Energy and Natural Resources Law: Expert Counsel for Development and Compliance

Resource development and extraction projects require a sequential legal process beginning with securing the underlying mineral or energy rights and obtaining the multi-agency permits required to commence operations, and each step must be completed in the correct order to preserve the operator's priority rights. Energy regulatory and raw materials and mineral supply chains counsel can evaluate the operator's resource rights, identify critical-path approvals, and advise on the royalty and production reporting obligations attached to federal and state resource development authorizations.

Energy infrastructure projects require ongoing operational compliance with FERC regulations, Clean Air Act emission limits, and Clean Water Act discharge permits, and operators who fail to maintain this compliance face enforcement actions that can force project shutdowns and trigger substantial civil penalties. Energy and environmental compliance counsel can conduct annual compliance audits that identify potential violations before regulatory agencies discover them, advise on the permit modification procedures required when a project expands beyond its original authorizations, and represent operators in enforcement proceedings.

The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to prepare an environmental impact statement before authorizing any major federal action, and energy and natural resource projects that require federal permits must complete this environmental review before proceeding. Environmental law and land use and zoning and land use and real estate counsel can review the environmental impact statement for procedural deficiencies and address the state and local land use approvals that run parallel to the federal environmental review.

Obtaining the permits, licenses, and administrative approvals required for an energy or natural resource project requires simultaneous engagement with FERC, the Bureau of Land Management, the EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a procedural defect in any single agency proceeding can invalidate the entire project authorization. Administrative case and carbon emission regulations counsel can coordinate the multi-agency permitting process and challenge agency decisions that exceed statutory jurisdiction.

The development and financing stage of an energy or natural resource project is the period of greatest legal risk because the project's economic viability depends on completing the regulatory approvals, securing the project financing, and negotiating the offtake and construction agreements. Project finance and joint venture agreements counsel can structure the project financing and the equity joint venture that aligns the interests of sponsors and host government partners, and energy capital markets and project development counsel can advise on the conditions precedent before the initial funding draw.

Investigations, particularly when an agency issues a Notice of Violation or conducts an unannounced inspection that reveals potential compliance deficiencies, and the operator's response in the initial period establishes the record governing all subsequent enforcement proceedings. Compliance enforcement through courts and esg compliance and compliance program design counsel can manage the operator's initial response and implement compliance improvements.

Structuring cross-border energy transactions, production sharing agreements, and international joint ventures requires counsel who understands the intersection of U.S. .egulatory requirements, host country legal frameworks, and international treaty obligations, and transactions that fail to account for these intersecting legal regimes expose the parties to unanticipated sanctions. International joint venture and energy transition and renewable energy counsel can structure the transaction and advise on the legal frameworks governing cross-border renewable energy development and carbon credit trading.

When regulatory enforcement actions, contract disputes, or resource ownership conflicts arise in an energy or natural resource project, the operator needs counsel who can simultaneously defend the enforcement action, manage the contractual dispute, and protect the project's operating licenses from revocation. Preliminary injunction and injunctive relief counsel can seek emergency relief to prevent a project shutdown, and arbitration and mediation and natural resource damages counsel can manage regulatory penalty proceedings, contractual claims, and environmental liability assessments.