Environmental Law & Natural Resources

Beginning in 1970, businesses, industries and public agencies in California and across America became legally obligated to take a closer look at the impact of their activities on the ecosystem.  That year, the Environmental Protection Agency was created and far-reaching environmental statutes were passed, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Best Best & Krieger is a nationally recognized leader in issues related to natural resources and environmental law.  We routinely assist our clients large and small in successfully navigating the complexities of environmental law, guiding them through due diligence and environmental impact evaluation processes.

Today, BB&K is known regionally and nationally for its involvement in environmental issues from water law and air quality to endangered species and hazardous waste.  Our practice group and individual attorneys have achieved notable results.

For instance, two of our partners, Arthur L. Littleworth and Eric L. Garner, wrote California Water, a book widely viewed as the definitive text on the complicated subject of water law.  As Special Master to the U.S. Supreme Court, Mr. Littleworth served as a judge in an interstate water rights dispute between Kansas and Colorado.  This kind of expertise has made BB&K the counsel of choice for public agencies that collectively provide water to more than two-thirds of California’s population.

But our expertise extends well beyond water issues.  BB&K is also at the forefront of client representation for the California and Federal Endangered Species Acts (ESA).  To this end, BB&K successfully argued an ESA case before the U.S. Supreme Court (Bennett v. Spear), in which resource users were granted standing to sue the government for misconduct under the Federal ESA.  Additionally, BB&K served as special counsel to the County of Riverside on the Western Riverside County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan.  This Plan provides “take” coverage for 146 species over an area exceeding one million acres.  BB&K attorneys are also in the process of writing a book on California mining law.

In these instances, as in many others, BB&K takes the lead in representing our clients’ interests across a variety of disciplines.

For additional information, please contact Steven Anderson, Environmental Law & Natural Resources Practice Group Leader.

SUB-PRACTICE AREAS

• Air Quality
• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
• Endangered Species
• Equine Law Practice
• Hazardous Waste
• Local CEQA Guidelines
• Mining Law
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Proposition 65 and Chemical Compliance
• Utility Law
• Water Quality and Wastewater
• Water Rights
• Wetlands Regulation