Patrick J. Larkin

Experience

Enforcement Defense

• Defended favorable settlement of EPA/DOJ fuel additive judicial enforcement case.
• Coordinated defense of Texas air and toxic release reporting, enforcement action with multi-state compliance audits to secure penalty immunity for potentially related violations at sister facilities.
• Hazardous waste generator compliance counseling and defense of government claims against pharmacy, medical services, and laboratory service providers.
• Defended multiple EPA stormwater permitting enforcement cases (conservation and MSGP).
• Defense of state criminal environmental charges against manufacturing facilities and managers arising from surface water spill events.
• Defended Texas POTW in civil judicial case by the US Department of Justice and US EPA.
• Represented Fortune 50 aviation company in US EPA industry-wide enforcement initiative, resulting in an administrative settlement and nominal penalty.
• Led internal investagation of fuel-related Clean Air Act violations by national transportation company; negotiated multi-State compliance audit and penalty immunity, including settlement with Cal-EPA and US DOJ.
• Emergency release event investigations and defense of EPA and OSHA administrative penalty actions under Risk Management Plan/Process Safety Management programs.

Counseling, Remediation, and Transactional

• Represented furniture and office equipment manufacturer in environmental diligence for portfolio of industrial facilities, including merger agreement negotiations, pre-purchase compliance audits, post-Closing penalty immunity disclosures, and negotiation of permits and operational corrections.
• Permit counseling and contested cases challenge to agency BACT determination for glass furnace combustion emissions.
• Permit counseling for power plant cooling water lagoons.
• Compliance counseling and defense of government claims related to retail, distribution, and food manufacturing refrigeration systems.
• Compliance counseling and defense of government claims alleging violations of chemical inventory and release reporting requirements. (e.g., backup power systems, refrigerants)
• Designed retail-returns/hazardous waste disposal program for national waste disposal company.
• Designed and executed environmental diligence for portfolio of industrial facilities, including pre-purchase compliance audits, post-Closing penalty immunity disclosures, and negotiation of permits and operational corrections.
• Directed pre-purchase vapor intrusion risk analysis and post-closing mitigation for portfolio of industrial facilities.
• Obtained city ordinance institutional controls, ie., Municipal Setting Designations (MSDs), for solvent and petroleum-contaminated facilities, including participation agreements and trespass settlements with adjacent properties.
• Represented industry stakeholder groups in negotiation and comment on agency-proposed regulations and policies.
• Designed and executed audits of environmental management systems (EMS) for chemical and plastics manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Mexico and Europe.
• Obtained expedited issuance of various media permits for purchaser of steel foundry.
• Release event/process upset reporting and permit compliance counseling.

Real Estate Development and Construction

• Extensive experience in waste system and water supply permitting necessary for development and operation of resorts, hospitality, restaurant, country clubs and amusement park facilities.
• Environmental diligence, risk assessment, and indemnity negotiations for acquisitions of real property portfolios for national REIT, consisting of several to hundreds of free-standing retail properties (restaurants, ‘dollar’ stores, ‘C-stores’).
• Remediation and retail redevelopment of industrial “Brownfields” sites.
• Designed and supervised environmental due diligence for acquisition of portfolios of auto-body repair facilities.
• Counsels on Wetlands permitting and mitigation requirements, Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determinations.
• Stormwater permitting and defense of construction-related stormwater permit enforcement cases, including EPA National Initiative cases.

• Co-Author, “PFAS Ubiquitous And Persistent Chemicals: Assessing Liability And Allocating Risk; Applying Lessons Learning In Industry-Wide Litigation” Texas Environmental Law Journal (November 2019)
• Co-author, Institutional Controls, TCEQ Regulatory Guidance under Texas Risk Reduction Program, RG-366/TRRP (April 2002)

• The Starting Line: A Preview of the Biden EPA’s Priorities, Challenges and Initiatives
• Railroad Operations & Environmental Issues: How to Remain in Compliance and Manage the Problem When Things Go Very Wrong, American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association General Counsel Symposium (December 2013)
• Oil and Gas E&P Envtl. Issues to Track in 2013: Air, Waste, Data and Due Diligence, Gulf Coast Environmental Affairs Group (January 2013)
• Clean Air, Jobs, and Power Reliability, Power Magazine (February 2012)
• Loopholes, End-Runs and Planning Ahead: EPA Initiatives to Narrow E&P Environmental Exemptions, Gulf Coast Environmental Affairs Group (January 2012)
• U.S. Greenhouse Gas Legislation: Transforming Risks Into Opportunities (January 2010)
• Climate Change Regulation: Risks, Opportunities and Mitigation Strategies. Dallas Bar Association Environmental Section (December 2009)
• Environmental Legislation and Its Impact on Business: Have you Ever Wondered Exactly What “Carbon Cap” Means? Texas Association of Business (May 2009)
• Environmental Programs That Help Redevelopment, 11th Annual Land Use Planning Law Conference (April 2007)
• Financial Reporting Requirements for Environmental Requirements, Claims and Asset Retirement Obligations, Strasburger Corporate Counsel Series (May 2006)
• Municipal Setting Designations and Texas Land Use Planning, University of Texas Land Use Planning Law Conference (April 2006)
• Municipal Setting Designations: Siting Criteria, Risk Management and Implementation, Industry Council on the Environment (May 2005)
• Purchase and Sale Agreements for Environmentally Distressed Facilities: Buyer’s Perspectives, Environmental Superconference, Texas Bar Association (August 2004)
• Reporting of Historical Contamination: TCEQ’s New Policy Statements, Texas Association of Business’ Annual Environmental Regulatory Conference (October 2003)
• State, Local and Federal Storm Water Permit Enforcement, American Bar Association Journal of Environmental Enforcement and Litigation (September 2002)
• Air Emission Permitting for Grandfathered Electric Generating Facilities and non-EGF Grandfathered Facilities, Gulf Coast Power Association (April 2002)