Climate Change

Federal Climate Programs.  The firm advises clients on the Environmental Protection Agency’s development of greenhouse gas emission standards under the Clean Air Act for power plants, oil and gas facilities, fuels providers, and motor vehicles.  Our climate team provides clients with policy analysis, assistance in developing comments, and advocacy with the agency. The firm also represents clients in rulemaking-related litigation.

Greenhouse Gas Permitting.  EPA and the states require many major energy and industrial projects to obtain Clean Air Act Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permits for their greenhouse gas emissions. The firm provides legal counsel to owners and developers of major energy and manufacturing facility projects on obtaining such PSD greenhouse gas permits, as well as advising a local air agency in issuing such permits to greenhouse gas emitting industries.   From its unique position of advising both private entities and public-private partnerships in seeking and obtaining permits, as well as counseling one of the government's energy partners, the firm provides problem-solving advice to its clients with a wide spectrum of perspectives and solutions.

State Climate Programs.  Increasingly, states are at the forefront of climate policies, and Van Ness Feldman has played a key role for clients in various state climate programs. In California, Van Ness Feldman has advised out-of-state power entities subject to the state’s cap-and-trade program as regulated “electricity importers.”  In addition, the firm represented a coalition of energy companies and offset providers advocating with the California Air Resources Board on the development of offsets regulations.  We have provided legal counsel on offset credit transactions under the California program.   The firm has also advised on the development of clean fuels programs in the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast. 

Emissions Trading & Carbon Markets. 

Van Ness Feldman is an established leader providing legal counsel on transactions in both the compliance and voluntary carbon markets transactions since the inception of those markets in the late 1990s. Leveraging decades of expertise in environmental law, energy, and transactional matters, our team has successfully facilitated environmental market transactions involving tens of millions of carbon credits.

Our practice works with a diverse array of market participants, including project developers, purchasers, financial institutions, and carbon funds.

The firm has extensive experience advising on a wide range of project types including nature-based solutions; agricultural methane and renewable natural gas; carbon dioxide removal; and fugitive methane reduction in the coal, oil and gas sectors.

Our team provides comprehensive counsel on transactions structured to meet various voluntary market frameworks, including the Verified Carbon Standard, the Gold Standard, the American Carbon Registry, and the Climate Action Reserve.

Van Ness Feldman is also active in compliance credit trading markets, including California’s cap-and-trade program; trading of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard; and averaging, banking, and trading of credits under federal motor vehicle emission and fuel economy standards.

Our services encompass drafting Emission Reduction Purchase Agreements (ERPAs); advising on joint ventures, funds, and other financial structures related to carbon finance; and providing legal counsel on disputes and litigation arising within the carbon markets.

Recent Experience:

• Special Carbon Counsel for a major financial institution, advising on the development of its billion-dollar carbon fund and the sale of carbon credits from nature-based carbon removal projects in South America.
• Providing legal counsel to a company engaged in gas-sector methane reduction projects in Central Asia and the marketing of the resulting carbon credits.
• Serving as legal and policy advisor to a company developing large-scale bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration (BECCS) projects in the United States, generating carbon dioxide removal (CDR) credits.
• Advising a major energy company on its development and marketing of RINs from renewable natural gas projects under the Renewable Fuel Standard program.

With a robust track record in the emissions trading and carbon markets industries, Van Ness Feldman is well-equipped to provide the legal services necessary for navigating the complexities of this evolving sector.

Integrating Climate Impacts into Project Planning & Permitting.  Van Ness Feldman advises a wide array of public and private clients on how to build consideration of climate change into their decision-making processes.  Environmental analysis for actions at all levels of government increasingly requires examining potential impacts of a proposed action on climate change and the potential effect of climate change on the proposed action. Our attorneys advise private and public agency clients proposing development, as well as public agencies that are asked to consider impacts and mitigation measures as part of their decision-making processes. We also advise on compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as well as analogous state laws, and assists in the drafting of policies used by decision-makers.   

Renewable Energy.  The firm's professionals have advised companies on the development and financing of renewable energy projects (including, biomass, waste-to-energy, land-based and offshore wind, solar, tidal, wave, geothermal, hydropower, and natural gas) and of transmission projects. We counsel clients about the options for delivery of renewable energy to their load or consumer, whether interconnecting to the electric grid and obtaining transmission rights or establishing a micro-grid that is separate from, in whole or in part, the rest of the electric grid. We negotiate and develop power sales/purchase agreements and counsel consumers of power on their supply options, provide strategies on reducing power costs, and review supply agreements.   

Clean Technologies.  Technological advances are creating new forms of renewable energy and regulatory changes are imposing stricter requirements on carbon.  Van Ness Feldman counsels clients developing and working with these new technologies including, enzymes for biofuel production, hydrogen fuel cells, advanced electric metering infrastructure, clean coal and carbon sequestration, green building and materials, and renewable electricity generation. 

Legislation.  Van Ness Feldman represents individual clients and coalitions on climate-related legislation in a host of capacities, including providing analysis, drafting proposed legislative language, and undertaking advocacy. The firm has worked with clients on legislative initiatives related to carbon capture and sequestration, allowance allocations, and offsets. 

Thought Leadership & Research.  Think tanks, foundations, and others regularly call on Van Ness Feldman to provide research and innovative ideas on climate change policies.  Attorneys and other professionals from the firm have written policy papers and provided analysis for organizations such as the Bipartisan Policy Center, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Center for Climate & Energy Solutions, the Energy Future Coalition, and the Electric Power Research Institute.