FEDERAL AFFAIRS

HBW’s federal affairs team focuses on winning by finding rational, bipartisan common ground. There is no shortage of political and policy challenges in the energy and environmental space. Our bipartisan approach promotes mutual respect and greater understanding around the process by developing and maintaining critical relationships with all political parties and being prompt and responsive to both the clients we serve and the public officials and local leaders we engage.

HBW’s federal affairs team has more than a century’s worth of combined government and private sector experience successfully maneuvering clients through the regulatory sphere. Our federal team has been instrumental in creating and streamlining the energy, infrastructure, and natural resources permitting process across national permitting agencies, particularly at the White House, Department of the Interior and Environmental Protection Agency.

With a proven bipartisan approach coupled with decades of experience in energy and environmental policy at all levels of government, HBW has assembled a team specifically designed to approach challenges in the energy, environment, conservation, transportation and infrastructure sectors in a comprehensive manner, creating effective strategies, and efficiently implementing them to achieve your tailored objectives.

The HBW team’s experience working across agencies to create the best route to drive large capital projects forward is unmatched in the energy and environmental industries.

ESG 

Our ESG strength lies in our ability to conduct due diligence investigations and reporting that provide companies with a baseline from which to measure their performance. We have extensive experience assessing and managing ESG risks.

Our due diligence will uncover social, ethical, environmental and safety risks associated with a specific transaction or with a company’s overall operations, and will typically encompass the following:

• Identifying, assessing and evaluating ESG risks associated with the specific transaction or the company’s overall operations
• Providing an overview of ESG best practices, and emerging megatrends and regulations for relevant countries, sectors and products
• Delivering an ESG Due Diligence report, specifically tailored to a company’s needs
• Reviewing and developing the company’s internal processes for ESG Due Diligence
• Developing guidance documents and checklists covering all relevant ESG criteria
• Conduct holistic or topic-based training and build in-house capacity
• Providing guidance and expert advice on internal and external reporting in line with emerging regulations, voluntary guidelines, and stakeholder expectations

While many law firms can highlight what particular ESG criteria a company should follow, HBW goes the extra mile and tells its clients what will happen if the company fails to do so.

We’ve been doing ESG since before ESG was a thing.

WATER PERMITTING

Our permitting expertise will assist clients in designing projects, and obtaining the requisite permits under the Clean Water Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, or the Safe Drinking Water Act.

• Providing guidance and assistance on ways to expedite the permitting process under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act that are required for the vast majority of projects constructed in the United States
• Provide Guidance and assistance on obtaining required NPDES discharge permits under the Clean Water Act that are required for many facilities
• Proved guidance and assistance on ways to obtain and expedite Underground Injection Control Permits under the Safe Drinking Water act. This is particularly important for th UIC Class VI permits required for carbon capture projects

INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING

Our Infrastructure Financing experience includes experience in all water infrastructure programs at the Environmental Protection Agency, shipbuilding and intermodal financing programs at the Department of Transportation.