- Advising refineries, oil and gas companies, and mining and manufacturing companies in ongoing matters of permitting and air quality compliance, including penalty negotiations and representation in administrative hearings, with particular familiarity within Kern County, California (including the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District), and South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) jurisdictions.
- Representing a refinery through modification of its Title V air permit, and associated CEQA review, as it undergoes a comprehensive conversion from petroleum refining to renewable fuel refining. Obtained variances from air district rules on behalf of this refinery as it pioneered new technology in limited early phases of the conversion.
- Represented a steel mill in obtaining a lengthy variance from provisions of a SCAQMD lead emissions rule, with conditions that are favorable to the client and allow for interim operational flexibility. Counseling this client through a concurrent Title V permit modification that will ultimately enable the facility to achieve compliance with the rule through an alternative operating protocol preferable to the client.
- Represented a public wastewater-treatment agency in obtaining a lengthy variance from SCAQMD rules and advising the agency on Title V reporting matters.
- Counseling an oil and gas exploration company on Endangered Species Act issues for a proposed development project within Bureau of Land Management and county jurisdictions.
- Advising a major cement plant in the regulatory implications of developing and employing a waste-derived engineered fuel for its cement kilns.
- Advising a separate major cement company in connection with environmental review of modifications to its Title V permit.
- Prevailed in appellate court on a key issue of first impression that considered whether and how California’s cap-and-trade program applied in assessing project GHG emissions impacts under CEQA.
- Counseled a major oil and gas exploration and production company through the development of a comprehensive environmental impact report addressing, among other things, review of the company’s countywide activities over a 20-year planning horizon. This effort required regular meetings with multiple stakeholders over more than two years, as well as cross-collaboration with technical consultants, regulators, and planning staff.
- Counseled a Kern County, California, refinery throughout the environmental review process of a controversial project to allow the refinery to receive crude oil by rail and secured project approvals, including certification of an environmental impact report.
Senior Associate,
- Phone: 213.576.2526
- Email: maya.grasse@alston.com
Clients count on Maya to chart a strategic course through complex environmental regulatory and permitting matters, particularly where they involve air quality and GHG laws. She also has substantial experience with the environmental challenges facing oil & gas, mining, manufacturing, and other industrial-sector clients in project permitting, environmental compliance, and administrative enforcement.