Environment, Lands and Resources

Go-To Firm for Environmental Matters

Bracewell has one of the largest and most highly respected environmental practices in the United States. We were named a Law360 Environmental Group of the Year in 2020, and our practice and its lawyers are consistently ranked in the top bands in Chambers USA, Legal 500 US and other leading legal publications.

Our team combines legal and policy depth with knowledge in media relations and lobbying, all focused on energy, environmental and natural resources issues faced by companies across the United States. This comprehensive and holistic approach enables us to advise clients facing severe challenges that arise simultaneously in litigation, legislative debates, agency actions and public discourse. Air Liquide, Baker Hughes, Cheniere Energy, The Dow Company, Equinor and Kinder Morgan are some of the companies that regularly engage our team on environmental matters.

We provide a uniquely informed perspective based on decades of experience working at the forefront of issues facing companies in the oil and gas, refining, power generation and transmission, chemical, manufacturing, technology, mining and construction sectors. Team members include lawyers with extensive experience working in house at Fortune 100 companies, as well as lawyers who have served in the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US Department of the Interior, the US Department of Justice (DOJ), the Army Corps of Engineers, the White House, the US Congress, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the US Attorney’s Office.

Clients turn to us for advice and guidance on policy matters at the top of the national agenda, including:

offshore wind development
renewable fuels standards
regulation of greenhouse gases
carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS)
Clean Water Act, Section 401 reform
Infrastructure development
NSR reform
renewable energy policies
hydrogen development
onshore and offshore royalty disputes
oil and gas leasing and decommissioning
Chemical Safety Board reform
NEPA reform

We handle regulatory matters for energy and energy-related companies before a myriad of federal agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Transportation (DOT), Customs and Border Protection, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the EPA, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Fish and Wildlife Service, the US National Park Service and the Surface Transportation Board.

In addition, our environmental litigation group — in collaboration with our market-leading white-collar defense, appellate and energy regulatory practices — handles some of the largest and most complicated environmental litigation matters in the nation. For example, we represented Halliburton in the federal criminal investigation that arose from the Deepwater Horizon explosion — perhaps the most significant criminal environmental investigation in a generation. More recently, we represented Kinder Morgan in connection with regulatory and litigation issues surrounding the development of the Permian Highway Pipeline, as well as RES in the negotiation and execution of an innovative fixed-price restoration agreement with Klamath River Renewal Corporation in connection with the largest dam removal in the United States.

Areas of Focus

Litigation & Enforcement Defense

As Chambers USA (2021) observes, “[Bracewell] is very involved in climate change rulemaking litigation and other sophisticated proceedings.” We represent companies in complex litigation, enforcement proceedings and incident investigations, including parallel civil and criminal actions.

As companies face growing pressure to comply with federal and state mandates, our team helps these companies develop, implement and continuously improve strategies for cost-effective compliance.

Meet the team

Natural Resource Protection

Legislators, investors and the public have turned an intense spotlight on corporate strategies related to natural resources. Leading companies in energy, waste management, chemicals, technology and manufacturing have made sustainability initiatives and disclosures a priority.

Bracewell is “a top-tier firm, known for its environmental and energy expertise,” according to Chambers USA (2020). We have advised Equinor Wind on environmental and leasing issues related to its flagship offshore wind projects in the United States, as well as The Electric Reliability Coordinating Council on regulatory and legislative matters under various environmental statutes.

We help our energy and environmental clients align their strategies with government priorities and regulations with an array of integrated services, including policy development, regulatory counseling, corporate governance and internal audits, and disclosure issues around natural resources.

Meet the team

Permitting & Regulation

We represent applicants in the entire range of the environmental permitting process, from the initial project planning stages (scoping regulatory and permitting requirements across all media and disciplines) to pre-application counseling and application development.

