Environmental Audits: Privilege, Voluntary Disclosure, and Other Legal Issues
Ensuring Compliance With Environmental Laws, Responding When Violations Are Discovered
Recording of a 90-minute CLE video webinar with Q&A
This CLE course will guide counsel on leveraging environmental audits to enhance compliance and on mitigating risks associated with audit discoveries. The panel will discuss privilege, voluntary disclosure, and best practices for responding to violations.
Outline
- Environmental compliance auditing
- Privileges available to protect audit-derived information
- Voluntary audit disclosure
- EPA program
- State programs
- Audit opportunities for new owners
- Complications for auditing and disclosure arising from recent enforcement trends
Benefits
The panel will review these and other key issues:
- How can companies and their counsel use environmental audits to improve compliance and soften the impact of a government enforcement action?
- What are the best practices for counsel to advise clients that are considering utilizing environmental compliance audits?
- What are the expected costs and risks of environmental self-audits from a legal standpoint?
Faculty
Joel D. Eagle
Partner
Thompson Hine
Mr. Eagle represents public and private entities in the industrial, commercial and manufacturing sectors, where he... | Read More
Mr. Eagle represents public and private entities in the industrial, commercial and manufacturing sectors, where he focuses his practice on all aspects of environmental law including regulatory compliance counseling involving CERCLA, state Brownfield and voluntary action program site cleanup laws, including on vapor intrusion remediation and risk management; mobile source regulatory counseling, certification support and enforcement defense before U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board; regulatory development, site remediation and risk management counseling for emerging contaminants, including PFAS; legislative and rulemaking support and enforcement defense regarding hydrofluorocarbons; compliance counseling and enforcement defense for federal, state and local water, solid and hazardous waste laws and regulations; and environmental due diligence and contract negotiation in connection with the sale and purchase of businesses and industrial properties.
CloseLawrence P. (Larry) Schnapf
Principal
Schnapf LLC
Mr. Schnapf primarily concentrates on environmental risks associated with corporate, real estate and brownfield... | Read More
Mr. Schnapf primarily concentrates on environmental risks associated with corporate, real estate and brownfield transactions; commercial financing including asset-based lending, syndicated loans, mezzanine loans and distressed debt; and bankruptcy, workouts and corporate restructuring. He has extensive experience with brownfield redevelopment and financing, including representing affordable housing developers and assisting local development corporations or not-for-profit organizations with their brownfield planning programs. Mr. Schnapf also counsels clients on environmental, represents clients in federal and state environmental litigation, enforcement actions, administrative proceedings and private cost recovery actions. He is a past Chair of the Environmental Law Section of the NYSBA, Co-Chair of the NYSBA brownfield task force, and former Co-Chair of the NYSBA Hazardous Site Remediation Committee. Mr. Schnapf is a past Chair of the ABA Section of Business Law Committee on Environmental, Energy and Natural Resources Law and a Vice Chair of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. He has also served on a number of ASTM Task Groups, including Chair of the legal subcommittee for the ASTM E1527 task force responsible for the 2013 and 2021 revisions to ASTM E1527 phase 1 standard and was Co-Chair of the legal sub-committee for the ASTM Vapor Intrusion Task Group.
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