A former US Department of the Interior and American Wind Energy Association lawyer, Lauren draws on her diverse experience to navigate clients through complex permitting and compliance issues that arise under a host of federal environmental statutes and regulations. She also advocates for clients during related administrative rulemakings and litigation.
Lauren has extensive experience with permitting and litigation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Mineral Leasing Act (MLA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (BGEPA) and Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). She also has significant experience representing clients on Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and hazardous waste matters.
She has represented energy industry coalitions on various regulatory and administrative matters before the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Lauren has deep experience drafting comments on administrative rulemakings, advising clients on policy and regulatory clarifications and negotiating proposed legislative bills as well as with federal permitting and litigation. She also has advocated on behalf of energy clients regarding carbon policies and the repeal and replacement of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan.
As an Attorney-Advisor for DOI’s Office of the Solicitor, Lauren worked with BLM, FWS and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on rulemakings, administrative actions and litigation that impacted the oil and gas and coal industries. That experience includes working on the oil and gas venting and flaring rules, the coal leasing moratorium and its associated programmatic environmental impact statement, and instruction memoranda implementing the agencies’ regulations. Along with assisting with DOI regulation implementation, Lauren also worked with BLM and DOJ on the environmental review and associated litigation for high-profile coal leasing matters throughout the country and counseled agencies on matters concerning the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA), CERCLA, OCSLA, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the Bankruptcy code.
More Legal and Business Bylines From Lauren A. Bachtel
- Presidential Memorandum Directs Evolution in Regulatory Review - (Posted On Friday, January 29, 2021)
- New Memo Doubles Down and Bolsters Justice Department Positions on Limiting Supplemental Environmental Projects - (Posted On Wednesday, January 20, 2021)
- The EU Drive toward a Sustainable Battery Framework and Seeing Around the Corner in the US - (Posted On Monday, January 11, 2021)
- Stay in your lane! Wyoming Federal Court Finds BLM Venting and Flaring Rule Intrudes on EPA Authority - (Posted On Thursday, October 29, 2020)
- Massachusetts Course Corrects on Offshore Wind Transmission - (Posted On Thursday, October 01, 2020)
- Services Propose Definition of Habitat for ESA Regulations - (Posted On Wednesday, September 16, 2020)
- CEQ Releases Long-Awaited Final Rule to Improve NEPA Regulations - (Posted On Monday, July 27, 2020)
- EPA Sets Termination Date for Temporary Enforcement Policy - (Posted On Thursday, July 02, 2020)
- The President’s COVID-19 Executive Order Easing Regulatory Burdens - (Posted On Friday, May 22, 2020)
- Massachusetts Doubles Size of “SMART” Solar Program - (Posted On Monday, May 04, 2020)