Kaplan Kirsch’s dynamic environmental law practice addresses the full range of issues and opportunities facing our diverse clients. Our attorneys have extensive experience assisting clients with environmental cleanup, cost recovery, regulatory compliance, permitting, enforcement, defense, and conservation under federal and state environmental laws across the country.
Who We Represent
We counsel municipalities, public agencies, tribes, public interest organizations, developers, and other private clients. We advise clients on environmental compliance and enforcement in project development and represent clients in high-stakes litigation. Our lawyers both enforce environmental laws and defend environmental reviews, project authorizations, and hazardous substance response actions.
Our national reputation rests on handling large and complex projects. That work includes water supply and treatment, major urban developments, environmental remediation, energy facilities, transit systems, airports, highways, and transit-oriented developments. Kaplan Kirsch’s environmental law practice is recognized by Chambers and Partners, Best Lawyers in America®, Best Law Firms, and Super Lawyers®.
Agencies and Courts
Kaplan Kirsch attorneys appear in regulatory proceedings before state and federal agencies and in trial and appellate courtrooms. We also coordinate with public agencies in the strategic defense of their decisions. We draw upon years of experience to develop practical solutions to ever-evolving environmental issues.
Government Experience
Our environmental law team brings federal and state government experience to client matters. Our team includes former attorneys from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Two team members served as General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Transportation. In that role, each oversaw the Department’s NEPA and environmental matters. At the state level, our team includes the former Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the former Director of Environmental Programs at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. This experience gives our clients an inside view of how agencies review, approve, and defend projects.
Federal and State Environmental Laws
Our experience spans environmental matters involving:
- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
- Clean Air Act (CAA)
- Clean Water Act (CWA)
- Endangered Species Act (ESA)
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
- Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA)
- National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)
- State laws such as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California’s Hazardous Substance Account Act (HSAA), Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), and the Polanco Redevelopment Act
Natural Resources and Conservation
Our environmental law practice extends to complex natural resource and conservation matters. That work includes permitting, regulatory compliance, and litigation under federal and state natural resources law. We also advise on water and forest resources, public lands, and endangered species matters.