Almost every business confronts environmental issues. Whether it’s a big box store or a small retail operation, each has waste handling, regulatory, and compliance issues. Today more and more emphasis is placed on operating in a more sustainable manner. These issues require knowledgeable, experienced, and insightful advice and counsel. Schnader’s Environmental, Energy, and Sustainability Practice Group is a multidisciplinary team that brings together lawyers from the Litigation Services and Business Services Departments to provide innovative solutions for today’s complicated regulatory landscape.
Our attorneys provide advice to clients active in the energy sector. We have handled matters for independent power producers, transporters, and distributers. We have experience in oil, gas, coal, electricity, biomass, and renewables. Our services include counseling an array of service providers that support the energy sector, including manufacturers and financial institutions.
The attorneys in our Environmental, Energy, and Sustainability Practice Group include those who concentrate their practice in environmental, energy, real estate, land use planning, financing and business counseling, as well as creditors’ rights and criminal defense. The Firm has two LEED accredited attorneys as well as attorneys who have held positions with the Environmental Protection Agency and have served on various local regulatory boards.
Drawing from all six of Schnader’s offices, we serve clients engaged in a large variety of industries including the solid, medical, scrap and hazardous waste industries, recycling, battery recycling, beneficial reuse, dredging, and renewable energy. Our attorneys also work closely with the financial institutions, engineering firms, and related service providers who serve these businesses. We partner with our clients to find solutions that are economical, practical, and make sound environmental sense.
Regulatory and Compliance
Schnader attorneys have experience advising clients on a wide variety of issues relating to environmental matters, including toxic tort, underground storage tanks, ground water contamination, air emission, and mine subsidence claims. Schnader also has substantial experience in CERCLA and RCRA actions, HSCA actions, and claims for natural resource damages.
We also help clients who are seeking to employ more sustainable practices as a part of their operations. The attorneys at Schnader have been involved in siting environmental service facilities, the development and redevelopment of brownfield sites and manufacturing facilities, obtaining approvals and permits from the regulatory agencies for beneficial reuse of material, green building, and other sustainability initiatives. Schnader’s attorneys seek to develop creative, cost-effective, and practical solutions for our clients seeking to embrace a cleaner, greener approach to the world.
Land Use and Development
We assist client’s siting, developing, constructing, and financing residential, commercial, and industrial projects. Our attorneys provide assistance with environmental impact review obligations as well as site plan review, wetlands regulations, and archaeological and historic resource compliance. Our attorneys have successfully represented clients in state and federal administrative forums on all phases of project development.
For transaction matters, we assist in conducting due diligence for clients related to environmental compliance, health and safety matters, Phase I, and other types of assessments. Our attorneys regularly represent businesses in heavily regulated industries.
Risk Management and Litigation
Schnader attorneys assist clients in identifying and managing environmental risk. Risks are inherent in any site development or when acquiring industrial or commercial properties, and we assist to minimize these risks. Properties with historical environmental impacts can especially be a challenge. We assist clients with compliance audits and regulatory reporting reviews. We have experience with remediation and monitoring programs, real property access issues, private-public partnerships, and brownfield development.
Schnader represents clients in civil, administrative, and criminal environmental cases, including enforcement actions brought by the regulators, citizen-action groups, or private parties. Our attorneys have been involved in toxic tort actions, asbestos litigation, and litigation regarding spills and releases of hazardous materials.
Our team’s experience includes:
- Permitting, compliance, and regulatory matters relating to siting, constructing and operating storage, processing, recycling, treatment and disposal facilities;
- Acquisitions, and sales of storage, treatment, processing, recycling, reuse, and disposal facilities;
- Privatizations of services and infrastructure, assistance in the public procurement process, responding to requests for proposals, including review of and comment on proposed contract documents;
- Drafting and negotiation of project development documents including sale/leases, operating agreements, supply side arrangements, transportation, treatment, processing, and disposal agreements;
- Representing developers, financial institutions, and private investors in environmental services investments and lending transactions;
- Advising retail operations in the proper handling, storage, and disposal of hazardous materials
- Advising entities on green initiatives and recycling matters, including energy credits, emissions credits, and greenhouse gas matters; and
- Drafting and negotiation of host benefit agreements/community impact agreements and land valuation guarantees.