As projects proceed, we help clients negotiate reasonable settlements with permitting agencies during the administrative review process. We proactively focus on strengthening permit applications and bolstering the administrative record to help safeguard project permits against potential challenges, including contested case proceedings, administrative and judicial appeals, and pushback from organizations and communities that seek to slow or derail the permit process.

Bracewell is a recognized leader in this space. As one client tells Chambers USA (2021), “We couldn’t ask for better representation; they are always helpful, timely and accurate.”

Meet the team

Pipeline Safety & Regulation

As Legal 500 US (2020) notes, quoting one of our clients, our “team is deeply knowledgeable in the oil and gas refining industry and provides stellar legal advice tailored to our needs.”

We represent companies on environmental and safety issues across a range of disciplines, including regulatory counseling; project siting and permitting; rulemaking, such as pre-proposal advocacy, comment development and appellate challenges; administrative, civil and criminal enforcement; auditing; internal investigations; accident response and crisis management; and transactional due diligence.

Meet the team

Transaction Diligence & Support

Environmental risk and liability represent major concerns for our clients when assets or companies are bought or sold, or when our clients seek or offer financing. We apply a thorough understanding of the business — be it energy, chemicals, refining, heavy manufacturing, or technology — to provide practical, up-to-date insight and counsel. We approach transactions with a thorough technical knowledge of the subject at hand, finding creative approaches to controlling risk.

Meet the team

As Chambers USA (2021) observes, “[Bracewell] is very involved in climate change rulemaking litigation and other sophisticated proceedings.” We represent companies in complex litigation, enforcement proceedings and incident investigations, including parallel civil and criminal actions.

As companies face growing pressure to comply with federal and state mandates, our team helps these companies develop, implement and continuously improve strategies for cost-effective compliance.

Meet the team

Legislators, investors and the public have turned an intense spotlight on corporate strategies related to natural resources. Leading companies in energy, waste management, chemicals, technology and manufacturing have made sustainability initiatives and disclosures a priority.

Bracewell is “a top-tier firm, known for its environmental and energy expertise,” according to Chambers USA (2020). We have advised Equinor Wind on environmental and leasing issues related to its flagship offshore wind projects in the United States, as well as The Electric Reliability Coordinating Council on regulatory and legislative matters under various environmental statutes.

We help our energy and environmental clients align their strategies with government priorities and regulations with an array of integrated services, including policy development, regulatory counseling, corporate governance and internal audits, and disclosure issues around natural resources.

Meet the team

We represent applicants in the entire range of the environmental permitting process, from the initial project planning stages (scoping regulatory and permitting requirements across all media and disciplines) to pre-application counseling and application development.

As projects proceed, we help clients negotiate reasonable settlements with permitting agencies during the administrative review process. We proactively focus on strengthening permit applications and bolstering the administrative record to help safeguard project permits against potential challenges, including contested case proceedings, administrative and judicial appeals, and pushback from organizations and communities that seek to slow or derail the permit process.

Bracewell is a recognized leader in this space. As one client tells Chambers USA (2021), “We couldn’t ask for better representation; they are always helpful, timely and accurate.”

Meet the team

As Legal 500 US (2020) notes, quoting one of our clients, our “team is deeply knowledgeable in the oil and gas refining industry and provides stellar legal advice tailored to our needs.”

We represent companies on environmental and safety issues across a range of disciplines, including regulatory counseling; project siting and permitting; rulemaking, such as pre-proposal advocacy, comment development and appellate challenges; administrative, civil and criminal enforcement; auditing; internal investigations; accident response and crisis management; and transactional due diligence.

Meet the team

Environmental risk and liability represent major concerns for our clients when assets or companies are bought or sold, or when our clients seek or offer financing. We apply a thorough understanding of the business — be it energy, chemicals, refining, heavy manufacturing, or technology — to provide practical, up-to-date insight and counsel. We approach transactions with a thorough technical knowledge of the subject at hand, finding creative approaches to controlling risk.

Meet the team