Environmental Law

Counseling clients on environmental compliance, permitting, remediation, and litigation
Our Approach

We guide municipalities and private parties through all aspects of State and Federal environmental investigation and remediation processes. This includes negotiation of complex consent decrees and administrative orders, coordinating remediation in a timely and cost-efficient manner, and litigating multi-party cost recovery actions. We also assist our clients through the application process for available tax credits under the NYS Brownfield Cleanup Program. Our attorneys work with our clients’ engineers and environmental consultants to obtain permits from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, NYC Department of Environmental Protection, United States Army Corps of Engineers, and other regulatory agencies.

What We Do

  • CERCLA and NYS Navigation Law
  • Voluntary cleanup programs
  • Negotiated cleanup agreements
  • Brownfield development
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Superfund litigation
  • Transactional due diligence
  • Administrative proceedings
  • Civil and criminal enforcement actions
  • Securing natural resource, wetland, stormwater, and other permits
  • Obtaining solid waste management and mined land reclamation permits
Recent News
Lee Lefkowitz secured a critical victory for a developer moving forward with a 185-unit multifamily project in Orange County. The project required a sewer connection utilizing a municipal sewer easement that crossed a neighboring private property. Despite not raising any objections during the approval process, the neighboring property owner later sued, claiming trespass and seeking...
Jacob Amir successfully obtained summary judgment in favor of a physical therapy practice that occupied two cooperative units, and the co-op units’ two shareholders, against the building’s attempt to end the practice’s 20-year presence in the cooperative building. In 2000, the practice converted two ground-floor units in the cooperative building from residential to commercial spaces....
Lee Lefkowitz achieved a significant legal victory for a developer seeking to redevelop a property in Tuckahoe. The developer purchased the site — an aging single-family home — with the intent to revitalize it, only to face unexpected resistance when the Village moved to landmark the property, restricting any modifications. Zarin & Steinmetz navigated the...