Schnader serves a cross section of municipal, commercial, industrial, and service corporations throughout the United States with all aspects of waste management and environmental sustainability. From regulatory and legislative challenges, at the local, state, and federal level, to navigating both the routine and unexpected challenges of day-to-day business, Schnader draws on talent from across the Firm’s practice groups to find solutions to today’s business challenges.
Representative Matters
- Representation of hazardous, solid, and medical waste processing, storage, treatment, and disposal facilities.
- Representation of owners/operators of waste to energy facilities.
- Representation of recycling facilities, scrap processing, and construction and demolition processing facilities.
- Representation of owners and developers in methane recovery projects, solar farms, and alternate energy projects.
- Representation of beneficial reuse management companies and projects, including permitting byproducts as beneficial use materials.
- Representation of environmental services providers in permitting administrative appeals and compliance matters.
- Representation of financial institutions in providing credit for environmental services businesses.
- Serving as special counsel to a state government and a state solid waste authority for a demonstration facility for the recovery of usable materials from municipal solid waste and sewage sludge.
- Serving as jurisdiction counsel in connection with the design and construction of sewer and water treatment facilities improvements and represented developers in sewer tie-ins.
- Representing organizations in long-term closure and post closure obligations; negotiating redevelopment agreements and access agreements for environmentally impacted sites.
- Serving as counsel to a major city’s industrial development commission in public works projects.
- Counseling retail establishments on sustainability best practices for regulated substances.
Our Attorneys
Related Practices
News & Publications
- Chambers USA Ranks Schnader Nationally, Five Attorneys Recognized
- Ira Richards Elected to Schnader’s Executive Committee; Megan Harmon Re-Elected
- Updated Standards for Phase I Environmental Assessment
- Schnader receives rankings in the 2023 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms”
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America
- Chambers USA Ranks Schnader as a Top Firm
- Schnader a Tier One Firm in “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- EEOC Clarifies Religious Exemptions to Covid-19 Vaccine Mandates
- Karen Baillie, Jonathan Skowron and Keith Whitson Certified as “Ally-Ready” by Pittsburgh Legal Diversity & Inclusion Coalition
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America
- New Program to Add Fees to Meet the Costs of Managing Storm Water
- New Local Rule Allows Disclosure of Litigation Funding in NJ’s Federal Courts
- Supreme Court Protects First Amendment Rights for Students’ Off-Campus Speech
- Keith Whitson Interviewed on KDKA-TV about Allegheny County Bar Foundation
- Keith Whitson to be Named President of the Allegheny County Bar Foundation
- Paul Titus Receives Eric W. Springer Professionalism Award of Hay-Sell Pittsburgh American Inn of Court
- Allegheny County Bar Foundation’s Endowment Campaign – Join the path of a leader
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA
- Environmental, health and safety due diligence when buying or selling a business: Beyond a Phase I
- Pa. High Court Points Way To Valid Employer No-Poach Deals
- Pa. High Court Rejects ‘Continuous Representation Rule’ for Legal Malpractice Actions
- Schnader a Tier One Firm in 2021 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- New Jersey Executive Order Sets Health and Safety Standards for Employers
- Schnader Sponsors the Virtual Fall Event of CeaseFirePA
- Philly Has Two Weeks Left for the Census and Crucial Federal Funding It Provides
- Schnader Files Class Action Lawsuit to Address Systemic Mental Health Care Failures at Allegheny County Jail
- Law That Saves Lives
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America
- Third Circuit Expands First Amendment Speech Protection for Students’ Off-Campus Speech
- DOJ and FTC Allow Collaborative Action Between Competitors In the Age of COVID-19
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA
- The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act – Financial Relief for Businesses
- Product Liability and Tort Law Implications of the COVID-19 Crisis
- COVID-19: SEC Guidance Regarding Annual Shareholder Meetings
- COVID-19: Governor’s Order about Annual Shareholder Meetings in New York
- COVID-19 and New Disclosure Considerations for Public Companies
- Sea Change in Class Action Settlement Process: A Year Under Revised Rule 23(e)
- U.S. Supreme Court Affirms Third Circuit’s En Banc Ruling Regarding FDCPA’s Statute of Limitations
- Schnader a Tier One Firm in 2020 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- State Supreme Court to Hear No-Poach Employment Case, First in Pennsylvania
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America 2020
- Schnader Leads the Implementation of Model Career Advocate Programs for the Pittsburgh Legal Diversity & Inclusion Coalition
- Megan Harmon Marks 30 Years of Giving Scholarships to Students at Woodland Hills High School
- Robert Collings Authored Three Chapters in The Solicitor’s Handbook
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA
- Robert Collings Named to Law360’s Environmental Editorial Advisory Board for 2019
- No-poach employment provisions – are they still acceptable?
