Overview
Cox Castle’s environmental team is highly regarded for its ability to assist clients in achieving creative, business-oriented solutions to complicated environmental problems. With decades of experience handling all aspects of complex environmental matters, our attorneys assist clients with environmental issues arising in transactions, risk management, and regulatory strategies, as well as federal and state court litigation.
We represent property owners, purchasers, developers, asset managers, lenders, municipalities, and other governmental entities in connection with all phases of residential, commercial and industrial development, and redevelopment. Our clients include preeminent real estate developers as well as sophisticated finance, industrial, manufacturing, technology, and renewable energy companies.
We guide clients through intricate regulatory closure and compliance processes and advise them on providing required notifications regarding the presence of environmental contamination. Our broad environmental litigation experience includes cost recovery prosecution and defense, compelling the cleanup of environmentally impacted properties, administrative challenges to cleanup programs, criminal enforcement proceedings, insurance coverage litigation, and Proposition 65 actions.
Brownfield Redevelopment
We counsel clients on the purchase, financing, entitlement, development, and sale of environmentally impacted properties, from pre-acquisition due diligence, through complex regulatory requirements for cleanup and indoor air risks, to negotiating effective risk management mechanisms such as structured indemnities and releases, escrow holdbacks for addressing known and potential environmental liabilities, and tailored environmental insurance products.
Environmental Due Diligence
We provide practical advice in the assessment and management of environmental risks through due diligence counseling in connection with real estate and corporate transactions, including minimizing liability under the federal "All Appropriate Inquiry" regulations and under state laws such as the California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act. Our team also specializes in using environmental insurance to facilitate transactions.
Regulatory Compliance
We assist clients in assessing and ensuring compliance with environmental laws and regulations such as:
- CERCLA, RCRA, and their California equivalents (Chapters 6.5 and 6.8 of the Health & Safety Code)
- The California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act (CLRRA)
- The Clean Water Act, the California Water Code’s Discharger Regulations, and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs)
- Prospective Purchaser Agreements (PPAs) and Covenants Not to Sue
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Regulations
- Safer Consumer Product Alternatives (Green Chemistry Regulations)
- The Gatto and Polanco Acts
- Air Quality Regulations
- Proposition 65 and the Connelly Act
- Environmental Criminal Matters
Experience
Design and Construction Contract for Premier Golf Club Development
Represented golf club owner in connection with the development of a premier golf course, luxury clubhouse, high-end residences, and other amenities in California. Cox Castle prepared and negotiated the design and construction agreements with the architect, engineers, consultants, and general contractors.
Multi-Parcel Site Cleanup for Retail Development
Represented municipality involved in a public-private partnership with a grocery store developer in connection with the assemblage and cleanup of multiple parcels for the development of a grocery store and other retail. The project addresses a significant need in an economically disadvantaged “food desert” community. Cox Castle represented the client in both federal and state court litigation, and extensive regulatory agency practice, all of which were integrated with a technical and transactional strategy to ensure the project’s viability. Cox Castle advised on an innovative mix of tools, including funding via private capital, cost recovery litigation, and grant applications.
Federal Permitting for Multimillion-Dollar Solar Energy Projects
Representation of various solar energy companies in obtaining permits on federal land for large, multimillion-dollar solar projects in Nevada and California. Cox Castle is handling negotiations with the Bureau of Land Management, wildlife agencies, water agencies, environmental groups, and tribes. The firm is currently representing eight such projects in California and six projects in Nevada, with each permit taking approximately a year-and-a-half to three years to obtain.
Acquisition and Remediation for Master Planned Development Site
Representation of developer in the acquisition and environmental remediation of a nearly 1,000-acre property in California for the redevelopment of residential, industrial, and commercial uses as part of a master planned community. Cox Castle has worked on the site for nearly two decades, most recently assisting the client with the acquisition of notes secured by the property, negotiating a critical Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA) with the California Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and obtaining a heavily negotiated multimillion-dollar environmental insurance program. The site is critical to completing region-serving infrastructure projects and meeting the city’s housing production and jobs creation targets.
Integration of California Programs to Incentivize Affordable Housing Project
Representation of a developer in connection with a site impacted by potentially toxic vapors from an offsite, upgradient location. Cox Castle is advising the client regarding the integration of California’s programs to incentivize the redevelopment site. The proposed development includes an affordable and market-rate housing project co-located with a community center, day care facilities, and other public amenities. The development is important for its contribution to California’s need for affordable housing and is the first-ever combination of two forms of The California Land Reuse and Revitalization Act (CLRRA) immunity (so-called bona fide ground tenants and contiguous property owners), and a capital structure that will hopefully draw support from both funding streams available through California’s newly announced $500 million initiative targeting sites like this one.
Development of a Habitat Conservation Plan for California Condors
Representation of a group of wind power companies on issues related to the endangered California condor in Southern California. Cox Castle is assisting in the development of a habitat conservation plan (HCP) to establish conservation measures for condors to assure population stability in the event of collisions between condors and wind turbines over a 30-year period. The HCP will establish minimization measures to limit the potential for take and require the operators to fund the breeding and release of new condors into the wild over the term of the HCP.
Negotiated Terms of a Habitat Conservation Plan for Endangered Seabirds
Represented electric utility company in negotiations with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the relevant state over the terms of a habitat conservation plan (HCP) intended to reverse these population declines and prevent the extinction of a population of critically endangered seabirds. Proposed measures include alterations to the company’s operations and the establishment of avian preserves to assure safe breeding and fledging of seabirds and other species.
Advised on the Removal of Several Hydro-Electric Facilities
Represented a private, non-profit organization in connection with a plan for the removal of several hydro-electric facilities in California and Oregon. Cox Castle is assisting in restoration efforts and the establishment and operation of funds to compensate local landowners for risks associated with flooding, geotechnical stability, and groundwater wells.
Navigated Proposed Revisions to DOSH Standards
Represented telecommunications company with respect to its communications and potential liabilities based on the release of proposed revisions to the occupational lead standard by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH). Cox Castle advised the client on the impact of the standard on the company’s operations, drafted both written and oral comments on the proposed revisions, marshalled scientific support for the client’s position, and engaged with DOSH staff regarding necessary revisions to the standard.
Federal Permitting for Solar and Battery Storage Energy Project
Representation of renewable energy company in connection with a proposed development of a photovoltaic solar and battery energy storage project. The project presents complex issues related to water supply, impacts on listed species protected under the Endangered Species Act, potential fill of Waters of the United States protected under the Clean Water Act, and compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Policy and Management Act. Cox Castle advises the client on all aspects of federal permitting for the project.
