Siting and permitting projects have always been complex. More recently, environmental justice has become a key consideration in project siting, and an increasingly important factor in federal, state, and local permitting decisions. New environmental justice requirements are being developed and implemented at the federal and state levels on an incredibly fast pace.
Our clients want to be responsible environmental stewards of their local communities, and we work with them to ensure that they understand the current environmental justice landscape. Our attorneys assist clients in navigating environmental justice issues and how they intersect state and federal environmental permitting programs. We help develop community outreach programs, including external advisory committees, assess project impacts on environmental justice communities, and determine how to incorporate environmental justice considerations into site selection and expansion. We also aid clients in the evolving legislative and regulatory actions focused on environmental justice, and how to incorporate those concerns into environmental permitting programs. Finally, if environmental justice claims have been made, we help clients develop strategies for responding to and addressing the issues in coordination with the relevant agencies and local communities.
Our attorneys focus on the rapidly developing environmental justice landscape from a legal and a business perspective. We help clients identify evolving environmental justice expectations, standards, and requirements in order to proactively address potential concerns, and ensure that they are addressing environmental justice in their planning decisions. We understand that the approach to environmental justice issues varies given the situation, and we work with our clients to develop strategies tailored to the circumstances of each project.
We also recognize the increasing public and investor scrutiny in this area, and we help clients navigate new Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting requirements, and assess the accuracy and credibility of advertising and other environmentally focused public statements to ensure compliance with SEC and FTC reporting requirements.
