Western Environmental Law Center
Partner, Crowell & Moring
Ellen Steen is a partner specializing in environmental and natural resources law. She has represented a broad range of industrial, mining, timber, and agricultural clients in matters involving the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act ("RCRA"), Emergency Protection and Community Right-to-Know Act ("EPCRA"), Toxic Substances Control Act ("TSCA"), Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act ("FIFRA"), and the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA").
Ellen's litigation practice has included a wide range of cases concerning the scope of EPA's regulatory authority (both challenging and defending EPA regulations), as well as enforcement actions by EPA and citizens groups. She has litigated Clean Water Act cases involving National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System ("NPDES") permitting, including storm water permitting, as well as section 404 wetlands ("dredge and fill") permitting, antidegradation policies, the total maximum daily load ("TMDL") program, state water quality certification requirements, and Endangered Species Act consultation in connection with EPA action under the Clean Water Act. Some of the more significant policy-related Clean Water Act cases include the successful challenge to aspects of EPA's NPDES regulations for concentrated animal feeding operations ("CAFOs"), Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. v. EPA, 399 F.3d 486 (2nd Cir. 2005), the successful defense of EPA's current general permit for construction-related storm water discharges, Texas Independent Royalty Producers and Owners Ass'n v. EPA, 410 F.3d 964 (7th Cir. 2005), and on-going litigation concerning EPA's 2008 revised CAFO rules, National Pork Producers Council, et al. v. EPA, No. 08-61093 (5th Cir.), and administrative reporting exemption from EPCRA release reporting requirements, Waterkeeper Alliance, et al. v. EPA, No. 09-1017 (D.C. Cir.). Ellen has defended against numerous administrative and judicial enforcement actions under the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws, including citizens' suits alleging violations of hazardous substance release reporting requirements, as well as citizen claims for RCRA "imminent and substantial endangerment" and open dumping. She has litigated NEPA cases, defending federal projects from challenges to the adequacy of environmental impact analyses, and has extensive experience in Superfund contribution and cost recovery litigation.
Ellen's regulatory counseling and permitting expertise includes Clean Water Act permitting and compliance (related to both NPDES and section 404 dredge and fill regulation), as well as counseling on a variety of issues concerning the regulation of chemical substances, site remediation under the Superfund National Contingency Plan, hazardous substance release reporting, hazardous waste management, and pesticide regulation. She regularly prepares formal comments and engages in administrative advocacy related to EPA initiatives concerning NPDES permitting rules and permit issuance, water quality standards, effluent limitations guidelines, and TMDLs.
She serves as a vice-chair of the Agricultural Management Committee within the ABA's Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. She is a member of the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, various federal appellate courts, the District of Columbia, and North Carolina.
Senior Advisor, Trade, Intellectual Property and Strategic Issue, CropLife America
Douglas T. Nelson is senior advisor, for trade, intellectual property and strategic issues for CropLife America, the largest national trade organization representing developers, manufacturers, formulators and distributors of agricultural pesticides across the United States.
Prior to CropLife America, Nelson served as assistant general counsel and assistant secretary of Unilever United States, Inc. in New York, N.Y.
Other previous positions included acquisitions and divestitures counsel at Union Carbide Corporation in Danbury, Conn., and associate positions at the New York law firms of Paul, Weiss Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, and Coudert Brothers.
Nelson is an appointed member of the United States Industry Trade Advisory Committee on Intellectual Property Rights, which advises the U.S. trade representative and the Secretary of Commerce on intellectual property rights aspects of U.S. trade policy.
Nelson holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., a master’s degree and Ph.D. in European history from Columbia University and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law, in New York, N.Y.
Nelson holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J., a master’s degree and Ph.D. in European history from Columbia University and a J.D. from the Columbia University School of Law, in New York, N.Y.
National Cotton Council v. EPA and NPDES Permits
Charles Tebbutt, Ellen Steen, Doug T. Nelson
Since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, any entity that disposes pollutants...