Prior to joining B&D, Tap served as a Trial Attorney in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s Environment & Natural Resources Division, where he handled matters arising under the major environmental pollution statutes. Tap led civil enforcement case teams in various Clean Air Act (CAA) matters involving natural gas processing, chemical manufacturing, and aftermarket auto parts. He negotiated and drafted consent decrees under the CAA and Clean Water Act (CWA), involving detailed injunctive relief packages, mitigation, and Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs), and led the enforcement of stormwater and industrial wastewater requirements under the CWA. Tap also secured substantial cost recoveries in matters arising under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) in a wide variety of contexts, including hard-rock mines, landfills, and lead-contaminated residential properties, and has handled cost recovery matters under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program (FUSRAP).

As a litigator, Tap strategizes and advises on litigation risks and prepares and evaluates settlement proposals. While at DOJ, he prepared numerous pleadings and motions filed in active litigation, conducted depositions, and oversaw expert discovery.

Prior to working at DOJ, Tap clerked for the Honorable Richard D. Bennett where he drafted opinions and bench memoranda on federal law issues, including those involving Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). During law school, he served in the University of Maryland’s Consumer Protection Clinic, the EPA Office of Criminal Enforcement, the EPA Office of Compliance, and the Major Investigations Unit at the State's Attorney's Office for Baltimore City.