Clean Water Act (CWA)-Related Work
Woodard represents a national bondsurety company that has written
reclamation bonds in coal mine
bankruptcies. Many bonds intend
to reclaim land in accordance with
the CWA and monitoring emissions
into waters.
“My goal is to convince the court that assets of the bankruptcy estate must be utilized to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act and to have the properties reclaimed appropriately. Alternatively, I assist in getting the mines sold to a new owner, who will assume the reclamation liability.
“If there is no sale, and after
the debtor’s resources have been
extinguished, then my client either
conducts the reclamation themselves
or pays the penal sum of bond to the
appropriate government regulatory
body to undertake the reclamation,”
Woodard says.
Trends and Big Issues
“What I foresee for 2016 and beyond are further challenges to the Clean Water Act by way of the bankruptcy reorganization process. Depending on the federal circuit the mine falls within, the sanctity of the CWA and future compliance with it can be vastly different.
“Bankruptcies have the power to
reject executory contracts that relate
to compliance with environmental
obligations such as the Clean
Water Act. The end result will be a
bankruptcy judge’s balancing of the
reorganizational needs versus society’s
environmental concerns. The coal
industry currently, and I believe the oil
and gas industries in the near future
will continue to provide challenges to
the Clean Water Act.”