- Do We Have a Deal? A Groundbreaking Court Decision May Impact MAE Issues
- Paul Titus Receives the Judge Justin Johnson Award from Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts
- Alice Sacks Johnston Selected as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America
- Steves and Sons vs. Jeld-Wen: The First Private Antitrust Divestiture Suit
- 2018 Harrison Awards for Pro Bono and Community Service
- U.S. Supreme Court Signals Less Scrutiny for Businesses in Two-sided Markets
- Schnader a Tier One Firm in 2019 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- Schnader Attorneys Named to The Best Lawyers in America 2019
- Third Circuit Sets Precedent on FDCPA Statute of Limitations
- Are ‘Small’ Policy Adjustments a Way to Make Bigger Environmental Law Changes Later?
- Carl Schaerf and Tracy Weinstein Publish “New Strategies for Winning Dismissal of a Failure to Warn Claim”
- Alice Sacks Johnston Featured in Tribune-Review for Local Girl Scout Project
- Paul Titus Featured in The Journal of the American College of Trial Lawyers
- Schnader Advises Valley Pool Sales Regarding Acquisition by Large National Pool Retailer
- Schnader Harrison Helps Train Youth Court Judges
- Carl Schaerf Analyze Challenges for the Government Contractor’s Defense under the New Presidential Administration
- Paul Titus Receives Drum Major for Justice Award from Allegheny County Bar Association
- Schnader Advises Waste Management Regarding Acquisition of Saratoga Landfill
- Schnader a Tier One Firm in 2018 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- 2017 Harrison Awards for Pro Bono and Community Service
- Collings Quoted in “Judicial Watch FOIA Suits Spotlights EPA Resistance to Trump”
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA – Ten Schnader Partners Also Recognized
- Schnader a Tier One Firm in 2017 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- Robert Collings Quoted in Inside Climate News
- Inside Climate News Quotes Robert Collings on Exxon Climate Probe
- Collings Quoted in “Virgin Islands and Exxon Agree to Uneasy Truce Over Climate Probe”
- Harmon Quoted in “ETE-Williams Merger Flop A Blueprint For Energy Deal Exits”
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA – Eight Schnader Partners Also Recognized
- Partner Robert Collings Tapped for Law360’s 2016 Environmental Editorial Advisory Board
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA – Seven Schnader Partners Also Recognized
- Schnader Recognized as Tier One Law Firm in 2016 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA – Seven Schnader Partners Also Recognized
- Is Your Landfill or Other Wasting Asset Fairly Assessed?
- Thirty-One Schnader Attorneys Selected for The Best Lawyers in America 2015
- Supreme Court Holds That CERCLA Preemption Is Inapplicable to Statutes of Repose
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA – Seven Schnader Partners Also Recognized
- Partners Megan Harmon and Ken Puhala Named to Schnader’s Executive Committee
- Kevin Blanton and Ron Cusano Earn LEED Accreditation
- Third Circuit Remands Marcellus Shale Case Based on the Class Action Fairness Act’s Local Controversy Exception
- Schnader Recognized as a Tier One Law Firm in the 2014 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- Schnader Attorneys Achieve Victory for Electrical Transmission Company
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2013
- Thirty-One Schnader Attorneys Selected for The Best Lawyers in America 2014
- Schnader Assists Waste Management in the Acquisition of Two North Dakota Energy Services Companies
- Change The Public Conversation On ‘Unwanted’ Infrastructure
- Eligibility for Reimbursement from the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund Cannot Be Determined on a Per Tank Basis
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reaffirms Dunham Rule, Confirms that Marcellus Shale Natural Gas is not a “Mineral”
- Bankruptcy Loses Arguments for Special Relief Under Prepetition Agreements for Environmental Liability
- Schnader’s Bob Collings Included in Who’s Who in Energy 2012
- Electronics Recyclers Will Have To Do More and No Doubt Spend More To Obtain Certification Under R2 Solutions’ R2:2013 Standard
- Schnader Recognized as a Tier One Law Firm in the 2013 “Best Law Firms” Rankings
- So What’s So Bad About Green Washing?
