Environmental

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

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