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Douglas Sanders

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Doug Sanders leads Baker & McKenzie's US Environmental Litigation practice. He represents a broad range of domestic and non-US corporations before federal, state and administrative courts in environmental, class action, mass tort and product liability litigation, government enforcement, permitting and criminal proceedings.

Baker McKenzie’s North America Energy response team recently surveyed a number of key oil and gas producing jurisdictions across the United States – representing approximately 90% of domestic oil production – to assess how these jurisdictions are responding to the recent collapse in the oil price from a regulatory perspective.…

On June 4, 2020, President Trump signed a new Executive Order (“EO”) aimed at accelerating the initiation and completion of infrastructure projects to spur on the United States’ economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.1 At the heart of this latest EO is a mandate to expedite required environmental reviews for…

Companies must be diligent to ensure that any facility restart is being implemented in compliance with applicable environmental requirements.  While there has been some guidance at the federal and state level providing enforcement discretion for non-compliance and identifying circumstances where noncompliance will not be punished, compliance with permits and environmental regulations is expected even when circumstances have made it difficult because of COVID-19.  Further, those policies have been criticized and challenged by environmental NGOs and some states, and companies should exercise caution when relying on them.

Earlier this week, we provided guidance on the development of an “Environmental Action Plan” to address potential environmental regulatory and compliance challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis. Our recommendations included – in the context of limited or unavailable EHS staff or resources and in response to plant shutdown orders –…

The ever-evolving COVID-19 crisis continues to pose significant challenges for industrial enterprises across the United States. Until very recently, the engines of industry continued to hum while the broader world wrestled with this unprecedented public health crisis. However, with growing constituencies across the public and private sector calling for more…

On December 10, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued its long-awaited revisions to the definition of solid waste rule (“Final DSW Rule”) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). The Final DSW Rule scales back certain important RCRA recycling exemptions that were first promulgated as part of…