- “The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Rejects U.S. EPA’s Functional Interrelatedness Test for Air Aggregation”
- Super Lawyers Recognizes Many Schnader Attorneys in 2012
- Megan Harmon Selected as One of the “2012 Most Powerful and Influential Women of Pennsylvania”
- “Green Building: Limitations Clock Starts at First Sign of Trouble”
- “Department of Labor Targets Oil and Gas Industry on Wage and Hour Violations”
- Schnader Assists Clean Earth, Inc. with its Soil Recycling and Disposal Services Expansion in Southeastern Region of the United States
- Thirty-Three Schnader Attorneys Selected for The Best Lawyers in America 2013
- “PIOGA’s Comments and Recommendations Concerning Proposed GP-5”
- Schnader Honors Keith Whitson with Earl G. Harrison Pro Bono Award
- “Other Voices: Tips for Closing Your M&A Deal”
- Paul Titus Honored as an Alumni of the Year by St. Bonaventure University
- Schnader Recognized as a Top Firm by Chambers USA – Eight Schnader Partners Also Recognized
- Schnader’s Ron Cusano Attends Event to Benefit the Vincentian Charitable Foundation
- “Continuing Litigation Over Source Determinations in the Oil and Gas Industry Can Be Anticipated”
- Marilyn Kutler Recognized with a 2011 Philadelphia Business Journal Women of Distinction Award
- EPA Proposes New, Broad Ranging Air Regulations Applicable to the Oil and Gas Source Category
- Superior Court Interprets Oil and Gas Lease in Favor of Landowners
- “Plaintiffs Can Proceed With the Next Steps in the Litigation of Their Toxic Tort and Related Claims Against Gas Well Operators”
- Schnader Welcomes Sarah Hewitt to the Firm
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- Megan Harmon and Elliot Dater Serve as Coaches and Moderators at Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference
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- Alice Sacks Johnston Presented at ABA Conference on “The Future of Automotive Asbestos Litigation”
- Alice Sacks Johnston Gave “Product Liability Update” at CLE Program
- Sarah Hewitt, Richard Barkasy, and Megan Harmon Presented “Delaware – The Land of A Million of Corporations”
- Jeanne Barnum Presented on Construction Fraud
- Robert Collings Presented on Inventory Rule
- Megan Harmon Attended TAGLaw Conference
- Megan Harmon Served as Panelist for Pittsburgh Diversity Council’s Leadership Conference
- Megan Harmon and Elliot Dater Presented “Sales of Goods Contracts – Avoiding Common Mistakes”
- Enforcement Actions by Environmental Agencies Webinar
- How Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Issues Can Change Our Auditing Practices
- Megan Harmon Presented at 2013 Federation of New York Solid Waste & Recycling Conference
- Schnader’s Ron Cusano Presented “Air Quality Update” at PBI’s Environmental Law Forum 2013
- Schnader Attorneys Served as Judges for the National Transactional LawMeet at Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University
- Schnader Attorneys Presented “Top 10 Air Quality Issues for the Oil and Gas Industry in 2013” at PIOGA’s Winter Meeting
- LEED Litigation and Construction Concerns at the New Jersey State Bar Association Renewable Energy Cleantech & Climate Change Meeting – When Clean Energy Meets the Court Room
- Schnader Hosts Green Building Alliance Strategic Plan Announcement
- Schnader Hosts Asian American Bar Association Education Committee’s Presentation on Clean Energy in China