Waterways

Kelley Drye is involved in many of the most complex environmental matters in the country, often navigating a unique blend of state and federal environmental laws and regulations.

We have substantial experience in representing our waterfront clients in environmental and land use matters, including claims directed at remediating contaminated properties and submerged lands, responding to releases, managing dredge material and dredge disposal facilities, and prosecuting claims designed to recoup economic and property damages resulting from a nuisance or trespass impacting commerce or created by hazardous materials. We also advise clients in air, water, and industrial activity permitting, permit compliance, and enforcement actions.

Waterway Spill, Damage, and Incident Response

At Kelley Drye, we have represented port authorities, maritime terminal operators, and waterfront industrial users in spill response, allisions and dock damage, and other environmental incident response across the country.

We help clients prepare for and respond to environmental and waterfront incidents. We appear before regulatory agencies and represent clients in the subsequent prosecution of and/or defense of claims for damages and response costs incurred in dealing with incident response. We have experience representing our clients as plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of actions, including cost recovery actions, contribution actions, CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, and OPA litigation, nuisance and property damage litigation, natural resource damages litigation, and many other matters relating to contamination and impaired real property.

Our trade and regulatory attorneys advise clients on supply-chain management of all types of products imported into the United States (including agricultural and processed food and fish and seafood products) and compliance with U.S. customs and other federal agency requirements.

We counsel on U.S. Customs and Border Protection procedures and import-related regulatory issues emerging at the U.S. FDA, National Marine Fisheries Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Federal Trade Commission, Department of Commerce, and Congress.

We also litigate and advise as to the application of anti-dumping, countervailing duty orders and other duty-related proceedings before the International Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative, and other agencies.

We have assisted clients with food safety monitoring, and compliance with forced labor-made import prohibitions; counseled on country-of-origin labeling and IUU harvests; and monitored treatment of fish and fish products in regional and multilateral trade regimes and talks, including the elimination of fish subsidies that contribute to illegal fishing practices. We have also assisted clients in forming export promotion boards.

Kelley Drye’s regulatory representation spans a wide spectrum including advising clients on regulatory compliance, negotiations with regulators to resolve administrative and enforcement actions, and securing permits and approvals for development in and around navigable waters.

Our firm also evaluates permitting requirements and secures permits for air emissions, wastewater discharges, and waste generation, storage, and disposal.

Our team also routinely advises clients with issues involving projects requiring Corps of Engineers’ permits and approvals. Recently, for example, we assisted a client in defending against claims arising out of a large landslide that closed a federal channel. We represent clients in obtaining permits to modify or alter federal projects or construction in navigable waters.

Kelley Drye works with the Corps of Engineers to gain authorization and appropriations to expand and deepen federal channels. Our efforts have led to maintenance dredging of federal channels as well as the removal of military munitions from waterways. We also regularly deal with sediment and dredge material issues affecting terminal operators.

Moreover, our team has rare experience in representing the interests of governmental entities at all levels, including states, municipal and local governmental entities, public port authorities and airport systems, and criminal and environmental enforcement agencies.

Our lawyers served as Special Counsel to the Attorney General of New Jersey and represented the state of New Jersey in litigation associated with the contamination of and natural resource damages to the Passaic River, one of the most significant and high-profile water pollution cases in the country. Our lawyers also represented the state of Louisiana through the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office in assessing and responding to the unprecedented natural resource and economic damages caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Our attorneys successfully engage in international, multilateral, and bilateral treaties and forums where restrictions, rules, and standards are set and, subsequently, become domestic law.

We protect clients’ interests from unwarranted restrictions and capitalize on opportunities to promote sustainability initiatives, technological and administrative solutions, and conservation and research programs in situ and ex situ. Our strategy and advocacy team has experience with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), the World Animal Health Organization (OIE), and the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS).

In addition, we regularly assist clients in obtaining necessary permits and complying with the complex array of international and national laws and requirements applicable to the transboundary movement of live fish and animals or their derivatives.

Marine Transport

We assist clients with vessel sale, documentation and other issues involving the U.S. Coast Guard and Maritime Administration as well as under U.S. cabotage laws. We also counsel and advocate for our clients regarding domestic and multinational emerging air and water quality treatment requirements, such as ballast water and marine fuel standards.

Marine Spatial Planning

We help clients plan for future uses of the marine environment on local, national, and regional levels. Our attorneys and advocates work to influence policy and regulations involving new domestic coastal marine spatial planning initiatives, at both the agency and congressional levels. Our practice extends to the science and logistics of area-based fisheries management, both at home and abroad.

We advise companies on international business transactions concerning ocean and marine resources, with experience in the fishing industry. Our attorneys have decades of experience representing lessors and equity investors in sophisticated domestic and international equipment and facility financing, structured through leases or through limited or nonrecourse project financing. We represent clients in the transportation industry, and in domestic and international energy and natural resource project financing.

Our attorneys work closely with borrowers and purchasers to acquire necessary working capital facilities; term loans; acquisition financing; credit facilities for restructurings and debtor-in-possession financing; and facilitating asset-based lending transactions involving numerous asset classes and various types of collateral.

We reinforce our transactions teams with practitioners with deep industry knowledge in highly regulated sectors such as energy and natural resources, maritime and fisheries, transportation, telecommunications, space satellites, financial services, health care and manufacturing, to name a few.

To meet the demands of each client’s specific matter, we include attorneys with proficiency in a variety of other legal and business areas―tax, antitrust and trade regulation, securities law, environmental law, labor law, employee benefits, intellectual property law and real estate. We also advise clients on cross-border income taxation issues as well as the effect U.S. state and local taxes have on maritime transactions.

Protected Species Litigation and Advocacy

When a species is listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA), Marine Mammal Protection Act, or Lacey Act without scientific justification, it can severely affect businesses that rely on those species. It can also impact most activities in the location where the species is found. We have successfully defended against regulatory and litigation-based ESA challenges and have sought policy-level changes in the regulatory and legislative arenas.

International Arbitration and Enforcement

We represent multinational clients before international arbitral tribunals (including ICSID, ICC, and ICDR litigation) and in award enforcement proceedings before domestic courts. Our attorneys have assisted some of the world’s largest construction, energy, manufacturing, financial services, and automobile conglomerates, on claims under bilateral investment treaties, allegations of fraud, insurance coverage, breach of contract, and other issues.