Air and Waste

Air Quality

Lloyd Gosselink air attorneys represent a variety of municipal clients as well as industrial clients ranging from large coal mines, coal-fired electric power plants and steel mills to small paint shops, rock crushers, and hot mix plants.  Our air attorneys work on a wide range of air quality issues before the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Our air attorneys:

• Represent clients in obtaining both state and federal air quality permits and exemptions from permit requirements.  Representation ranges from informal negotiations with agency staff to contested case proceedings. 
• Engage in ongoing compliance counseling for clients attempting to track and comply with complex state and federal air quality regulations.
• Represent clients in civil and administrative enforcement proceedings under both the state and federal Clean Air Acts.
• Assist clients by preparing and presenting comments on key guidance and rulemaking projects before EPA and TCEQ, including critical State Implementation Plan (SIP) projects and litigation. 

Solid Waste

Our solid waste attorneys provide permitting, enforcement defense, and compliance counseling services in the areas of municipal and industrial hazardous and non-hazardous solid waste management, disposal, and remediation.  We have represented clients ranging from small towns and individual landowners to large municipalities and multinational corporations on matters including:

• Obtaining permits, renewals, and amendments before all major environmental agencies in Texas, including the TCEQ and EPA.  We assist in the strategy, preparation and editing of permit applications, staff negotiations, and legal representation in contested case hearings before these agencies.
• Negotiating and litigating civil penalties and injunctive relief sought by the TCEQ, the Texas Attorney General’s Office, the EPA, and the U.S. Department of Justice, including resolution of technical issues relating to closure and/or remedial activities.
• Representing clients as individual defendants and common counsel in multiparty hazardous or industrial solid waste litigation in both federal and state courts under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (Superfund), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act.  We assist in preparing for judicial determinations of liability and/or negotiations among parties to develop settlement agreements.  In cases in which liability will be established and costs imposed, we work to ensure they are shared proportionately, and that technical portions of judgments are reasonable.
• Assisting with voluntary remediation projects associated with brownfields and historically contaminated industrial properties and petroleum storage tank sites across the State.  Our solid waste attorneys negotiate transactional documents with buyers and sellers to facilitate remediation projects designed to put contaminated property back to productive use.  To further protect our clients’ interests, our attorneys have played an active role in the development of the Texas Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP), the Innocent Owner/Operator Program (IOP) and the Texas Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) by filing comments on the proposed rules and participating in work groups responsible for drafting guidance documents implementing these programs.  

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