Concordia Pacific can provide businesses with peerless expertise in managing their environmental responsibilities. We have a wealth of experience in all phases of environmental regulation, including air and water pollution control, waste disposal, leaking underground storage tanks and clean up of contaminated land.
Concordia Pacific offers a comprehensive range of services in pollution law. We can provide timely, carefully considered assistance with:
- Defending against environmental prosecutions under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act in the Land and Environment Court (class 5 proceedings) and in Local Court.
- Due diligence investigations, so that you will be fully advised about possible risks and liabilities before you purchase property or a business that is engaged in pollution-generating activities.
- Obtaining environment protection licenses under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act, development approvals under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, and ensuring that the conditions that are attached to these approvals are fair and reasonable.
- Carrying out environmental audits so that you will be aware of the pollution risks associated with your business operations and of the steps that you can take to minimise those risks.
- Negotiating the terms of enforceable undertakings under the POEO and voluntary remediation agreements under the Contaminated Land Management Act.
- Responding to clean up, prevention, prohibition and noise control notices issued under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act.
Because Michael Arch, the firm’s principal, has thorough understanding of the way that the New South Wales Department of Environment and Climate Change operates, and outstanding contacts and credibility with the agency’s staff, Concordia Pacific can help your company to navigate the regulatory maze strategically and cost-effectively.
Concordia Pacific has particularly strong skills in defending against enforcement actions, including criminal prosecutions brought to recover monetary penalties in Local Courts and the Land and Environment Court, as well as cases where the regulatory authorities are seeking an injunction.
Our approach to dealing with enforcement proceedings brought by government authorities is innovative and proactive. We can guide you to develop strategies so that your business can get “ahead of the curve”, and minimise the adverse consequences that may be associated with a prosecution.
For example, we can demonstrate how your company may be able to limit the amount of potential penalties that may be imposed by the Court by taking prompt clean up action, investing in upgraded pollution control equipment and staff training, carrying out an audit to identify and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from your facility, or performing “green” projects (like replanting native vegetation).
We can also advise you on tactics to adopt to lessen the amount of costs that a prosecuting authority may seek to recover, and thus help you to substantially decrease the overall expense of defending a case.
In every case, Concordia Pacific will stand by you as an aggressive advocate, to ensure that your rights are protected, that all factual and legal arguments that favour your position are fully and vigorously presented, and to ensure that your business is treated in a fair and balanced manner by the regulatory authorities and the courts.
