Venable recently announced that Bill Sloan has joined the firm's Environmental practice as a partner in San Francisco. Sloan represents domestic and international clients on regulatory and litigation issues related to development, natural resources, air quality and climate change, energy, land use, and endangered species. He advises clients on permitting, compliance strategies, risk management and project defense. On climate change, he has counseled clients on carbon trading and monetizing the environmental benefits of new technologies and processes. With respect to water, he is experienced with water rights, water supply assessments, groundwater basin adjudications, and water quality compliance.
"Part of the challenge and the appeal of coming here to Venable is to expand its West Coast environmental practice," Sloan told Law360 in an April 12, 2017, interview. "Being a part of launching an expansion of that effort, I'm going to have to cover quite a bit of territory, and then as we grow and expand and bring more folks into the fold, that will enable me to focus more specifically on some of my immediate areas of [my practice] — water definitely being one of them."
Discussing his practice in the same interview, Sloan said, "I will often work with clients helping them to obtain permits to understand the compliance regime, and particularly in a state like California, where there are a lot of interest groups that have their own ideas and opinions about a particular project development, they may then challenge those projects…Then at that point it transitions. It can be administrative litigation…or ultimately going into court and having the courts review what the agencies have done."
Speaking with the Daily Journal on upcoming trends with environmental policy, Sloan said, "We've already seen significant cutbacks on resourcing and budgeting for the existing agencies." He predicted this would lead to states filling the void. "California in particular is extremely visible in that effort. When the federal government steps back, California tends to step forward and be more aggressive in the environmental regulatory space." Discussing his role at Venable, he added, "We really want to develop a presence, a reputation and a familiarity with the environmental regulators, where there is a level of mutual respect."
Sloan's move to Venable was also featured in the San Francisco Business Times.