Mining

Our team regularly handles a broad range of concerns to companies in the hardrock, metals, precious metals, coal, uranium, oil, and gas sectors ranging from corporate structuring and transactions to permitting, litigation of agency decisions, regulatory compliance, and enforcement defense. Our team is also regularly present in the halls of state and federal jurisdictional government agencies as well as Congress, ensuring that decision-makers are aware of the unique challenges facing the natural resource extraction industry today, in addition to shaping regulatory and legislative initiatives and reform.

With attorneys who have specific and relevant experience from the highest ranks of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Department of Justice, Natural Resources Division, we know both sides of the regulatory fence and are accomplished in defending against claims brought by non-government organizations to permitting and regulatory decisions. Furthermore, our team members include attorneys from the firm’s Environment, Energy & Natural Resources; Corporate Law; Construction Law; Litigation; and Appellate practice groups. Our significant experience brought together from several practice areas allows the team to seamlessly work together to provide industry-leading client services.

Our attorneys represent large international and domestic natural resource extraction companies, operators, joint ventures, prospective purchasers, manufacturers and distributors of related consumables and capital equipment, and national and state mining and oil and gas associations. Our services provided include:

• Federal and state permitting for hardrock, coal, and uranium mining
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers jurisdictional determinations and Section 404/10 permits
• National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 review and tribal and Advisory Council on Historic Preservation consultation
• Regulatory compliance and enforcement defense counseling for natural resource extraction companies
• Build a defensible administrative record for agency decisions
• Defend non-government organization challenges to permits under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act
• Counseling on the Toxics Substance Control Act  and the Emergency Planning and Community
• Right-to-Know Act
• Advise on managing contaminated facilities under state and federal remediation and natural resource damage laws
• Draft regulatory strategies for international and domestic hardrock and coal mining companies
• Negotiate M&A and joint venture transactions
• Complex due diligence projects
• Mineral title examinations
• Lobbying on regulatory reform, water rights, and proposed amendments to CERCLA the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act
• Counseling on political law compliance