Environmental Liabilities and PRP Insolvency Managing Environmental Obligations and Meeting Remediation Requirements Today’s faculty features: 1pm Eastern | 12pm Central | 11am Mountain | 10am Pacific The audio portion of the conference may be accessed via the telephone or by using your computer's speakers. Please refer to the instructions emailed to registrants for additional information. If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service at 1-800-926-7926 ext. 10. THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013 Presenting a live 90-minute webinar with interactive Q&A Milissa A. Murray, Of Counsel, Bingham, Washington, D.C. Michael S. McDonough, Partner, Pillsbury, Los Angeles William F. Govier, Of Counsel, Lesnick Prince & Pappas, Lesnick Prince & Pappas
38
Embed
Environmental Liabilities and PRP Insolvencymedia.straffordpub.com/products/environmental-liabilities-and-prp-insolvency-2013-04...Apr 04, 2013 · Environmental Liabilities and PRP
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Environmental Liabilities and PRP Insolvency Managing Environmental Obligations and Meeting Remediation Requirements
If you dialed in and have any difficulties during the call, press *0 for assistance.
Viewing Quality
To maximize your screen, press the F11 key on your keyboard. To exit full screen,
press the F11 key again.
For CLE purposes, please let us know how many people are listening at your
location by completing each of the following steps:
• In the chat box, type (1) your company name and (2) the number of
attendees at your location
• Click the SEND button beside the box
FOR LIVE EVENT ONLY
If you have not printed the conference materials for this program, please
complete the following steps:
• Click on the + sign next to “Conference Materials” in the middle of the left-
hand column on your screen.
• Click on the tab labeled “Handouts” that appears, and there you will see a
PDF of the slides for today's program.
• Double click on the PDF and a separate page will open.
• Print the slides by clicking on the printer icon.
Environmental Issues in Bankruptcy
Strafford Webinar
April 4, 2013
Milissa Murray
Bingham McCutchen LLP
Mike McDonough
Pillsbury Winthrop LLP
Bill Govier
Lesnick Prince & Pappas LLP
6
I. Introduction
• Environmental claims and obligations pose unique issues in bankruptcy – their treatment often highlights the tension between the “fresh start” policy underlying the Bankruptcy Code and the “polluter pays” principle behind environmental statutes.
• Broadly speaking, the primary holders of environmental claims in bankruptcy cases are the government and private parties aggrieved by the debtor’s failure to clean up its mess (or compensate for its toxic torts).
7
Introduction (cont’d)
• Whether private or governmental, environmental creditors rarely emerge after bankruptcy unscathed by the reduction, capping or elimination (a/k/a “reorganization”) of the debtor’s environmental liabilities and obligations.
• The treatment of environmental claims in bankruptcy will vary widely depending upon the legal basis for the claim; whether it is direct or in contribution; who is asserting it; and whether it is contingent.
• Parties who share environmental liabilities with the debtor face particularly challenging obstacles to securing the debtor’s fair share of cleanup costs. Nevertheless, there are preventative measures PRPs and remediating PRP groups can take to minimize the risks and consequences of disallowance of their claims in the bankruptcy of another PRP.
8
Common Themes
• Right to a money recovery vs. injunctive relief
• Claims by government vs. claims by private parties
• Obligation to maintain environmental compliance
during bankruptcy
• Timing/priority of payment for ongoing cleanup
• Joining of contract or common law claims
• Rights of subsequent property purchasers
9
II. Bankruptcy Law Overview
• Goals: fresh start (discharge); avoiding race to the
Milissa Murray is a seasoned commercial litigator with more than 20 years’ experience in the resolution of complex business, environmental and bankruptcy disputes. She is a member of Bingham’s Environmental Land Use and Natural Resources Group and a co-founder of the Environmental Liabilities in Bankruptcy Practice.
Her practice encompasses all aspects of complex commercial litigation at both the state and federal levels, with particular emphasis on environmental, bankruptcy, regulatory, real estate, contract and telecommunications law. She has extensive experience in all facets of litigation, trial practice and the development of alternative dispute resolution strategies, including pre-suit counseling and planning (including settlement and cost/benefit analyses and development of litigation budgets), discovery, electronic discovery, motions practice, settlement negotiations, mediation, trial, appeals and administrative and governmental investigations and enforcement proceedings. Milissa has appeared in numerous federal bankruptcy, district and circuit courts across the country and in many state tribunals including the highest Maryland appellate courts.
Mr. McDonough is a partner in Pillsbury’s Los Angeles Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources section. He represents Fortune 500 companies, municipalities and private entities in complex environmental litigation, administrative and enforcement matters at the federal, state and local levels. Mr. McDonough also provides client compliance counseling on issues ranging from climate change and air quality enforcement, to soil and water quality issues, to environmental management and ISO 14001 issues. His practice focuses on defending enforcement actions, bringing regulatory challenges, and litigating with state and federal regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice, the California Air Resources Board, the California Energy Commission, the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, among others. He represents a range of Fortune 500 companies from a variety of industries, including energy production and importing, petroleum refining, freight transportation, consumer products, automobile manufacturing, aerospace, chemical manufacturing, and electronics manufacturing.
Bill represents clients in complex workout and insolvency matters in domestic, cross-border and multinational restructurings, including a special emphasis on Latin American restructurings. Bill has represented institutional, high-yield and distressed debt investors, trade creditors, official and ad hoc creditors’ committees, as well as DIP agents and lenders in such engagements. Bill also represents a wide variety of investors, including hedge funds and private equity funds are well as strategic investors, in distressed debt transactions, including acquiring assets and companies out of bankruptcy estates. He also represents debtors in both domestic and cross-border financial restructurings.