Environment, Energy & Sustainability

Client-Centered Solutions: Legal Services for Environmental Litigation, Regulatory Compliance, and Sustainable Supply Chains

Butzel's comprehensive environmental law practice serves clients across the complete spectrum of environmental issues, from regulatory compliance to complex litigation. The broad experience members of this group possess as in-house and outside counsel allows us to deliver elevated industry knowledge across diverse sectors. We are experienced in providing counsel on global trade regulations impacting environment, energy, and sustainability issues for multinational companies and those with international supply chains.

Environment

We offer core environmental services, guiding clients through critical environmental challenges including securing development permits, navigating state and federal regulatory compliance, and managing water and air emissions permitting. Our services encompass hazardous substance management including the oversight of underground storage tanks, indoor air quality issues, spill reporting, product labeling, and environmental considerations in real estate transactions. Our experience includes Brownfield cost recovery and Superfund cases. We also provide tax incentive guidance and legislative analysis.

As environmental law evolves, businesses face escalating issues such as stricter climate change regulations, increased oversight of persistent contaminants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and expanding environment, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainability requirements. Companies must adapt to complex permitting processes, enhanced enforcement risks, new tax incentives, and rising demands for transparency and stakeholder engagement. Anticipating regulatory changes and integrating environmental strategies are essential for organizations to remain compliant and competitive in a dynamic regulatory landscape. We provide clients with foresight into escalating issues, helping them anticipate risks and adapt their business strategies to stay ahead of evolving legal and industry standards. Our attorneys offer strategic guidance on compliance, risk management, and best practices, ensuring clients are prepared for future developments in environmental law and policy.

Automotive

We’re recognized across the automotive industry as THE Automotive Supplier’s Law Firm, and that’s because we won’t represent original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) adverse to a supplier. We’re proud to be an active member of MEMA, the Vehicle Suppliers Association. We collaborate with MEMA regularly to advance the vehicle supplier industry, helping teams to align with evolving expectations from OEMs and regulators.

The attorneys in our Automotive Industry Team frequently collaborate with members of our Environment, Energy and Sustainability Team, lending their significant knowledge pertinent to the regulatory environment in the automotive supply chain. We deliver a comprehensive suite of services to help automotive organizations advance their ESG commitments across a broad range of topics. Our work spans assisting with ESG audits and compliance reviews, workforce assessments to ensure inclusive hiring frameworks, environmental sustainability, including emissions compliance, carbon footprint reduction, and use of sustainable materials. Our supply chain advisory services address human rights, ethical sourcing, and compliance with labor standards. We offer guidance on best practices in corporate governance, including board composition, anti-corruption policies, and transparent executive compensation. In addition, we assist with establishing robust product safety and quality systems, strengthening data privacy and cybersecurity protocols, and implementing community engagement and philanthropic programs. Our experience extends to enabling circular economy strategies—such as vehicle end-of-life management and waste minimization—and developing climate resilience plans tailored to supply chain risks. We help clients navigate ESG reporting requirements and stakeholder communications, ensuring transparency and alignment with leading frameworks like the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards.

Advanced Battery Technologies

As an active member of NAATBatt International, we're deeply engaged in the evolving energy storage, disposal, afterlife, and mobility landscape. We collaborate with companies in the electric and autonomous vehicle (E/AV) sector to develop flexible, future-ready business models that support innovation and market growth, with a particular focus on battery recycling and the implementation of closed-loop systems that scale up EV battery recycling to recover precious metals and critical materials.

Our attorneys help clients navigate complex regulations, sustainable production methods, materials, and labor standards in advanced battery manufacturing, recycling, and disposal for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in electric vehicles, and related charging infrastructure. This includes supporting battery packs for applications such as EV energy storage systems and guiding end-of-life (EOL) processes, including disassembly, testing, and maximizing recycling opportunities to keep valuable materials out of landfills. We advise on strategies to refurbish, reuse, and recycle battery materials through closed-loop systems, and help clients understand and comply with extended producer responsibility (EPR) requirements.

We provide cradle to grave analyses to identify environmental impacts across the battery lifecycle, supporting robust recycling practices. While lithium batteries remain dominant for high-energy applications, we monitor and counsel clients on emerging zinc and sodium-ion technologies that offer more sustainable, cost-effective solutions for mobility and grid storage. Our team remains at the forefront of these advancements to ensure our clients are prepared for evolving industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Energy  

The energy sector has experienced rapid evolution over the last several decades. Since the 1970s, Butzel has been a trusted advisor, navigating a landscape shaped by environmental regulations and evolving best practices. In the early years, our attorneys helped clients adapt to emerging pollution controls and permitting requirements. As the focus broadened in the 2000s to include corporate social responsibility and the adoption of ESG frameworks, we guided energy companies in hazardous substance management, remediation of contaminated sites, and integrating sustainability into real estate and business transactions. The 2010s ushered in a greater emphasis on stakeholder engagement, transparency, and sustainability audits, with Butzel supporting clients in compliance reviews and the strategic integration of environmental considerations into operational planning. In the 2020s and beyond, as regulatory demands intensified with new mandates for renewable energy, stricter climate laws, and increased attention to greenhouse gas emissions, we provided strategic counsel on compliance, risk management, and ESG reporting under prominent frameworks such as GRI and SASB. Throughout every phase, we have consistently helped energy clients anticipate regulatory changes, manage risks, and implement best-in-class ESG strategies. As the sector continues to shift, clients can rely on our depth of experience and legal acumen to maintain seamless, compliant operations and proactively prepare for what lies ahead in renewable and clean energy.

