STEVEN BURNS is a Partner in the Environmental and Natural Resources section of Balch & Bingham LLP. Steven represents utilities, industrial clients, developers, financial institutions, land owners, waterway users, and businesses in the following areas:

• Environmental Compliance and Permitting: Helps clients meet business objectives in compliance with state and federal environmental laws, including climate change requirements, the Clean Water Act, wetlands, the Endangered Species Act, CERCLA, RCRA, coal combustion residuals or CCRs, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and groundwater regulations.
• Federal Legislation and Regulations: Counsels clients with respect to Congressional and agency actions, drawing on nine years of Congressional, legal, and lobbying experience in Washington, D.C.
• Homeland Security: Provides advice on security and preparedness standards and regulations of the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies, especially with respect to infrastructure, transportation, energy, and environmental issues.
• Information Management: Counsels clients on how to protect sensitive information provided to regulatory agencies and in commercial transactions.
• Mergers and Transactions: Performs environmental due diligence and document review for corporate mergers, asset acquisitions, and real estate transactions.

Prior to joining Balch & Bingham, Steven worked for U.S. Senator James R. Sasser (D-TN) on the staff of the U.S. Senate Governmental Affairs and Budget Committees; as director of rapid response for a U.S. Senate campaign; and as an associate at Van Ness Feldman, a Washington, D.C. law firm which concentrates on energy and environmental affairs.

Representative Experience

• • Draft comments to EPA and the Corps of Engineers on behalf of companies and trade associations regarding proposed wetlands guidance and regulations.
  • Advise waterway associations on water resource project funding and environmental regulation.
  • Advise electric utilities on coal ash disposals and recycling.
  • Draft comments on EPA's proposed coal ash regulations on behalf of corporations and trade associations.
  • Advise business clients on content and implementation of business continuity plans.
  • Prepare power plants for EPA ash pond inspections and represent the plants at the inspections.
  • Advise business clients on legal limits on the Corps' authority to require compensatory mitigation for impacts to wetlands.
  • Counsel an electric utility on responding to a EPA request for information under Section 114 of the Clean Air Act, including protections for confidential information.
  • Advise business client on protections from terrorism liability available under the SAFETY Act.
  • Draft responses to EPA requests for information on ash ponds at electric utility generating plants.
  • Advise a business client on the potential application and compliance strategy for anti-terrorism standards for chemical facilities issued by the Department of Homeland Security.
  • Perform environmental due diligence and review in support of prospective purchases of merchant-owned gas-fired electric generating units.
  • Advise an electric utility with respect to proposals for underground sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions, including federal guidelines and state law requirements.
  • Advise developers and commercial clients on how to structure new developments in or near wetlands, coastal areas, and endangered species habitat, to minimize and avoid environmental compliance burdens and litigation risks.
  • Review environmental documents for numerous real estate transactions on behalf of financial institutions, purchasers, and sellers, for purposes of identifying CERCLA and brownfields issues and other environmental issues.
  • Advise industrial clients on the proper response to a discovery of potential spills or contamination, including the rapid determination of potential reporting obligations.
  • Provide advice and information to business clients and coalitions regarding the content and status of federal legislation to amend environmental laws, including the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and climate change programs.
  • Advise business clients on federal budget issues, including appropriations, parliamentary procedure, and allocation of funds within and among executive branch agencies.
  • Draft and file comments with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regarding proposals for critical habitat designation for threatened and endangered species in the vicinity of client operations.
  • Advise clients with respect to NEPA compliance for activities requiring a wetlands permit or other federal approvals.
  • Advise utility and industrial clients with respect to new source review requirements which may apply upon construction or modification of facilities.
  • Represent a manufacturer in the negotiation of a contract for the sale of environmental attributes generated by the use of wood waste biomass and black liquor as an energy source.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

• American Bar Association, Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER)
• Chair, SEER Committee on Homeland Security, and Past Vice Chair for Newsletters
• Counsel, National Waterways Conference, and Chair, Legislative Policy Committee
• Air and Waste Management Association: Southeastern Section, Alabama Chapter, Coastal Plains Chapter
• Energy Bar Association
• Birmingham Bar Association

COMMUNITY RELATIONS

• • Independent Presbyterian Church
  • Kiwanis Club of Birmingham

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