Environmental/Land Use

For more than three decades, Rackemann, Sawyer & Brewster has helped commercial, industrial, governmental and individual clients deal with the complex, interrelated and frequently changing mix of state and federal environmental laws. We provide practical, business-focused guidance on a full range of environmental concerns, such as permitting, compliance and enforcement proceedings, environmental impact reviews, and compliance audits. Our practice has particular strength in three highly specialized permitting areas:

Waterfront development, including wetlands and tidelands permitting under Massachusetts General Laws (MGL) Chapter 91
Assessment and remediation of hazardous waste under MGL Chapter 21E
Municipal zoning, permitting and approval of residential and commercial development projects.

Our lawyers played a key role in formulating and drafting of many of the Commonwealth's environmental regulatory programs, including, among others, the MEPA regulations, the Chapter 91 tidelands and waterways regulations, the highway access permit guidelines, the air pollution control regulations, and the new regulations implementing the Rivers Protection Act. This in-depth understanding of the intent and the application of environmental statutes enables us to develop creative and effective compliance solutions.

Key Clients

Reflecting the breadth of our environmental practice, we advise major private and public sector clients across a wide range of business focuses. Among our significant representations are:

Leading financial services firms, such as Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Company and John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company
Major corporations, including Raytheon Company and National Amusements, Inc.
Such developers as First Winthrop Corporation and Oxbow Realty Services, Inc.
Non-profit organizations like Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Public sector clients, ranging from Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to The United States Postal Service.

Wetlands Permitting

For nearly a century, Rackemann has taken a leading role in developing Massachusetts tidelands law. We handled our first tidelands case in 1909, and subsequently played a key role in drafting the Chapter 91 tidelands and wetlands permitting statutes. Our lawyers have helped waterfront property owners resolve Chapter 91 issues concerning the Charleston Navy Yard, Commercial Wharf, Constitution Wharf, Lincoln Wharf, Long Wharf, and various Massachusetts Port Authority and City of Boston properties. We have also provided Chapter 91 permitting help to property developer First Winthrop Corporation and its Nantucket Boat Basis Marina, one of the company’s 75 Nantucket properties.

Hazardous Waste Cleanup

Our lawyers are intimately familiar with the intricacies of Federal and state laws and regulations governing oil and hazardous material contamination, including the storage, treatment, and disposal of hazardous substances and the cleanup of hazardous waste sites. We have helped a number clients obtain simplified approval of cleanup during construction on major urban projects, through application of MGL Chapter 21E (the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act). Rackemann has provided successful 21E advice and counsel to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the Central Artery Tunnel Project and to over 100 other projects throughout the state.

Our experience assisting clients with hazardous waste cleanup issues also encompasses:

Advising parties on contaminated site actions, including leaking underground storage tanks, asbestos and other hazardous materials
Participation in landowner settlement negotiations with the Environmental Protection Administration, the Commonwealth, and other Potentially Responsible Parties in Superfund matters such as the Industri-plex (Woburn) Federal Superfund case
Advising insurers on the administration, negotiation and settlement of hazardous waste contamination claims under federal and state superfund laws (including at sites in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New Jersey sites
Helping institutional lenders develop formal policies to assess hazardous waste and asbestos risks in the underwriting of commercial real estate transactions.

Development Approvals

Real estate law has been a foundation of our firm for over a century, which means we have extensive experience representing landowners seeking zoning, wetlands, subdivision and other municipal permits required for the development of retail shopping facilities, urban and suburban office buildings, movie theaters and residential developments. Because we maintain an extensive library of municipal bylaws and ordinances, dating back to the original adoption of municipal zoning in the 1920s and updated to the present, our lawyers have the resources to analyze even the most complex land use issues and secure the necessary approvals. That includes such issues as historic preservation, subdivision approvals, and environmental impact reviews (including review under federal and state law for the Logan Airport Modernization Program). Among other development projects that we have helped reach completion are:

For client John M. Corcoran Company, development of a 250-unit apartment building adjacent to Revere Beach Parkway in Chelsea. Rackeman secured city zoning permits and a MEPA Phase I environmental impact waiver, and handled site plan review and other special permitting issues.
For client Old Colony Maritime, redevelopment of a former manufacturing site into a mixed use property with townhouses, commercial properties and a publicly accessible park. Rackeman handled local zoning, state and local wetlands matters, and Chapter 91 permitting.
For client Milton Landing LLC, we resolved zoning issues in connection with the redevelopment of a former warehouse site in Milton into a mixed residential condominium and commercial project.
For fruit and vegetable wholesaling client A. Russo & Sons, Inc. of Watertown, we have handled permitting and development issues that enable the company to quadruple the size of its retail operations.
For client Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we advised the Real Estate Department on zoning and environmental matters in connection with the acquisition and development of properties in Cambridge and other communities.

Other Environmental Permitting

We provide a variety of private and public sector clients with strategic legal analysis of permit and approval requirements regarding stormwater discharge, sewers, highway traffic, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. Representative projects that we have facilitated include marinas and related waterfront developments, mixed use (retail, office and housing) development projects, multifamily housing, affordable housing (40B) projects, retail stores, warehouses, office buildings, university athletic facilities and landfills.

Advising landowners in connection with the issuance of DEP groundwater discharge permits
Obtaining individual National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits from the EPA and the Massachusetts DEP
Securing Final Orders of Conditions under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act
Counseling First Winthrop Corporation on Clean Air Act matters in connection with the operation of the only oil tank farm on Nantucket.
Winning approval of over 400 40(B) apartment units in a project that overlapped municipal boundaries.

Environmental Disputes

Our lawyers represent business and property owners in connection with administrative enforcement proceedings brought by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental

Protection for alleged violations of environmental law. Our environmental litigation practice includes particularly broad experience in insurance coverage lawsuits concerning environmental claims. Members of our firm have participated in cases presenting a number of issues of first impression in this area, which have resulted in significant developments in Massachusetts law.

Rackemann Strategic Consulting

To complement our firm’s environmental law capabilities, we formed Rackemann Strategic Consulting, Inc. This corporate subsidiary brings together professional engineers and planning experts who provide our clients with strategic advice, environmental, planning and development counsel, and environmental litigation support services. Two particular focuses of our subsidiary’s work are the creation of environmental review and permitting strategies for real estate development, and the analysis of hazardous waste disposal and remediation proposals in connection with new construction and other real estate development activities.