Bart Seitz handles a wide range of environmental, health and safety matters, including regulatory counseling, complex litigation and transactions. He has particular experience in advising corporate and public sector clients regarding complex regulatory compliance and enforcement issues arising under the major federal environmental, health and safety statutes, including the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.
With respect to environmental counseling, Mr. Seitz regularly advises clients regarding the myriad regulatory, permitting and enforcement issues associated with consumer/industrial product stewardship, hazardous waste generation, treatment, storage and disposal; the corrective action requirements for hazardous waste facilities and underground storage tanks; wastewater discharges from various types of industrial operations; and the use, manufacture, processing and import/export of chemical substances under TSCA. Much of this work has involved analysis of complex regulatory compliance and enforcement matters confronting the owners and operators of oil and gas exploration and production facilities, pipelines, refineries, petrochemical facilities, industrial and consumer product manufacturing plants and electric generating facilities. He has handled dozens of federal and state enforcement matters involving these facilities, through alternative dispute procedures, contested case proceedings, judicial actions and settlement negotiations.
As part of his regulatory practice, Mr. Seitz additionally provides clients with significant assistance and advice regarding specific health and safety regulatory compliance and enforcement matters involving the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's general industry standards for Process Safety Management (PSM), Hazard Communication, and Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Action Plans, among others. Through this work, he has assisted clients with assessing their compliance with particular OSHA standards, worked with OSHA experts to develop improved compliance programs for individual facilities, participated in detailed assessments of various corporations' PSM compliance and performance, and defended clients in OSHA enforcement proceedings.
In addition to his regulatory counseling experience, Mr. Seitz represents clients in high-stakes environmental litigation and toxic tort cases in both federal and state court, including environmental cost recovery and contribution actions under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) law and state analogs. This work has involved both prosecuting and defending against claims alleging property damage and personal injury due to the impacts of hazardous substances such as per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), lead, pesticides and numerous industrial chemicals. He also has provided counsel on the rigorous environmental investigation and cleanup requirements for contaminated PFAS, PCB and RCRA hazardous waste sites, and various other impacted properties under TSCA, RCRA, CERCLA and numerous state voluntary cleanup programs. Based on his extensive environmental experience, Mr. Seitz additionally regularly advises clients on managing the environmental liabilities associated with corporate acquisitions, sales, restructurings, and related due diligence matters.
