future-focused

Practices

Environmental justice is a growing priority at the federal and state level in permitting new and existing industrial facilities, as well as a federal enforcement priority. The Liskow Environmental Justice team applies their multidisciplinary expertise – in permitting, project development, regulatory, compliance, and litigation – to guide clients in effectively managing the complex dynamics of environmental justice issues and considerations. Our proven experience in the regulatory sector, combined with our keen monitoring of evolving environmental justice law and policy, positions us to provide strategic and proactive advice to clients navigating environmental justice issues.

OVERVIEW

Environmental Justice (EJ) considerations come into play from the moment an industrial project is conceived through the various stages of government approval, including the continued operation or expansion of a facility. EJ policies seek to ensure that environmental burdens do not fall disproportionately on EJ communities and that these communities have an opportunity for meaningful engagement in environmental and health-related decisions.

Our team knows that preparation is key and that proactive engagement with EJ communities can be vital to a project’s success. We have the regulatory and permitting experience to guide clients through the effective consideration of EJ at all stages of a project.

Primed for Environmental Justice

Liskow’s deep expertise on environmental issues – including Climate Change, Permitting and Defense of Challenges to Permits, Industrial Project Development, and Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Defense – blends seamlessly into our EJ services. We understand the factors at play, know how to identify emerging compliance and enforcement risks, and have mastered building a strong administrative record. Combining this experience with our knowledge of environmental justice primes us to provide strategic and pragmatic advice that helps our clients develop and maintain major projects and facilities in accordance with EJ policies and rules.

Liskow’s expertise in the field and our geographic location has given us insight into and experience with the EJ concerns in the Louisiana Industrial Corridor, an area that has been a focus at the national level for environmental justice concerns.

Managing Change

Evolving EJ policies, developing regulations, and changing government enforcement priorities are uncertainties in this field of law that our team monitors and understands. Environmental Justice has been a cornerstone in Biden administration policies and is on the road to codification under National Environmental Protection Act regulations. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice is currently implementing an EJ enforcement strategy. As EJ increases in importance to the regulated community, our multi-disciplinary team tracks these regulatory and enforcement developments. Our deep regulatory knowledge, strong agency relationships, and experience in counseling and representing clients in enforcement actions give us the tools necessary to negotiate this evolution and provide pointed solutions to both meet challenges and seize opportunities for engagement.

Notable Experience

  • We are counseling a client on the construction of a grain storage facility on the Mississippi River. The project is strategically important and a major business opportunity, and significant environmental justice issues are in play. Multiple, complex, and interrelated issues make this a challenging project, and Liskow is acting as the project’s environmental counsel throughout.
  • We conducted environmental due diligence for a client considering a joint venture in the industrial corridor. As part of the due diligence, we identified that the area was in an EJ community and counseled the client with respect to those risk factors and their interplay with the venture.
  • We represented a client seeking to develop a large industrial facility along the Mississippi River. In surveying the target property, former plantation housing and a cemetery for formerly enslaved persons were discovered and we assisted with the appropriate preservation and treatment of these historically important areas.
  • We represented Shintech in the mid-1990s in its attempt to locate an industrial facility in St. James Parish. This was the case that brought EJ back to the forefront and showed how it interfaces with project development. Armed with the lessons learned from that experience, we assisted Shintech in its successful development, construction, and operation of additional facilities in other locations along the Mississippi River corridor.

We are known for these strengths

  • Evaluation and mitigation of Environmental Justice risks
  • Assessment of Environmental Justice considerations and engagement required for a permit
  • Development and implementation of Environmental Justice strategies to assist with securing defensible permits
  • Effectively negotiating with and effective working relationships with regulatory agencies
  • Effective and strategic defense of energy and environmental permits against administrative or judicial challenges
  • Effective and strategic defense of enforcement actions.

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