Brian focuses his practice on permitting, counseling, and enforcement issues involving a wide array of environmental and land use matters. Brian has experience in all aspects of state and federal water law, including wastewater discharges, wetlands, vernal pools, and water rights. Among others, his projects have included wetland permitting for a shopping center, a landfill, a hospital, and a transmission line; oil spill planning for a bottled water facility; negotiating an administrative consent agreement for a municipal wastewater treatment facility; NPDES permitting for a paper mill; and successfully representing a land owner in an appeal involving coastal wetland issues for a pier, Kroeger v. State of Maine, 2005 ME 50. He was invited to participate in the working group during rulemaking on Maine DEP’s scenic and aesthetic rule under the Natural Resources Protection Act. Brian’s land use practice covers a range of development issues, and includes permitting residential subdivisions, telecommunications towers, docks, and other projects. He advises clients on issues such as takings, variances, and vested rights that arise under local ordinances, including site plan, subdivision, and shoreland zoning. He also regularly handles land use appeals both before local boards of appeal and in court, including a successful appeal on a shoreland zoning issue that was initially filed eight months after the appeal period expired in Viles v. Town of Embden, 2006 ME 107. Brian’s air practice includes all aspects of air permitting, including obtaining Title V and New Source Review permits. He has represented industrial facilities in obtaining air pollution control tax certifications from the Maine Board of Environmental Protection, and participated in federal rulemaking on behalf of clients regarding air toxics emissions. He also has experience in performing due diligence on air issues for significant corporate transactions, including for a large, coal-fired power plant and hydro-electric facilities. Prior to joining Pierce Atwood in 1999, Brian was a law clerk for Justice Paul Rudman and Justice Susan Calkins of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. |