Environmental Law

The Phillips Lytle Environmental Law Team utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to represent developers, lenders and municipalities in the redevelopment of brownfields. With assistance and guidance from our Corporate, Real Estate and Tax Teams, our Environmental lawyers help clients navigate the steps necessary to transform brownfield sites into new, profitable and sustainable development projects.

We take a team-focused approach to the unique and complex challenges posed by contaminated sediment sites. We strive to provide cost-effective management to our clients and the sites in question, developing and implementing risk management and cost-allocation strategies in an effort to minimize liability related to the sites.

Our Environmental Law Practice Team works in conjunction with attorneys from many other teams throughout the law firm, including litigation and real estate, to provide clients with the highest quality representation.

Phillips Lytle’s experience with environmental litigation includes the defense and prosecution of enforcement proceedings and cost recovery claims involving CERCLA, RCRA, New York Oil Spill Act, SEQRA, and land use and zoning-related approvals, denials and variances.

Our attorneys have vast trial experience in both state and federal court in addition to appearing before administrative panels and arbitration tribunals. They are experienced with jury and bench trials and have argued appeals before state and federal appellate courts. Our litigation experience extends to the defense of criminal proceedings involving both state and federal agencies.

Phillips Lytle assists manufacturers—both domestic and foreign—with navigating the rapidly changing criteria to obtain, or strategically benefit from, the IRA’s tax, loan and grant incentives. We work alongside our renewable energy clients to maximize their benefit by ensuring compliance with the IRA’s complex requirements, including heightened labor and production reporting standards. We also advise foreign manufacturers and suppliers on reshoring operations and compliance with IRA requirements for their and their customers’ benefit.

With experience managing complex and even controversial development projects, our Land Use, Permitting and Zoning attorneys have the know-how to navigate matters for a diverse set of clients. We have appeared before agencies from across New York State, in addition to multiple federal agencies on land use matters. Our clients range in size from large, Fortune 500 companies to local business owners, and our team-based approach ensures we provide the appropriate level of representation for each and every one.

Legal matters related to emerging contaminants can affect clients in a number of manners. Whether affecting a real estate transaction or a product liability claim, emerging contaminants can have a significant impact on clients from multiple industries and backgrounds. Our attorneys have extensive experience working with contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), 1,4 dioxane, along with many others that have garnered increased attention in recent years.

With notable environmental regulations in place at the local, state and federal levels, clients require an attorney with extensive knowledge of navigating regulations and ensuring compliance for a business or interest. Our attorneys aid in implementing environmental compliance initiatives ranging from facility-specific environmental programs to company-wide environmental management systems.

We work diligently to provide timely, cost-effective solutions, including the identification of all requirements, alternative approaches for compliance, internal environmental audits, the defense of criminal and civil enforcement proceedings, facility permitting and siting, and the handling of any administrative proceedings and appeals processes to further a client’s goals.

The Environmental attorneys at Phillips Lytle offer clients guidance throughout the environmental quality review process at both the state and national level. This encompasses NEPA and SEQRA, as our attorneys have experience representing clients whose projects are often substantial in size and profile.

At Phillips Lytle, we use an interdisciplinary approach to represent banking and financial services clients with respect to a full range of environmental issues that arise in connection with the origination, administration, restructuring, workout and foreclosing of loans and financial transactions.