Environmental and Regulatory Practice Group



Members of Gilbert Harrell’s Environmental and Regulatory Practice Group have a broad range of expertise and unique experience in environmental permitting, regulatory compliance matters, environmental review, enforcement actions, litigation and transaction-related needs. Our group has been involved with complex regulatory issues and regularly works with local, state and federal agencies to resolve issues that impact our clients.
Gilbert Harrell lawyers have represented clients on environmental matters arising under an array of federal laws and their state equivalents, including, among others, the federal Clean Air Act, Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Water Act, Georgia Hazardous Sites Response Act, Georgia Brownfield Act and the Georgia Voluntary Remediation Program. Gilbert Harrell lawyers also have unique experience with the laws and regulations governing water rights and environmentally contaminated land.
With wide-ranging experience, Gilbert Harrell’s lawyers regularly participate in the negotiation, development and implementation of remedies and corrective action for major commercial and industrial sites. Partners within the firm’s Environmental and Regulatory Practice group have handled a number of issues of first impression in Georgia including those encountered in permitting old rock quarries as raw water storage facilities, ownership of disputed marshlands, and transitioning former RCRA facilities into productive reuse and redevelopment.
Partners in our group have served in the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the Governor’s Office. As former regulators, our attorneys provide valuable perspective on the efficient and practical resolution of complex matters. Our strategic approach to each matter is calculated with the client’s goals in mind.
Our Environmental and Regulatory Practice offers a full range of services and strategies to help guide clients toward solutions.
Types of Matters
before GA Environmental Protection Division; GA Department of Natural Resources (Coastal Resources Division); U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and U.S. Corps of Engineers
Navigation and negotiation of sites in RCRA, CERCLA, Brownfields, Hazardous Sites Response Act and Voluntary Remediation processes.
Lobbying before Georgia General Assembly regarding environmental matters and relevant Georgia Administrative Agencies
Matters involving the Georgia Coastal Marshlands Protection Act and Shoreline Protection Act, including permitting and disputes over ownership and development rights related to tidal marshlands and shoreline properties
Georgia’s State Water Plan; Habitat Conservation Planning under the federal Endangered Species Act; Georgia’s Flint River Drought Protection Act and Agricultural Water Use Permitting; and the Georgia Water Stewardship Act with related drought and conservation regulations