Environmental Transactions

At Holland & Knight, we're more than just a legal team – our attorneys are your trusted partners with decades of experience in navigating the complex world of environmental transactions. Our Environmental Transactions Team comprises seasoned lawyers with a rich tapestry of experience, poised to guide you through the intricacies of both domestic and international business dealings.

We recognize that precision is paramount in the realm of environmental transactions. Environmental site assessments, compliance and liability due diligence, and securing robust environmental insurance policies are the foundations of our practice.

Additionally, we understand the importance of brownfields redevelopment to realizing business and community goals and fostering sustainable growth. Our attorneys' extensive knowledge in these pivotal areas provides the crucial checks and balances needed to harmonize your business objectives with compliance and community responsibilities.

Environmental Components of Business Transactions

Holland & Knight's Environmental Transactions Team operates in close synergy with our corporate, financing, and real estate practice groups, particularly in the areas of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), financing and real estate transactions where the environmental condition and compliance of assets and properties become pivotal considerations. Our team has extensive experience working across a wide spectrum of industries, encompassing manufacturing, mining, transportation, telecommunications, commercial and residential real estate, and the renewable, oil and gas, and transitional energy sectors.

For example, we have:

• represented a client in a billion-dollar transaction that included the sale of the stock/assets of a portfolio of data centers
• reviewed hundreds of Phase I and Phase II Environmental Site Assessments and actively participated in the development of the standards governing those inquiries
• counseled corporations on environmental, health and safety issues during M&A transactions, including facilitating the transfer of permits at power plant and manufacturing facilities
• negotiated environmental indemnities, environmental representations and warranties and environmental insurance policies to allocate environmental risks in transactions
• negotiated innovative risk transfer mechanisms, such as a guaranteed fixed-price remediation contract together with environmental insurance policies, to facilitate the sale of 200 convenience stores from a bankrupt entity to a new owner
• counseled upstream and midstream oil and gas companies on environmental risks and liabilities associated with M&A transactions and on post-transaction environmental compliance audits and voluntary self-disclosures to federal and state agencies
• conducted multistate environmental due diligence in the corporate asset restructuring of a resins and composites manufacturing company with facilities in eight states
• conducted multinational environmental due diligence in the acquisition of the printed circuit board assembly portion of the business of a major electronics manufacturer with facilities in nine countries

Environmental Insurance

Our attorneys have substantial experience in assisting with obtaining environmental insurance policies to facilitate real estate and corporate acquisitions. These products include pollution legal liability, blended finite risk, secured creditor policies, and representation and warranties insurance (RWI). Our environmental attorneys work closely with the leading environmental insurance brokers and carriers and remain up to date with the latest insurance pricing and trends.

We are also experienced in handling insurance coverage issues involving contaminated properties owned by the insured or third parties, including insurance coverage for cleanup costs at hazardous waste disposal sites.

Brownfields Redevelopment

Our Environmental Transactions Team also has significant experience in the key area of brownfields redevelopment. Our attorneys are frequently engaged in supporting real estate developers, corporations and municipalities in the revitalization of contaminated lands, crafting economically viable and environmentally responsible projects that foster community growth.

We utilize skilled teams of attorneys who are knowledgeable in every aspect of brownfields redevelopment to provide our clients with an extensive network of contacts, up-to-the-minute analysis of changing federal and state voluntary cleanup requirements, and regulatory and risk management tools to quantify environmental risks and structure transactions in ways that minimize potential environmental liabilities.

For example, we have:

• converted large industrial sites into mixed-use and multifamily residential complexes in various states, including the Oakville industrial redevelopment project in Northern Virginia
• leveraged tax incentives that encourage siting of energy projects on contaminated lands – energy communities under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
• represented project developers with respect to Brownfields tax credits, including appeals
• facilitated the redevelopment of industrial, manufactured gas, chemical and gasoline service station sites in many jurisdictions
• negotiated and implemented institutional controls and long-term inspection/monitoring programs in several states
• chaired the ASTM Task Group that developed E 2091
• advised the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws on the development of a model Uniform Environmental Covenants Act
• compiled and edited the first-of-its-kind book on land use controls, titled Implementing Institutional Controls at Brownfields and Other Contaminated Sites, for the American Bar Association
• developed an institutional controls strategy for a 300-acre Superfund site in California that had previously been redeveloped into an industrial-business park