Federal and state laws that protect the environment affect businesses of all kinds, not just developers. Consequently, numerous firms have sprung up that help companies navigate this area. To succeed, such firms must be knowledgeable about many areas of the law beyond their expertise in environmental law. This paper will examine the breadth of knowledge required for a successful environmental consulting firm.
This hypothetical firm provides services for environmental site assessments, environmental compliance audits, discharge permit acquisitions, and environmental liability assessments associated with real property transfers. In addition to environmental law, the firm would need to be familiar with administrative law, contract law, labor law, and real property law (land use control).
Providing services such as discharge permit acquisitions and site assessments will necessarily involve Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, which Congress enacted in 1972. Though this section was not intended as a comprehensive tool to protect wetlands, court decisions and agency interpretations have greatly expanded the jurisdiction of Section 404. Consequently, decisions made under Section 404 do not necessarily reflect a broad policy consensus but rather a bureaucratic process influenced by many factors.
In the 19th century, wetlands were viewed as a nuisance, a piece of land to be reclaimed. Indeed, the U.S. government made reclamation of wetlands a national policy in the 1800s. Not until the second half of the 20th century did the federal government begin to understand the crucial role of wetlands in the environment. Wetlands serve several important ecological functions, including water purification and flood control. Wetlands also serve as an important habitat for fish and wildlife. The realization that wetlands play a pivotal role in the American environment led to a revamped federal policy towards wetlands, a policy that ...