Overview
Carlton Fields’ well-known environmental regulation and litigation team has decades of experience handling difficult permitting, regulatory, and litigation matters. To assist on large disputes, the firm also offers a broader group of lawyers who have handled challenging environmental permitting and litigation matters. Most of our lawyers and planners have substantial experience appearing before the various federal, state, and local agencies. Collectively, we have handled most types of environmental matters during the last 40 years, representing clients in cases around the country.
Our environmental practice is especially well-known for matters related to:
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Difficult and high-profile permitting and regulatory issues. We represent clients in matters involving environmental regulations and permitting that are critical to their businesses. In particular, we handle federal matters of all types, including those related to wetland regulation, water management, endangered species, and federal lands. We also have an excellent track record with state agencies and regulation across a broad range of pollution and natural resource issues. We provide highly experienced representation to clients involved in large and complex public infrastructure projects, where environmental permits are at the center of a transaction or ensuing controversy. However, we are equally adept at ensuring most matters never become controversial or require litigation.
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Contaminated property. We regularly represent clients in matters related to contaminated properties in the context of federal and state supervised cleanup efforts, real estate transactions, brownfield redevelopment, land use regulation, and disputes of all types.
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Permit challenges. After a permit is obtained, the stakes of defending it are high. We have successfully handled permit challenges raising environmental issues in almost every forum at the federal, state, and local levels.
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Environmental enforcement. We represent clients in all types of government enforcement matters, including administrative and civil enforcements, criminal investigations, and agency debarment proceedings. Our firm also defends clients against private citizen suits, in which nongovernmental parties seek to enforce environmental laws against regulated parties.
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Legislative advocacy. We are active in advocacy at the state and local levels, crafting balanced and clear statutes and regulations.
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Coordination between environmental work and land use. Most of our lawyers and planners also work in land use regulation and litigation, giving us a broader perspective and understanding of the impacts of environmental regulation.
We represent clients that operate in a variety of industries, including energy, utilities, road building and construction, chemical, oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, development, and real estate. Governmental entities also hire us to represent them in some of their most important environmental disputes, and we have represented public interest organizations as well.
Comprehensive practice, skilled in a number of environmental issues including litigation, permitting and brownfield development. Houses a renowned bench of environment law specialists in offices across the state.