Maya Lopez Grasse

• Advise refineries, oil and gas companies, 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 (including the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District) and the South Coast Air Quality Management jurisdiction.
• 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 activities on countywide basis 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 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.
• Advise a Kern County mining company in connection with a potential endangered species listing that could affect mine operations, and counsel on general land use matters relating to development of the mine, including permitting for new project infrastructure and ongoing compliance with existing conditions and mitigation measures.
• Advised a steel mill in connection with the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s development of a new rule governing lead emissions, and participated in negotiations with the air district that ultimately resulted in adoption of a rule satisfactory to the client.
• Counseled a major cement company during environmental review for the expansion and modernization of its cement import terminal at the Port of Long Beach, and successfully defended a challenge to the project approvals by opponents who appealed the decision to the Long Beach City Council.
• Represented a developer in securing entitlements for the construction and development of a 225,000 square foot retail center and successfully defended the project in two CEQA challenges. The project is located between the international border and a municipal airport and required a general plan amendment, a zone change for portions of the site that were zoned open space, a tentative subdivision tract map, certification of an EIR, approval of a comprehensive sign program and related variances, as well as numerous other project entitlements.
• Successfully defended a California county and a private entity in an action alleging violations of CEQA and local zoning ordinances governing wine country area developments. The respondents’ motion for summary judgment was granted and the petitioner did not recover attorneys’ fees. 
• Represented an international, publicly traded company in two federal lawsuits filed by public entities alleging groundwater contamination from the historic use and application of fertilizer. Drafted a successful Daubert motion disqualifying the plaintiff’s expert witness.

Maya Grasse is a senior associate in the firm’s Environment, Land Use & Natural Resources Group. She counsels clients on a range of land use and environmental matters in urban, suburban and rural contexts.

Her practice includes securing and negotiating development entitlements for industrial, commercial, residential and energy projects, and preparing and reviewing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents. She advises clients on compliance with a variety of environmental regulations, including CEQA, the California and federal Clean Air Acts and Endangered Species Acts, and the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA), as well as local planning, zoning and environmental regulations. She assists clients with the selection and hiring of experts and consultants for litigation and regulatory matters, and also regularly monitors and provides analysis on proposed, new and existing environmental laws and agency rules and regulations.

Ms. Grasse represents clients in formal and informal proceedings before state and local agencies in connection with permitting and enforcement actions, with particular focus on representing industrial and energy clients before local air quality management districts. She also represents clients in federal and state court litigation on claims brought under CEQA and other environmental and planning and zoning laws.

Bar Admissions

• California

Education

• Loyola Marymount University (J.D., 2011)
• Pomona College (B.A., 2001)

Memberships