Waste disposal and recycling pose complex business and legal issues that require technical, historical, and legal judgment and common sense.
Why B&D?
We possess a crucial understanding of waste operations from the ground up. Our involvement in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)—the principal federal statute governing waste disposal—since its passage in 1976 gives us a distinct advantage when advising companies and government entities on their waste and regulatory strategy.
Our firm-wide focus on environmental matters—air, water, toxic substances, hazardous materials, energy, and more—advances a holistic approach to overcoming hurdles in waste management.
We have been directly involved in virtually every hazardous waste rule-making in RCRA’s history, and have litigated the vast majority of challenges to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decisions. For example, we briefed and argued the seminal case limiting EPA’s authority to classify recycled materials as solid and potentially hazardous wastes.
Our team members include former in-house counsel to solid waste companies and government regulators, giving us an important “inside-out” point of reference.
We have advised companies in numerous industries, as well as entities at all levels of government, on waste issues in all 50 states and on every continent.
Our extensive air practice is an indispensable asset for municipal waste combustion and landfill gas production facilities.
Our experience in power generation gives us intimate familiarity with its specific environmental issues, including those arising in energy sale negotiations and co-location agreements.
Our sophisticated hazardous waste practice enhances our advice on the nuances of federal and state waste regulations as they affect facility operations.
A key to our success is knowing not simply our clients’ business goals, but also that our counsel and actions must serve those goals at all times. This awareness has sometimes led us to advise against bringing valid legal claims when doing so might jeopardize a client’s long-term relationships with the relevant government entity and the communities in which their waste operations reside.
Clients
We represent virtually all public and private participants in the solid waste industry, whether they generate waste or manage it. They include entities at all levels of government, national solid waste trade associations, and owners and operators of:
- Landfills
- Recycling facilities
- Sludge management facilities
- Transfer stations
- Waste energy facilities
While our clients come from a variety of industries, they most frequently are in:
- Chemicals
- Electronics
- Manufacturing
- Metals
- Mining
- Petroleum
- Pharmaceuticals
- Retail
- Transportation
- Waste treatment/recycling
Focus Areas
We advise in matters involving solid waste facilities, transportation, treatment, storage and disposal, reuse, recycling, and resource recovery arising under federal, state, local, and non-U.S. regulations. Our core services include:
- Compliance counseling, implementation, and training
- Defense of enforcement actions
- Environmental impact reviews
- Facilities siting, permitting, public bidding, construction, operation, auditing, and closure/post-closure management
- Government advocacy
- Litigation
- Materials handling
- Medical and infectious waste
- Negotiation of host community agreements
- Preparation and submission of requests for proposal and requests for qualifications
- Product recalls
- RCRA issues
- Take-back issues
