Profile
Steve advises industrial, commercial, and municipal clients on a broad range of environmental, health, and safety (“EHS”) issues, including water quality, stormwater, water use, wastewater, waste, hazardous materials and safety, and air quality. He works with clients in various industry sectors, such as energy, oil and gas (including pipelines), manufacturing, food and beverage, metals, construction and land development, auto dealerships, education, and healthcare. Steve helps clients with EHS compliance, permitting, auditing, self-disclosures, and enforcement actions, including addressing issues with environmental agencies, river basin commissions, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”). He also advises clients on the environmental implications of business and real estate transactions and litigates environmental matters before courts and administrative hearing boards, including the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board.
Some examples of Steve’s work include:
- Comprehensive EHS audits and self-disclosures under agency audit policies to mitigate noncompliance
- NPDES permitting and compliance under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) and Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law (“CSL”) and potential liability for unlawful discharges
- Wastewater management and disposal issues, including for industrial dischargers, municipalities, and publicly owned treatment works (“POTWs”) under pretreatment programs
- Permitting and compliance for surface and groundwater withdrawals and water rights, including water use for oil-and-gas operations
- Oil-and-gas rights in and under streambeds
- Hazardous and residual waste, recycling of wastes, and compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”) and Pennsylvania Solid Waste Management Act
- Managing investigations, information requests, and inspections
- Assisting in the environmental implications of business and real estate transactions
- Workplace emergencies and compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act and OSHA standards
- Chemical safety in the workplace, the Hazard Communication Standard, and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals (“GHS”)
- Drafting safety data sheets (“SDSs”) and labels, compliance with California Proposition 65 (“Prop 65”) warnings, and emergency reporting under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (“EPCRA”)
Steve has also handled bid protests and internal investigations for clients in the construction and engineering sectors.
Steve has authored and co-authored articles and treatise chapters in the fields of environmental and energy law, including:
- Water Quality, Chapter 4 in Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Pennsylvania Environmental Law and Practice (9th ed. 2018).
- Cybersecurity in the Era of Unconventional Development: Is the Energy Sector Ready for Cyber Attacks?, Chapter 28 in Energy & Mineral Law Foundation (36th Annual Institute June 2015).
- Acquisition of Water for Energy and Mineral Development in the Eastern United States, The Water-Energy Nexus, Paper No. 2A (Rocky Mt. Min. L. Fdn. 2012).
EDUCATION
Bucknell University, B.A., 2007; cum laude, majoring in both political science and geography; Bucknell Prize in Geography; Patriot League Football Academic Honor Roll (2004 and 2005)
Widener University Commonwealth Law School, J.D., 2010; magna cum laude; Environmental Law Certificate, Law and Government Institute; Outstanding Law and Government Student Award; Outstanding Service Award; Outstanding Student Article; Internal Managing Editor, Widener Law Journal; President, Environmental Law and Policy Society
MEMBERSHIPS
Environmental and Energy Law Section, Pennsylvania Bar Association
Dauphin County Bar Association
James S. Bowman American Inn of Court (2012-2014)
Knights of Columbus (Third Degree)
Harrisburg Young Professionals
COURT ADMISSIONS
U.S. District Court – Middle District of Pennsylvania
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
Bar Admissions
Pennsylvania
PUBLICATIONS
May 20, 2020 - OSHA Rescinds and Revises Guidance for Enforcement and COVID-19 Recording
McNees Client Alert
April 20, 2020 - Meeting Workplace Compliance Obligations During COVID-19: OSHA Issues Guidance for Inspections, Audits, Employee Training, and More
McNees Client Alert
April 15, 2020 - Pennsylvania Requires Additional Safety Measures for COVID-19 in the Workplace, Including Mandatory Masks for Employees
McNees Client Alert
April 13, 2020 - COVID-19 in the Workplace: OSHA Issues Enforcement Guidance
McNees Client Alert
April 8, 2020 - FDA Relaxes Nutrition and Menu Labeling Requirements Amid COVID-19
McNees Food & Beverage Client Alert
April 6, 2020 - Businesses Ordered to Implement New Safety and Sanitation Measures
McNees Client Alert
April 3, 2020 - Masks for Employees During the COVID-19 Pandemic?: White House, Governor Wolf Recommend Masks for the Public and OSHA Issues Guidance for Employers
McNees Client Alert
April 2, 2020 - PADEP Responds to COVID-19: How to Ask PADEP for a Temporary Suspension of Environmental Compliance Obligations
McNees Client Alert
March 20, 2020 - UPDATE: What Does the Governor’s COVID-19 Order Mean for Developers and Compliance with Environmental Permit Requirements?
McNees Client Alert
July 27, 2019 - Overview of EPCRA and Important Changes for Pennsylvania Agriculture
The Legal Intelligencer
December 13, 2018 - EPA Announces "WOTUS" Replacement Rule that Will Affect Development and Narrow Jurisdictional Wetlands and Waters
McNees Energy & Environmental Client Alert
July 26, 2018 - MS4 Requirements and the Impact to (and Upside for?) Developers
The Legal Intelligencer
May 2, 2018 - Stormwater Regulation and Fees in Pennsylvania
McNees Advocate Alert
February 6, 2018 - USEPA Withdraws “Once In Always In” VOC Air Quality Policy
McNees Environmental & Toxic Tort Alert
January 26, 2018 - Stormwater Regulation and Fees Will Impact Businesses and Development
Corporate Counsel Business Journal
November 14, 2017 - Stormwater Regulation and Fees Will Impact Auto Dealers
McNees Auto Notes
February 21, 2017 - EPA’s Proposed “Reset” of TSCA Chemical Inventory Requires Identification of “Active” and “Inactive” Chemicals and Confirmation of Confidentiality Claims
Environmental and Energy Law Client Alert