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Home Practice Areas Alaska Overview Natural Resources and Energy Law

Natural Resources and Energy Law

At BHBC, our goal is to simplify the process of resource development for our clients. We achieve this goal by leveraging BHBC’s extensive experience against the numerous issues that typically arise during the course of public and private projects. We aid our clients in funding, permitting and developing, and we protect our clients in dispute resolution when necessary.

Specialized skills are needed to maintain comprehensive natural resources and energy law practices, and Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot has that essential expertise in:

• Natural resources
• Land
• Land exchange
• Water
• Wildlife
• Environmental law
• Energy law

Our attorneys’ in-depth understanding and extensive experience in these specialized areas give us the capability to respond rapidly and effectively to our clients’ needs. BHBC can deploy sophisticated multi-disciplinary teams to address a panoply of legal issues drawing on the skills of our other practice groups, including commercial transactions, litigation and bankruptcy.

Natural Resources

Our large natural resources law practice covers the administrative, judicial and legislative arenas. BHBC specializes in representing private landowners, assisting them in negotiating and drafting unit agreements, transportation agreements, leases, pipeline easements, surface use permits, and seismic and other contracts, to ensure they benefit from the development of their natural resources without exposing themselves to undue risk. We have also represented certain natural resources industries in their efforts to acquire permits and government approvals in conjunction with mining developments. Thus, we are intimately familiar with myriad state and federal environmental regulations.

BHBC has worked with many federal and state land agencies, such as the Army Corps of Engineers, the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service. We advise clients on environmental review requirements and we craft strategic approaches to minimize litigation risks. We handle environmental permitting and statutory compliance issues, and when necessary, we appear in state and federal courts or before regulatory bodies to compel permit and project approvals and to defend approvals against legal challenges.

Throughout Alaska, we advise clients on issues involving environmental compliance, enforcement and litigation. BHBC has vast experience with federal and state laws pertaining to oil spill response prevention and pollution liability, having represented numerous interests in connection with claims arising from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill and the 1987 Glacier Bay spill in Cook Inlet.

The firm also has unparalleled experience with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), the Asian Elephant Conservation Act (AsECA), the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) and many other federal and state laws, regulations, treaties, rules and procedures.

BHBC is the legal firm of choice for national park concessionaires, oil and gas refining and transmission companies, electric utilities, guides and outfitters, recreational interests, entertainment corporations, mining corporations, landowners, sportsmen and aquaria in a variety of wildlife matters. Our accomplished attorneys are an established presence on Capitol Hill, representing clients before the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, the House Committee on Appropriations, the House Committee on Natural Resources, and more.

Energy Law

Birch, Horton, Bittner and Cherot represents an expansive range of interests in the energy industry. This practice area is led by veteran energy law practitioners who are both highly skilled and deeply knowledgeable about this specialized field.

We represent clients before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on hydroelectric licensing, electric and gas utility rates and rulemaking. We also represent electric utilities before state public utilities commissions and provide assistance on related business issues.

In addition, BHBC clients include a wide array of corporations that conduct business in rural Alaska, including Regional, Village and nonprofit Native corporations. We serve clients in a range of subject areas, a number of which include:

• Oil and gas leases, transfers and property matters
• State and federal permitting for oil, gas and mining interests
• Oil and gas exploration agreements
• Pipeline easements
• Pipeline connection and operating agreements
• Coal bed methane issues
• Regulatory analyses for oil, gas and mining interests
• Regulatory and appellate practice related to oil pipeline tariff rates
• Rate setting tariffs before state and federal regulatory bodies
• Rulemaking and obtaining regulatory approvals for pipeline acquisitions or pipeline interests
• Property interest, ownership and rights evaluation of public and private lands

Attorneys

• Tina M. Grovier
• Jennifer L. Owens, Ph.D.