Skip to main content
Top Button

Environmental Regulation

Federal, state and local environmental/natural resource laws are complex and involve numerous agencies.

This "alphabet" of laws includes RCRA, CERCLA (Superfund), EPCRA/TSCA, the CWA, the CAA, USTs, the Safe Drinking Water Act, NEPA, OSHA and permitting under 401/404 and NPDES. Our environmental lawyers work with Ice Miller's clients to find efficient and cost-effective ways to comply with all applicable environmental laws. 

Ice Miller's environmental lawyers understand the nuances of these complex regulations, and we work proactively with federal and state agencies on behalf of our clients to resolve ambiguities in the law and the manner in which the law applies to our clients' unique circumstances. Whenever possible, we seek an early and efficient resolution of disputes. However, when that is not possible, we vigorously defend our clients' rights in response to actions brought by environmental regulators.

Ice Miller's environmental lawyers have extensive experience working with our clients' technical teams to review required plans and permits. Our attorneys have a broad regulatory background and several members of our team are "go to" attorneys in discrete regulatory areas, such as air, water, wetlands and surface mining. We work as a team to bring the breadth and depth of experience to bear whenever, and wherever, it is needed by our firm's clients.

Watch our environmental video here.

Some of our clients have little or no experience with environmental/natural resources issues, and those clients call upon us to assist with basic issues such as an environmental audits and determining whether a spill is reportable. Other clients have a great deal of environmental experience and seek our advice on more complex, unusual issues, such as whether an engine is "modified" or "existing" under EPA's air regulations. Some of the unique areas in which our environmental regulatory attorneys have experience include:

  • Alcohol permitting for both fuel producers and breweries.
  • Federal Hazardous Materials Transportation regulated by the Federal Highway Administration, the United States Coast Guard, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Railroad Administration, and the U.S. Customs Bureau
  • Surface Mining Control & Reformation Act (SMCRA)
  • Construction in a Floodway

 

Representative Experience

  • Allison Transmission, Inc.:  Ice Miller's environmental attorneys work with Allison to assure compliance with all applicable regulations.  These include air, wastewater, hazardous waste, storm water and TSCA.
  • Murray Energy Corporation: We assisted Murray with negotiations, litigation and technical aspects of NPDES, 401 and other CWA compliance and permitting issues; compliance with EPCRA, CERCLA and reporting obligations;  as well as review of and comment on state and federal environmental rulemaking relevant to the client's business.
  • Haynes International, Inc.:  Haynes is a manufacturer of specialty alloys.  Ice Miller's environmental attorneys assist Haynes with various environmental issues, including regulatory compliance related to air emissions, RCRA waste disposal, on-site closed hazardous waste landfills, storm water, wastewater and TSCA.
  • Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority:  Lucas Oil Stadium and the expansion of the Indiana Convention Center were built in historic manufacturing and transportation areas in downtown Indianapolis.  Ice Miller attorneys helped the Authority address complicated environmental issues, such as materials reuse and  waste disposal, with creative solutions that were approved by regulatory agencies.
Additional Experience
  • When the stationary engine MACT and NSPS requirements were made applicable to area sources, many facilities were faced with compliance challenges.  One of Ice Miller's area source clients used over 40 stationary engines at one facility, none of which were exempt under the stationary engine test stand exemption.  Many of the engines were decades old, or had been rebuilt but documentation was missing, and/or could not be replaced without incurring significant costs unrelated to the engine.  Ice Miller worked with its client to create a framework for categorizing each engine and determining which requirements applied.   For engines that were missing crucial information needed to make a determination, Ice Miller directed fact finding.  After this long process, we were left with a handful of engines that presented complicated questions related to whether they had been modified.  After scouring every piece of information available, we set up a process to bring EPA and the state agency into the discussions.  The agencies agreed that novel issues were presented for which quick responses were not available. Ice Miller attorneys worked with our client and the agencies to obtain applicability determinations that provided cost savings and certainty for our client.
  • Ice Miller attorneys represented engine manufacturers and manufacturers of mobile equipment that contain engines who sought to create strategies to meet their sales goals while complying with mobile engine emissions certification and import requirements of EPA and state regulators.

Ice TV

Firm Publications

News

Blog Posts

View Full Site View Mobile Optimized