Our clients include companies in "cleantech" sectors including alternate fuels, renewable energy, manufacturing, and transportation. Butzel attorneys are active in numerous technology and funding-related business associations including Automation Alley, Ann Arbor's Smart Zone and SPARK, the New Enterprise Forum, NextEnergy Center, and Tech Town. We have represented clients in matters including permitting for the use of alternative fuel and procuring tax incentives in the purchase of a research and development facility; obtaining, modifying, and transferring air permits; representation of an energy company in the development, land purchase, equipment purchase, and procurement of tax incentives in the purchase of a manufacturer; conducting environmental due diligence and organizing the transfer of environmental permits for the purchase of a portable energy production facility; and assisted with the purchasing, contracting, bonding, construction, and permitting of two ethanol plants.

Sustainability

Global ESG standards call for responsible sourcing and fair labor practices. Sustainability practices are important to entities of all sizes, and particularly for multinational businesses and those with international supply chains. Companies must ensure materials are ethically sourced and that suppliers meet labor and human rights expectations across the supply chain. With a strong focus on supply chain sustainability, we guide clients through industry shifts and emerging technologies.

Navigating complex global trade regulations affecting environmental concerns, such as developing European Union (EU) frameworks like the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which aims to level the playing field for EU industries while aligning with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules—requires deep legal capabilities. Understanding WTO decisions is equally vital, as they influence cross-border pricing, compliance, intellectual property, and product classification for a variety of materials and products pertinent to the industries we serve.

We also assess social and governance practices, from labor and safety standards set forth by the United States Department of Labor (DOL), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and various other agencies overseeing ethical sourcing and risk management, including the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and agencies specific to laws and regulations pertinent to individual countries, helping suppliers meet regulatory and stakeholder ESG goals.

Butzel has experience with a broad range of climate change regulations, including federal and state greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) laws such as the Clean Air Act, renewable energy mandates and portfolio standards, and major ESG reporting frameworks like GRI, SASB, and ISSB. Additionally, we advise clients regarding carbon pricing systems such as cap-and-trade programs and carbon taxes, international agreements including the Paris Agreement and the EU CBAM, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements, and mandates for corporate social responsibility and sustainability disclosures. We help sustainability-focused clients to navigate these evolving rules, manage risk, complete permitting, and integrate sustainability into their operations.

We Have the Environmental Experience You Require

Butzel's environmental law attorneys work closely with colleagues across practice areas to advise on related matters. As a large, full-service firm, our environmental team has access to lawyers with deep experience in a variety of specialized areas of practice, including real estate, land use and zoning, corporate transactions, tax and incentives, regulatory compliance, litigation, and supply chain management. For example, our real estate attorneys negotiate environmental terms in purchase, lease, and mortgage agreements, conduct environmental assessments, and address concerns for buyers, sellers, and lenders in commercial, residential, and manufacturing deals. This multidisciplinary approach enables us to provide comprehensive, strategic guidance for projects ranging from complex developments and infrastructure projects to hazardous substance management and sustainability initiatives.

Our clients are as diverse as the matters we handle, including individuals, small businesses, and major corporations. Butzel has also been retained by other law firms to act as co-counsel or local counsel regarding a variety of environmental matters. Our reputation, experience, and resources give other law firms confidence that they can entrust their clients to our representation. Whether local, regional, national, or global, we tailor our approach depending upon the client's needs.

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Renewable Energy Development Projects

Represented energy company in development, land purchase, equipment purchase, and tax incentives for wood pellet manufacturing

Assist with the purchasing, contracting, bonding, construction and permitting of two ethanol plants

Assisted client in purchasing, tax incentives, and permits of alternative fuel, research and development (R&D) facility

Brownfield Redevelopment and Tax Incentives

Created Brownfield Authority for large metropolitan county and local municipalities

Represented client in obtaining Brownfield and other tax credits for a multimillion-dollar project

Chaired Brownfield Authority for large suburban community

Advised client concerning purchase, tax incentives, and the remediation of a contaminated site to redevelop into residential units

Water Rights and Infrastructure

Represented client in water rate dispute against major urban municipality resulting in $24 million rate reduction

Represented county in a variety of issues from construction of a $300 million upgrade and expansion of its wastewater treatment plant to compliance of its wastewater discharge limits

Climate Change and Environmental Justice

Environmental representation for a metal finishing company in connection with the release of hazardous chemicals that caused evacuation of over 3,000 people and a flood of class action lawsuits

Represented manufacturing company in class action suit for damages because of evacuation

ESG and Corporate Environmental Compliance

Assisted numerous clients with international transactions involving environmental due diligence and permitting throughout South America, Asia, and Europe

Complex, multi-continent acquisitions of companies for an international polymers manufacturer

Represented manufacturing company with respect to multimedia inspection by state and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Wetlands and Biodiversity Protection

Created the first wetland bank in Michigan

Successfully represented client in dispute with Michigan Department of Environment Quality (DEQ) n/k/a Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) over wetland delineation for 50-acre development

Assisted clients in obtaining permits and defending action in alleged disturbance of an endangered species (eagles)