BarbriSFCourseDetails
  1. keyboard_arrow_leftBack

Course Details

Course Information
  • smart_display Format

    On-Demand

  • signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level

  • work Practice Area

    Environmental

Date & Time
  • event Date

    Tuesday, November 16, 2021

  • schedule Time

    1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT

  • timer Program Length

    90 minutes

Credit Information

  • This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.

$297.00
CLE
ALL

This CLE course will advise environmental counsel on the legal considerations and management of issues presented by catastrophic weather events and climate change. The panel will discuss creating emergency response plans for weather, impacts on regulatory standards and response to upset conditions, handling spill and release reporting, and/or site remediation and remedy resilience. The panel’s discussion will include best practices and practical advice for clients on mitigating the risks of environmental liability intensified by climate change and associated volatile weather events.

Faculty

Gregory R. Wall
Counsel
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

With over 15-years of experience in environmental law, Mr. Wall assists clients in regulatory counseling, enforcement defense, litigation, and transactional matters. His experience in both private and public practice, in particular at EPA, provides him the ability to navigate the regulatory process with an informed understanding of government decision-making and strategies for efficiently resolving complex legal and policy issues. Mr. Wall has significant experience related to the acquisition and sale of environmentally-impaired property, conducting voluntary cleanups, and the re-development of brownfield sites, including for renewable energy projects, as well as advising clients on EPA regulations and policies across a diverse client base, including oil & gas, electric utility, chemical, mining and marine transport.

expand_circle_down Expand to View Full Bio expand_circle_up Collapse Bio
Samuel L. Brown
Partner
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

A former U.S. EPA lawyer, Mr. Brown brings deep knowledge and practical experience to his clients’ environmental concerns, helping them navigate the demands of regulatory agencies, ensure facility and corporate compliance, respond to government investigations, and defend against enforcement actions. He assists private and public sector clients in addressing domestic and international environmental and natural resource matters that impact their business and operations. Mr. Brown has a substantive focus on surface and drinking water quality, wetlands, oceans, and groundwater matters under the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act, and other federal and state authorities.

expand_circle_down Expand to View Full Bio expand_circle_up Collapse Bio
David C. McSweeney
Counsel
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Mr. McSweeney’s practice focuses on environmental, health, and safety matters, especially those involving the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, CERCLA, and RCRA. He has nearly 20 years of experience working with energy clients, including oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids companies, pipelines and utilities, manufacturers, banking institutions, and other private and private institutional clients. In addition to a myriad of matters related to environmental permitting, transactional negotiation, compliance, enforcement defense, and related litigations, He provides experienced corporate counseling for institutional clients regarding issues associated with environmental, social, and governance concerns, including internal assessments and auditing, reporting and disclosure concerns, with a focus on climate change. He has led environmental legal due diligence, and transactional negotiations for asset and equity transactions, brownfield redevelopments, EHS related incident investigations and has coordinated response and remedial actions for hazardous environmental releases.

expand_circle_down Expand to View Full Bio expand_circle_up Collapse Bio

Description

Hurricane Ida and its remnants are the latest weather event to have caused widespread impacts across the U.S. Industrial facilities in weather-affected areas face challenges in assessing the impact on existing environmental permits, cleaning up debris and damaged infrastructure, and restoring activities that may have been interrupted by the weather event.

Recent severe storms have forced state and municipal governments to consider issues associated with emergency response activities in connection with regulatory and guidance development. For example, some jurisdictions have instituted pollution, preparedness, and contingency (PPC) plan requirements for industrial facilities. These PPCs require planning for the impacts that flood or other natural disasters may have on a facility's potential to generate or release pollution.

Counsel for facilities should understand that the emergent conditions created by the weather events do not necessarily relieve them of the responsibility to promptly notify the appropriate regulatory authorities of any spill or release, or upset conditions associated with excess emission events caused by or related to weather events. Counsel should also consider how weather events have the potential to impact remediation activities and enforcement at contaminated sites, including sites with remedies that have achieved construction completion. Facilities tasked with cleaning up debris or repairing damage caused by the storm should consider whether their activities would require a permit. Where a permit is required, emergency authorizations may be available to facilitate expeditious response activities.

Listen as our expert panel discusses current extreme weather conditions and how these events may affect environmental regulation. The panel will address how regulated entities can prepare for potential impact on their facilities, what permits may be needed, and what proactive planning should be done.

Outline

  1. Recent trends in climate change and severe weather events
  2. Emergency planning and risk mitigation
  3. Permits
  4. Spill, release, and/or excess emission reporting
  5. Site remediation and remedy resilience
  6. Emergency authorizations
  7. Best practices and mitigating risks

Benefits

The panel will address these and other key topics:

  • What are the most recent trends in environmental regulation and severe weather events?
  • How can counsel mitigate environmental risk related to climate change and resultant weather?
  • How has emergency planning and permitting been impacted by severe weather?
  • What types of spill, release, or upset/excess emission notifications are implicated with impacts to weather-damaged facilities?
  • How have remediation activities at contaminated sites been impacted by severe weather and storms and lessons learned from these examples?
  • What are the possible implications of climate change for site remediation enforcement?