Reducing Environmental Risk

Experienced Environmental Compliance Counseling

While we at Periconi, LLC, pride ourselves on the defense we present to environmental enforcement actions, we also believe that the surest defense for a business whose activities are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) or the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) is to avoid a civil or criminal enforcement action altogether. We do so by helping clients obtain and maintain compliance with the environmental statutes and regulations with which those businesses must comply.

The Types Of Guidance We Provide

Some examples of compliance counseling that Periconi, LLC, has undertaken in recent years (bringing to its clients the appropriate environmental consultants with expertise in these program areas) include:

  1. Storm water requirements for businesses whose Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes require they prepare a notice of intent under the State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) and a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP). The SWPPP is intended to provide detailed steps the business will take to prevent the future discharge of pollutants (e.g., from the fueling or oil dripping from trucks parked at, or entering and exiting the facility and emergency procedures for handling oil spills) from its facilities into adjacent waterways. The attorneys of Periconi, LLC, have successfully and repeatedly worked with a major national environmental consulting company to obtain such compliance for a major national corporation in a dozen or more states.
  2. Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) compliance and closure counseling for facilities whose normal operations generate hazardous wastes.
  3. Clean Air Act (CAA) compliance counseling: Compliance with Title V of the CAA is often daunting, taking a very significant number of hours of in-house environmental compliance personnel to describe every air pollution emission point. The lawyers of Periconi, LLC, are experienced on bringing the right degree of environmental compliance expertise from the appropriate environmental consultants, and reviewing draft permit applications for completeness and satisfaction of the legal requirements.
  4. Wetlands permit compliance: This is perhaps the most frequent area of potential noncompliance our office has faced. Many times, inexperienced architects will draw development plans for their clients’ waterfront properties without properly surveying the surrounding area, wrongly believing (1) if they build up but do not change the footprint, no state permit is required; or (2) if they obtain municipal permissions (e.g., from the New York City Department of Buildings), it takes care of all issues. If state or municipal agencies become aware of development projects within wetlands areas (or potential wetlands or adjacent areas, i.e., buffer zones), they may require some combination of permit application, a significant fine from the violator, and various remedial actions, including wetlands surveying and delineation, the removal of existing structures, the recording of environmental easements and the creation of replacement wetlands areas. The attorneys at Periconi, LLC, have extensive experience negotiating with state and municipal regulators regarding wetlands permit compliance.
  5. Other environmental compliance: The attorneys at Periconi, LLC, also help clients ensure compliance with other laws, including but not limited to the proper removal and disposal of asbestos containing materials (ACM) and lead-based paint (LBP), and New York state and New York City’s cooling tower rules and regulations for the prevention of Legionella bacteria.

Prepared To Serve You

The attorneys of Periconi, LLC, are prepared to help your business with environmental compliance requirements at the federal, state and New York City (or other municipal) levels. Contact us at 646-733-4487 or by email for a consultation if you or your business is facing environmental compliance issues.