Bass, Berry & Sims | Practices

Practices Matters Clients Attorneys Contact J. Andrew Goddard, Chair	Environmental Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has represented clients in a broad range of environmental matters in the last three years. Our environmental team members have a combined 75 years of environmental law practice experience, and over 20 years ago our firm developed the first full service Environmental Practice Area in Tennessee. Our practice includes representing clients in litigation, transactional and regulatory matters concerning air and water pollution, hazardous waste, solid waste, toxic materials, underground storage tanks, Superfund, health and safety, right-to-know laws and NEPA. The representations we regularly undertake include permit negotiations and appeals; compliance and enforcement matters; Superfund listings; Superfund, RCRA and underground storage tanks cleanups; contested cases before the various environmental regulatory boards; environmental assessments, safety and compliance audits; monitoring and commenting on proposed regulations; drafting and lobbying on proposed environmental legislation and regulations; and representing buyers, sellers and lenders in real estate and corporate transactions. We have significant experience in all of these areas. Much more than familiarity with applicable laws and regulations and correctly interpreting their application to a given factual situation is necessary for a successful environmental practice. Equally important is knowing the regulatory personnel, knowing the key person to approach with a question or for negotiation and knowing how to frame the request. Our firm's Environmental Practice Area has strong contacts and good working relationships with key technical personnel in all divisions of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), all of TDEC's senior staff, including the commissioner, deputy commissioner, bureau heads, the head of each division, the permitting and enforcement heads of each division, the TDEC general counsel and virtually all of the lawyers in the office of general counsel, and many of the other staff members of that department, as well as many of the groups at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, particularly U.S. EPA - Region IV in Atlanta. Our former law partner has just been appointed to the post of state attorney general and reporter. In our dealings with all these regulators, we strive to negotiate solutions that are acceptable to the client without unnecessarily alienating the regulatory agency. We are always prepared to litigate, however, if negotiations do not produce an acceptable resolution. Our Environmental Practice Area also believes that understanding what the regulatory authorities have previously approved or denied in similar instances is critical to developing strategy in an environmental matter. In Tennessee, most of those decisions are not formally of record in a form that is easily reviewed. In order to stay current on the developments and decisions of TDEC, our environmental attorneys attend each meeting of each of the department's oversight boards, attend all meetings of the environmental sections of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry and contact each TDEC division monthly regarding current developments as part of writing the Tennessee Environmental Law Letter . This is a monthly publication of current developments in Tennessee environmental laws, regulations and related developments. It is generally considered the best source for Tennessee environmental regulatory developments. Our practice also provides regular notices and updates on these developments to clients upon request and has created a database of all enforcement orders and remediation orders issued by TDEC during the last 15 years and updates the database monthly. The expertise of attorneys in our Environmental Practice Area has progressed beyond intimate awareness of the environmental laws and regulations. They have authored and participated in the creation of new statutes and regulations, as well as the reform and revision of existing law and regulations. Specifically, our firm has been instrumental in numerous statutory amendments and supplements to the state's environmental laws and regulations, including air and water pollution regulations, Superfund laws, an amendment to the state hazardous waste laws, an amendment to the state UST laws and regulations, reform of state groundwater classification rules and the creation of a state drycleaner's environmental response program, which is being adopted nationwide on a state-by-state basis and is being considered in Congress. At the federal level, we have participated in the regulatory process by assisting clients in commenting on proposed regulations. We have been very successful in maintaining a statewide environmental practice in large part because all of the state of Tennessee environmental agencies are headquartered in Nashville, and all contested cases are handled by those organizations in Nashville, as are most other environmental issues requiring the services of an attorney. <<top < back

Environmental

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has represented clients in a broad range of environmental matters in the last three years. Our environmental team members have a combined 75 years of environmental law practice experience, and over 20 years ago our firm developed the first full service Environmental Practice Area in Tennessee. Our practice includes representing clients in litigation, transactional and regulatory matters concerning air and water pollution, hazardous waste, solid waste, toxic materials, underground storage tanks, Superfund, health and safety, right-to-know laws and NEPA. The representations we regularly undertake include permit negotiations and appeals; compliance and enforcement matters; Superfund listings; Superfund, RCRA and underground storage tanks cleanups; contested cases before the various environmental regulatory boards; environmental assessments, safety and compliance audits; monitoring and commenting on proposed regulations; drafting and lobbying on proposed environmental legislation and regulations; and representing buyers, sellers and lenders in real estate and corporate transactions. We have significant experience in all of these areas.

Much more than familiarity with applicable laws and regulations and correctly interpreting their application to a given factual situation is necessary for a successful environmental practice. Equally important is knowing the regulatory personnel, knowing the key person to approach with a question or for negotiation and knowing how to frame the request. Our firm's Environmental Practice Area has strong contacts and good working relationships with key technical personnel in all divisions of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), all of TDEC's senior staff, including the commissioner, deputy commissioner, bureau heads, the head of each division, the permitting and enforcement heads of each division, the TDEC general counsel and virtually all of the lawyers in the office of general counsel, and many of the other staff members of that department, as well as many of the groups at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, particularly U.S. EPA - Region IV in Atlanta. Our former law partner has just been appointed to the post of state attorney general and reporter. In our dealings with all these regulators, we strive to negotiate solutions that are acceptable to the client without unnecessarily alienating the regulatory agency. We are always prepared to litigate, however, if negotiations do not produce an acceptable resolution.

Our Environmental Practice Area also believes that understanding what the regulatory authorities have previously approved or denied in similar instances is critical to developing strategy in an environmental matter. In Tennessee, most of those decisions are not formally of record in a form that is easily reviewed. In order to stay current on the developments and decisions of TDEC, our environmental attorneys attend each meeting of each of the department's oversight boards, attend all meetings of the environmental sections of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry and contact each TDEC division monthly regarding current developments as part of writing the Tennessee Environmental Law Letter . This is a monthly publication of current developments in Tennessee environmental laws, regulations and related developments. It is generally considered the best source for Tennessee environmental regulatory developments. Our practice also provides regular notices and updates on these developments to clients upon request and has created a database of all enforcement orders and remediation orders issued by TDEC during the last 15 years and updates the database monthly.

The expertise of attorneys in our Environmental Practice Area has progressed beyond intimate awareness of the environmental laws and regulations. They have authored and participated in the creation of new statutes and regulations, as well as the reform and revision of existing law and regulations. Specifically, our firm has been instrumental in numerous statutory amendments and supplements to the state's environmental laws and regulations, including air and water pollution regulations, Superfund laws, an amendment to the state hazardous waste laws, an amendment to the state UST laws and regulations, reform of state groundwater classification rules and the creation of a state drycleaner's environmental response program, which is being adopted nationwide on a state-by-state basis and is being considered in Congress. At the federal level, we have participated in the regulatory process by assisting clients in commenting on proposed regulations.

We have been very successful in maintaining a statewide environmental practice in large part because all of the state of Tennessee environmental agencies are headquartered in Nashville, and all contested cases are handled by those organizations in Nashville, as are most other environmental issues requiring the services of an attorney.

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