Gregory Braker provides efficient and valued solutions to environmental problems.

He focuses particularly on issues affecting construction and development, transportation, distribution, manufacturing, and electric-utility companies. His experience includes:

• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review;
• National Historic Preservation Act compliance;
• Endangered Species Act (and related RTE species) permitting;
• Clean water compliance -- wetland permitting, discharge permitting, storm water management and spill-response planning;
• Hazardous substance compliance -- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permitting, underground storage tank (UST) monitoring, and reporting related to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), Toxic Substances Control Act(TCSA) and Department of Transportation(DOT) requirements;
• Clean air compliance and Occupational Health and Safety Act issues -- including asbestos/lead/mold abatement requirements and vapor intrusion standards; and
• Site assessment and remediation in Superfund, RCRA and transactional contexts.

Mr. Braker directs environmental audits, advises clients on disclosure issues and designs and implements corporate-compliance programs and environmental management systems.

He works closely (often on site) with clients so that he can gain a full understanding of their goals and business values, which helps him to identify key legal and practical issues early on. This has led a number of clients to comment that he functions with the mentality of in-house counsel in meeting their needs.

Significant Matters

Complex Development/Redevelopment Projects:

• Currently heads a multidisciplinary team that is assisting with NEPA review, obtaining environmental permitting/approvals, and acquisition of property rights for a $1.2 billion, 165-mile, high-voltage transmission line from Virginia to Delaware that is currently planned to run under Chesapeake Bay and through environmentally sensitive areas on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
• Currently supports one of the largest Mid-Atlantic Region electric utilities with environmental review and permitting associated with all of its ongoing transmission infrastructure projects.
• Recently assisted with environmental issues associated with the construction of the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium. He is also involved in redevelopment of nearby sites by private developers.
• Assisted a client's in-house construction department with a program to redevelop 20 stores/shopping centers and to build five to seven new stores/centers per year.

Site Remediation:

• Aided a major transportation and distribution facility in remediating underground storage tank contamination associated with its vehicle-maintenance operations. He also assisted in the facility's response to, and cleanup of, a 10,000-gallon oil spill, including negotiating a nominal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fine.
• Guided developers through difficult mold/moisture intrusion issues -- one related to a 200-unit apartment complex and another involving a multimillion-dollar clubhouse and recreational facility that experienced mold and moisture management issues related to the ventilation and de-humidification of its indoor swimming pool.
• Assisted a developer with remediation of a 100-year old bulk-petroleum storage facility (that housed 28 USTs) so that the site can accommodate residential condominium development.

Environmental Compliance Programs:

• Worked closely with numerous clients (including industrial, trade/distribution, and real estate development companies) to formulate and implement effective across-the-board environmental compliance programs. These programs dramatically diminish the risk of enforcement actions and third-party liabilities, while simplifying environmental recordkeeping and reporting, often through use of software that helps to "bullet proof" compliance. These programs often identify simple changes to operations and/or compliance methods that result in substantial cost savings for clients.

Environmental Audits and EMS Reviews:

• For one of the largest pipe and tank manufacturers in the world, Mr. Braker performed audits and helped implement an environmental management system. His work entailed multiple rounds of stem-to-stern audits at 22 facilities, in-depth reviews of complex compliance issues, and assistance in implementing new environmental health and safety procedures companywide.
• Recently assisted an international shipping company in developing and implementing a full-scale audit and environmental compliance program.
• Drafted an all-encompassing environmental compliance program for a large real estate developer in the Mid-Atlantic region on the heels of environmental criminal enforcement.

Complex Litigation:

• Recently succeeded in getting a $7.5 million claim in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed with prejudice. His client, a mortgage lender in receivership, had foreclosed on property in the District of Columbia where service stations had previously operated USTs, which the plaintiff alleged were leaking onto his down-gradient property.
• Successfully defended numerous clients accused of environmental criminal violations. For example, he convinced prosecutors from the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice not to indict a plant engineer for an oil refinery for Clean Air Act violations in one of the most highly publicized benzene emissions prosecutions by EPA and the Department of Justice to date.

Corporate and Real Estate Transactions:

• Regularly assists buyers, sellers and lenders with formal environmental due diligence, more in-depth risk analyses, and tiered risk management strategies to support complex real estate transactions, as well as related financing (including secondary lending transactions for Fannie Mae).
• Recently worked with a large international industrial company in performing detailed due diligence, environmental record review, and other risk assessments associated with its bid to purchase one of the largest steel mills in the United States. He and his team identified numerous and substantial latent risks/liabilities that otherwise would have gone unaddressed.
• Recently represented a contractor with the U.S. Department of Defense in managing the environmental disclosures, review, and risk negotiations associated with its $65 million sale to a major supplier of aerospace and missile products and services.

Activities

Mr. Braker serves as pro bono counsel on child custody and Social Security matters. He coaches numerous youth sports teams for the Olney Boys & Girls Club.