Government and private environmental compliance and restoration activities become more complicated each year. At the federal level, spending on compliance, restoration, and waste management is growing slowly. As this market matures, opportunities for environmental firms become more competitive and the challenges of environmental contracting grow immensely.

• Performing hazardous waste work imposes unique potential liabilities.
• Facility compliance requirements are being directed at contractors along with government agencies.
• Contracting reforms at DOE place contractors at greater risk.
• "Privatization" of governmental functions in waste cleanup and water treatment expose contractors to unique governmental funding risks.
• Greater emphasis is being placed on conflicts of interest, procurement integrity, and government ethics.
• The Federal acquisition reforms make significant changes to the government procurement process.
• Preferences for multiple awards of federal environmental contracts create new procurement problems.
• Government assertions of rights in contractor-owned or -developed technologies and processes raise ownership concerns about technology.
• Trends toward use of fixed price contracts pose different business risks for environmental firms.
• Government "cradle-to-grave" indefinite quantity type contracts increase needs for permits, licenses, and approvals.

To assist environmental contractors in facing these challenges, Morgan Lewis has brought its considerable experience together to form the Environmental Contracts Practice. Through its wide range of legal expertise, including not only contract law but also environmental laws and regulations as well as experience drawn from design and construction law, the Firm can provide comprehensive counsel in the environmental contracting field.

Environmental Contracts Practice attorneys have been involved since the early days of the hazardous waste cleanup business in the cutting edge issues presented by this industry. These issues have ranged from negotiating contracts uniquely structured to deal with the new problems of the remediation industry to litigating some of the first disputes under remediation contracts.

• Counseling EPA, DOD, and DOE contractors, negotiating teaming agreements, and negotiating DOE environmental restoration teaming arrangements and subcontracts.
• Creating corporate structures and risk management mechanisms to address Brownfield cleanups and "privatized" environmental control activities.
• Developing corporate-wide contract compliance programs and responding to audits.
• Counseling contractors on new requirements of Federal acquisition reforms.
• Pursuing and defending bid protests involving all departments and agencies.
• Counsel contractors on new DOE contracting requirements and procedures; including "privatization."
• Negotiating indemnification coverage at EPA and counseling on EPA conflict of interest issues.
• Performing regulatory due diligence in acquisitions.
• Resolving disputes regarding scope of work, site conditions, and time lines of performance involving all agencies.

Andrew Ness and John Daniel authored a concise but comprehensive survey of the liability issues facing environmental restoration firms. The third edition of this survey is being published in 1997 by the Hazardous Waste Action Coalition (HWAC) as "Trends in Contractor Liability for Hazardous Waste Cleanup: The Current Legal Environment."

Providing comprehensive counsel in the environmental contracting field requires a wide range of legal expertise. Andrew Ness and John Daniel have represented many clients in government and nongovernment contract law matters and counseled environmental engineering firms on a breadth of legal, regulatory, and legislative issues. Roy Mitchell and Robert Moore have extensive experience in the design and construction field.