Environment & Energy Strategic Counseling

Clients rely on our environment and energy team to anticipate and advise them on the strategic implications of their business and litigation decisions and emerging challenges. Our lawyers advise our clients from a strong understanding of each client, the client’s business, and the key issues that drive their businesses.

Environmental Counseling

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Environmental impacts, including from legacy liabilities, are a key consideration in today’s business arena, and costly proceedings can result when companies overlook addressing environmental factors, or are not prepared to respond to these challenges. McCarter’s environmental team develops sound strategies to avoid, minimize, or respond to past and future environmental liabilities. Our group provides innovative and cost-effective legal representation covering civil litigation, regulatory administrative matters, and counseling on all kinds of transactions, as well as compliance counseling, and permitting.

Energy Strategic Counseling

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Our energy clients look to us to assist and counsel them in industries in which essential transactions are negotiated and entered into against a backdrop of federal and state regulation and where the best of business plans can be buffeted by outside economic forces, technical advances, and environmental considerations. Our energy lawyers assist clients in navigating the legal and regulatory complexities of regional energy markets and selecting and acquiring portfolios of resources to reliably, responsibly, and economically meet the energy demands of their customers and communities. We help guide clients toward business rather than litigation solutions wherever possible.

We assist clients in executing their plans, ranging from negotiating transactional agreements to investing in or siting and installing renewable energy projects to pursuing energy efficiency programs, including those covering demand response programs and renewable energy credits.

Represented a Connecticut municipal electric utility since 1987 on a broad range of issues, initially involving the purchase of power from a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-regulated, investor-owned utility and more recently in matters related to participation in the ISO New England wholesale electric markets. He also has represented this utility in the leasing of municipally owned land to an independent power producer for the development of new generation, including such related matters as a property tax agreement and a Large Generator Interconnection Agreement.

Serve as special counsel to CHEFA since 2006, advising on environmental issues related to bond issuances supporting the construction or renovation of hospitals and private schools.

Serve as environmental counsel to one of the country’s largest grocery supply companies, advising the company on acquisition issues, material handling and transportation, insurance coverage, permitting, and other operational issues.

Advising the owner and developer of a proposed pumped storage project on selected legal issues arising in development efforts, including potential treatment as transmission under Federal Energy Regulatory policy and precedent.

Advising Board of Directors of a large G&T cooperative as Board Attorney.

Represented a real estate investment trust in its acquisition and redevelopment—with its joint venture partner—of a former ship demolition and salvaging facility bordering the Delaware River. The representation included conducting an environmental due diligence investigation; evaluating site remediation status; and counseling regarding brownfield redevelopment, remediation reimbursement, and available brownfield grant and loan options.

Represent a pool parts manufacturer concerning the environmental aspects of numerous transactional matters throughout the United States and abroad. These matters have included acquisitions of pool and spa equipment manufacturers, a circulation systems manufacturer and automatic pool chemical distribution software company, the divestiture of a former manufacturing plant in California, and the leasing of a new corporate headquarters. The representation also has included counseling with respect to remediation and redevelopment of legacy manufacturing facilities in New Jersey.

Represent a commercial rail transport company in environmental matters associated with the redevelopment of environmentally impacted property located in northern New Jersey, for critical commercial rail transportation purposes. Our representation includes overseeing and resolving legal issues related to the remediation of the property in advance of redevelopment and counseling concerning site remediation cost allocation matters.

Obtained a favorable settlement of an alleged liability of our foundry client at a multiparty Superfund site.

Advising a publicly traded international metals mining company in connection with the remediation and redevelopment of a large former copper smelting facility. Our work includes handling the defense and settlement of a threatened Resource Conservation and Recovery Act claim and the defense of a class action toxic tort lawsuit; assisting the client in addressing regulatory requirements for the on-site and off-site investigation and remediation of legacy contamination issues, including in residential areas in the surrounding community and in certain tidal wetlands and surface water bodies; and addressing regulatory issues arising from the divestiture and redevelopment of the property.

Represent a leading real estate development company with respect to all environmental matters arising from the acquisition and subsequent redevelopment of a 250-acre former chemical manufacturing site. Our work at this brownfield site, which now boasts five new state-of–the-art industrial logistics buildings, has included handling environmental due diligence review and negotiation of environmental terms of sale and site remediation compliance issues arising from the post-acquisition subdivision and redevelopment of this former industrial tract. We also have reviewed and drafted terms for new environmental insurance coverage and for the assignment of, or rights under, certain existing environmental insurance policies.

Represented Patriots Energy regarding a publicly financed, 42-mile high-pressure intrastate natural gas pipeline. We also serve as general counsel to Patriots Energy.

Assisted a Louisiana municipality in integrating its electric utility system and generation and transmission assets into the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) marketplace and assists the municipality with its ongoing participation in the MISO capacity, energy and ancillary services markets, and with its compliance with MISO market rules. We also represent the municipality’s interests in administrative litigation before FERC.

Represents a major Massachusetts transit authority concerning environmental compliance and land use matters. Significant examples have included (i) negotiating with environmental regulatory agencies regarding alleged violations, including resolutions via negotiated consent agreements; (ii) coordinating with real estate attorneys to represent the transit authority in a major air-rights/terra firma development project located in a highly desirable area of Boston; and (iii) representing the client in environmental matters alleged by abutters to client-owned properties throughout Massachusetts.

Advised a national trade association, electric cooperatives, and municipal utilities on the significance of, and their options in responding to, U.S. financial regulation of Qualified Financial Contracts.

Advise large customers on their power supply procurement, renewable energy certificate transactions, and construction and interconnection of on-site renewable energy.

Advise the Town of Greenwich, Connecticut on myriad environmental issues related to the historical use of town properties. We negotiated two Consent Decrees for the town related to sewer issues and are handling complex remediation issues at the town’s properties. These matters involve negotiations with regulators and communications with town residents.

Advising a developer in negotiating a construction contract for a combined cycle generating plant.

Advise a multinational infrastructure construction company on the investigation and remediation of soil and groundwater contamination at, and emanating from, a legacy site in New Jersey. The representation includes interfacing with a licensed site remediation professional, resolving issues associated with the investigation and remediation of substantial groundwater plume and vapor intrusion issues, negotiating off-site access agreements, and assisting the client with recoupment of site remediation costs under an existing settlement agreement with a major insurance carrier.

Counsel a wind developer for several projects on matters related to interconnection, long-term contracts, and federal and state regulatory compliance. We advise on regulations and tariff rules for connecting to transmission systems, advise and negotiate generator interconnection agreements and power purchase agreements, and counsel on wholesale power market rules that may impair project financing on favorable terms.

Counsels a real estate private equity company on environmental issues associated with nationwide acquisitions of properties.

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Environmental Counseling

Energy Strategic Counseling

Representative Matters