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Environment, Energy & Resources
Navigating complexity, delivering clarity in environmental law.
Experienced in permitting large projects, advising on challenging contaminated sites and litigating sophisticated matters, and valued for high-performance and standard-setting regulatory compliance and auditing programs, Perkins Coie’s 90 Environment, Energy & Resources lawyers navigate clients across the complicated statutory and regulatory framework of environmental, energy, and natural resource law in the United States.
Our team’s excellence led to being named Environment Law Firm of the Year by Chambers USA in 2023. We advise, litigate, and help shape environmental policy at the federal, state, and local levels. Our lawyers have the experience, depth, and breadth to address any environmental or natural resource issue for our clients, whose work spans a range of industries.
How we help clients
- Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
- Remediation and Development of Contaminated Properties
- Project Permitting and Development
- Environmental Litigation
- Policy, Legislation, and Rulemaking
Environment, Energy & Resources Services
Our Team
Perkins Coie's environmental lawyers provide comprehensive legal services, supporting clients across various sectors with proactive and reactive environmental needs.
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
Perkins Coie’s environmental lawyers set the standard for realistic, cost-effective performance. We provide comprehensive counsel in areas such as:
- Water Quality
- Air Emissions
- Hazardous Materials in Products
- Chemical and Hazardous Substances
- Hazardous Waste
- Climate Change
- Occupational Health and Safety
- Compliance Counseling and Auditing
- Investigations
- Environmental Permits
Remediation and Development of Contaminated Properties
We represent clients across the country on some of the most challenging contaminated sites. From voluntary cleanups to compliance with remedial action orders, our experience in problem-solving, assessing environmental risk, and negotiating with agencies of all scopes. Our work includes matters such as:
- CERCLA and RCRA Compliance
- Environmental Litigation
- Remediation Counseling
- Brownfield Development
- Due Diligence
- Transactional Support
- Corrective Actions
- Voluntary Cleanup
- Spill and Release Reporting
- Military Base Reuse
Project Permitting and Development
Perkins Coie lawyers assist clients in obtaining all manner of environmental and land use permits, as well as helping both public and private sector clients with permitting and environmental review for major infrastructure projects.
Our team is experienced in virtually every sector, including solar and wind projects, transmission lines, mining projects, highway and transit projects, port developments, and water storage and supply projects. We offer a thorough understanding of environmental reviews and permitting requirements, including:
- Environmental Impact Assessments under NEPA and similar state statutes
- Endangered Species Act Consultations
- Cultural Resources and Historic Properties
- Clean Air Act
- Clean Water Act
- Native American Law and Policy
- Federal and Tribal Lands
- Land Use Development Entitlements and Permitting
- Military Base Redevelopments
- CEQA and state environmental review and permitting laws
Environmental Litigation
We are known for successfully litigating some of the most significant environmental and natural resource cases in the nation. Our environmental litigation lawyers regularly appear before federal and state trial courts, appellate courts, and administrative tribunals on a range of matters, from challenges and administrative approvals to complex, multiparty cleanup cases. Our litigation experience includes:
- Superfund and Rrelated Litigation
- Defense of Criminal, Civil, and Administrative Enforcement
- Natural Resource Damages
- Project Development Approval and Permitting Litigation
- Citizen Suit Defense
- Toxic Tort, Nuisance, and Property Damage Claims
- Administrative and Judicial Appeals
- Cost Recovery for Insurance Policy Holders
- Native American Law and Policy
Policy, Legislation, and Rulemaking
Our clients are actively involved in environmental and natural resources legislation and rulemaking, and they look to our lawyers for support. We work with them to develop and advocate for or against legislative proposals and continually monitor relevant legislative developments.
In the regulatory arena, we are often called upon to assist clients with submitting comments on proposed regulations and assessing potential impacts. Our lawyers frequently appear before federal agencies—including the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency, among others—on policy issues affecting the businesses and projects of our clients.
Energy & Natural Resources
Cleantech
We are the trusted advisors to our clients in Clean Technology, helping navigate the path from startup formation, founders issues, and raising capital. Our team of experts in Intellectual Property is dedicated to enabling Clean Technology clients to patent and safeguard their innovations.
Energy
We help clients structure and negotiate transactions, navigate the complex regulatory and permitting frameworks governing the industry, and litigate issues involving the energy sector. To help our energy clients achieve their goals, we draw upon the firm’s full-service business capabilities.
Mining
The need to preserve our land, air, and water, protect wildlife, manage hazardous materials, and ensure mine safety and health, as well as the growing focus on environmental, sustainability, and governance issues, have created a wide range of processes and protocols that demand the attention of businesses.
Oil & Gas
Our heritage includes decades of expertise in addressing the legal intricacies of the full energy continuum—from exploration to delivery. Our comprehensive experience in the field encompasses services in various critical areas.
Awards and Recognition
- Named Environment Law Firm of the Year – Chambers, 2023
- Named Environment Law Firm of the Year – Best Lawyers, 2020
- Named Natural Resources Law Firm of the Year – Best Lawyers, 2021, 2019, and 2017