Josh’s representative matters include:

Environmental Enforcement Defense

Clean Air Act (CAA)

• Lead counsel representing a Fortune 50 petroleum refining company in defense of a joint EPA/DOJ investigation and civil enforcement action alleging multi-facility violations of the CAA Risk Management Program (RMP) and General Duty Clause.
• Co-lead counsel representing leading US crane manufacturer securing civil consent decree to resolve claims arising from EPA investigation and DOJ civil enforcement action alleging violations of the Transition Program for Manufacturers non-road diesel engine compliance requirements.
• Co-lead counsel representing petroleum refining company in defense of EPA/DOJ multi-refinery investigation and civil enforcement action alleging violations of the Benzene Waste Operations National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (BWON).
• Co-lead counsel representing a Fortune 500 global chemical manufacturer in defense of EPA/DOJ investigation and civil enforcement action alleging violations at multiple facilities of the CAA RMP and General Duty Clause.
• Lead counsel representing major regional waste collection and recycling company in defense of EPA NOV alleging violations of the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for methane landfill gas emissions at a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill.

Clean Water Act (CWA)

• Co-lead counsel representing one of the nation’s largest municipalities in defense of a civil enforcement action filed in federal court by DOJ, EPA, state regulators, and citizen suit intervenors alleging National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit violations.

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)

• Lead counsel representing U.S. non-road construction equipment manufacturer in defense of EPA Notice of Violation (NOV) alleging violations of the RCRA hazardous waste regulations.

California Air Resources Board (CARB)

• Lead counsel representing multinational industrial cleaning equipment manufacturer, successfully resolving alleged violations of evaporative emission standards for Small Off-Road Engine (SORE) with a minimal civil penalty and no recall or corrective action.

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)

• Co-counsel representing international equipment manufacturer to resolve U.S. legacy contaminated site liabilities with federal and state agencies.

Environmental Criminal Defense

• Co-lead counsel representing construction company in federal grand jury investigation of alleged CWA stormwater violations resulting in non-prosecution.

Litigation

Contaminated Property

• Lead trial counsel for one of the largest school districts in the country in action seeking clean-up costs for historical contamination at California school property, tried to a federal jury in Los Angeles in 2024. Successfully litigated numerous contested pre-trial motions and hearings, including disqualifying opposing counsel (2022 WL 2165306 (C.D.CA.)), prevailing on the applicable legal standard for private nuisance claims, (2023 WL 9001451 (C.D.CA.)), excluding opposing expert testimony and having a 50-year old audio recording admitted into evidence under the ancient document exception to the hearsay rule (2024 WL 1639925(C.D.CA.)).
• Defended a Fortune 500 coatings and specialty materials manufacturer against municipal plaintiff alleging contamination of groundwater.

Federal Preemption (CAA)

• Secured a precedent-setting federal and state preemption decision for a major waste-to-energy facility, striking down a Baltimore air ordinance. Wheelabrator Baltimore v. City of Baltimore, 449 F.Supp.3d 549 (D.Md. 2020). The team was selected by American Lawyer's Litigation Daily as runner-up Litigator of the Week for the victory.

CERCLA

• Represented a regional real estate development company to recover CERCLA response costs from the federal government to remediate groundwater contamination originating from a Department of the Army facility.
• Represented an international steel products manufacturer in a confidential mediation to resolve a multi-party CERCLA liability allocation for one of the county’s largest Superfund Sites.

CAA Compliance– Mobile Sources

• Routinely counsels multiple major automobile, heavy-duty truck, and non-road equipment manufacturers on EPA and CARB emissions regulation compliance issues.
• Performed comprehensive Emissions Compliance Assessment for multiple original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
• Counseled a major domestic automobile manufacturer to successful resolution of joint EPA and NHTSA in-use verification, confirmatory testing, and fuel economy issue.
• Counseled multiple national companies on compliance with California Advanced Clean Fleets regulations.
• Represented a Fortune 500 equipment manufacturing company in EPA investigation resulting in no enforcement action taken.
• Represented a diesel repair garage owner successfully resolving EPA tampering allegations.
• Assisted diesel aftermarket parts wholesaler responding to federal grand jury subpoena.

Matters for the Department of Justice

• Lead enforcement counsel in United States v. Volkswagen AG, et al. (“Dieselgate”), a historic and complex CAA mobile source case arising from the alleged illegal use of defeat devices in light-duty diesel engines, obtaining a $17.5 billion settlement, the largest ever under the CAA.
• Lead counsel in a suit to remedy dangerous and illegal storage of hazardous waste at a chemical manufacturing facility and to recover past clean-up costs. Secured three preliminary injunctions enroute to winning a judgment against the defendant and prevailed in post-trial contested motions practice with a third party over lien priority to ultimately effectuate the sale of the property.
• Lead counsel in a stormwater enforcement case against a regional construction company alleging over 600 violations of the CWA NPDES permit program at various construction sites, negotiating a consent decree that included civil penalty and injunctive relief requiring a company-wide stormwater training and compliance program.
• Lead U.S. counsel in a case to recover remedial costs in a $400 million nuclear waste site cleanup matter.
• Co-counsel in a $30 million case brought on behalf of the Department of Defense against multiple petroleum companies to recover environmental cleanup costs at a defense site adjacent to an oil refinery.
• Lead counsel in an action to collect Superfund responses costs from recalcitrant CERCLA judgment debtors and a third-party insurance company, ending in a settlement in favor of the United States for $2.225 million.
• Lead counsel in a Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) matter to address the threat of imminent and substantial endangerment to a potential underground source of drinking water posed by an improperly plugged oil well, ending in the successful negotiation of a resolution where the well owner agreed to implement a long-term aquifer remediation system.
• Lead counsel in the negotiation of a CERCLA Remedial Design/Remedial Action Consent Decree with a major petroleum company for a multi-million-dollar cleanup of a legacy coking operation.