beyond the legal opinion
Our environmental and natural resources practice group has deep roots in the Pacific Northwest, grown by representing landowners, developers, businesses, local governments, and financial institutions for nearly 60 years. We understand the area’s unique environmental issues, and both the regulatory and business climates.
Our clients include landowners, farmers/ranchers, developers, cities and local governments, as well as financial institutions, industry associations, industrial manufacturers, irrigation districts, and water districts. We understand that our clients’ environmental matters are business issues that have many variables and the potential to require significant resources and time that they would otherwise devote to their core business. This understanding enables us to serve as a strategic partner working collaboratively with our clients to empower their decision-making and drive business solutions.
Ensuring our clients avoid issues and stay in compliance with applicable regulations and permit requirements are critical aspects of our practice. In collaboration with our clients, they meet their obligations to properly report as required to regulatory agencies, and remain in compliance with existing federal, state, and local laws and regulations that come into play. Working with our clients, we guide them to employ the best practices and strategies to cost effectively advise them regarding waste management and proper disposal, storage tank regulation and removal, response plans, worker safety, site cleanup/remediation, redevelopment of brownfields, performance audits of operating facilities, and insurance coverage.
Our Team
Our team includes professionals who have worked on both sides of the table. We know who to engage and what questions to ask to streamline the process and get things done.
Not only have we been, and continue to be, at the core of some of the region’s most high-profile environmental cases, we also serve on industry boards and committees, agency task forces, and legislative work groups. This affords our attorneys the opportunity to be at the forefront of efforts to develop environmental, water, and natural resources legislation that helps advance our clients’ interests. We also have had the benefit of participating in state and federal rulemaking processes to advocate for reasonable and practical regulations that also serve our clients’ best interests.
Our Environmental and Natural Resources Advisory and Consultation Legal Services include:
Environmental and Natural Resources Litigation
Regardless of the specific issue, we will first seek to resolve the matter without resorting to litigation. We assess the scope of the problem, manage established administrative agency relationships, and identify needed documentation, records, and technical experts to develop an administrative record in support of our clients’ desired outcome.
If litigation becomes necessary, our attorneys and paralegals bring years of experience in administrative hearings and in state and federal courts on environmental matters. Our environmental and natural resources litigation services include:
May 5, 2023
Jordan Ramis Shareholder Maureen Bayer and Maul Foster Alongi consultants Erik Naylor and Courtney Savoie presented: “PFAS: Regulatory and Technical Essentials” online April 26, 2023. This webinar focused on the current and developing regulatory and technical landscape of per- and…
March 17, 2023
In the March 2023 issue of Oregon Association of Nurseries’ Digger Magazine, Jordan Ramis Shareholder Steve Shropshire discusses Oregon water right transfers as the means for agricultural and other water users to acquire new water rights. Click here to read.
February 2, 2023
In a January 30, 2023, letter to President Biden, 25 governors requested the new definition of “Waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”) proposed in rulemaking by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) be delayed until the U.S. Supreme Court issues its ruling in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency.
September 20, 2022
The topic of climate change is putting pressure on companies to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner.
August 8, 2022
On June 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator signed a proposed rule to change the Clean Water Act’s section 401 certification process.
May 18, 2022
Section 401 of the Clean Water Act provides that a federal agency may not issue a permit or license to conduct any activity that could result in a discharge into waters of the United States unless a Section 401 water quality certification is issued, or unless certification is waived.
May 18, 2022
As the dust settles from last year’s passage of the $1.2 trillion federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, it is becoming clear that the sweeping legislation will bring much-needed green (as in dollars) to Oregon’s brownfields.
March 2, 2022
The Climate Protection Program (CPP), Oregon’s new regulatory program starting in 2022, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, achieve co-benefits from the reduction of other non-greenhouse gas air contaminants and improve the welfare of communities of color, tribal communities, communities experiencing lower incomes and rural communities. Attorney Marika E. Sitz explores the mechanics of the CPP and its potential impact on nurseries and other businesses in a recent article published by Digger Magazine.
March 1, 2022
The Superfund cleanup of Portland Harbor is still years from completion. With the project only in the remedial design phase, the full extent of the specific actions that will be required along the designated 10-mile stretch of the lower Willamette River remains to be seen.
November 26, 2019
By Elizabeth A. Rosso, Attorney This article was originally published in the November 22, 2019 edition of the Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon. Suppose you want to develop a parcel of land containing a wetland created by water running off…
July 27, 2021
In an article published in SHALE Oil & Gas Business Magazine on July 24, 2021, Shareholder Gregory Zerzan discusses congressional investigations and how oil and gas companies should prepare for these investigations. “As long as a congressional committee is duly authorized and…
June 25, 2021
In an article published in POWER Magazine on June 22, 2021, Shareholder Gregory Zerzan discusses the news surrounding the U.S. Department of the Interior, in conjunction with the Department of the Navy and the State of California, announcing plans in…
July 13, 2021
Under the rare circumstance where our client was ordered to enter into a separate NPDES permit and SWPPP to monitor and control stormwater from their entire facility, we were able to guide our client in successfully implementing a new sitewide SWPPP under a new NPDES permit.
July 13, 2021
The client sought advice on how to mitigate the potential environmental impacts of the VOC releases, minimize the risk of potential enforcement action by the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE), and position itself for future cost recovery actions against potentially both its tenant and the third-party vendor that caused the significant release of PCE.
July 13, 2021
As a result of the PPA, the City was able to complete the transaction while at the same time obtaining a release from liability and covenant not to sue from DEQ upon satisfactory completion of the cleanup work the City agreed to perform.
July 13, 2021
Our client operates a large highly regulated, closely monitored chemical manufacturing facility in St. Helens, Oregon. The facility manufactures urea and several gaseous products, including anhydrous ammonia.
July 13, 2021
As corporate environmental counsel, Jordan Ramis routinely gives advice on matters related to permit compliance, solid waste management, and tax credits.
July 2, 2021
Through use of a legal access program, Jordan Ramis provides members with up to 30 minutes per month to ask questions or, if necessary, employ the firm’s services for larger issues.
