits necessary for the privately developed town of Reston and resolving issues in the permitting process; and

• overseeing the permitting of wetland impacts for malls, shopping centers, power production facilities, industrial facilities, mines and large scale residential developments in Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.