Dewey & LeBoeuf

Joshua L. Belcher

Associate

Joshua Belcher is an associate in Dewey & LeBoeuf’s Washington D.C. office, and works frequently with attorneys in the firm’s New York and Houston offices. As a member of the Environmental Practice Group, he advises clients on all aspects of federal and state environmental law, as well as emergent climate change-related issues and the potential regulation of greenhouse gases. Mr. Belcher maintains a broad-based practice that includes compliance counseling, transactional due diligence, and litigation and enforcement matters. Mr. Belcher’s clients are drawn primarily from the energy and manufacturing industries, but he also advises water utilities and municipal authorities on various transactional and administrative law matters. He also has experience with legacy contamination issues under CERCLA and RCRA in the contexts of bankruptcy claims and brownfields redevelopment.

Representative Matters

Advising Trans-Elect Development Company, LLC on the required state and federal permitting and environmental reviews associated with the Atlantic Wind Connection offshore electric transmission system planned for the East Coast of the United States;
Providing legal analysis and strategic advice to BP Wind Energy North America in the development of wind farms with respect to both federal and state law including permitting, zoning and real estate issues;
Advise numerous institutional investors regarding environmental and permitting due diligence for acquisitions of alternative energy projects, including utility-scale wind, solar, and biomass-fired power plants;
Assisted association of interstate natural gas transmission companies in the preparation of extensive comments to relevant portions of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed overhaul of its PCB regulations;
Evaluated and advised major U.S. automaker on the treatment of known and potential environmental liabilities under various reorganization scenarios in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding;
Advised client on the anticipated capital expenditures necessary to comply with future state and federal air quality regulations applicable to several natural gas and coal-fired power plants located in the U.S. and targeted for acquisition;
Advised client on environmental liabilities associated with air emissions and historical spills to land and water from a major oil refinery located in the Caribbean and targeted for acquisition;
Evaluated environmental, health and safety liabilities associated with domestic and international operations of company owning a major global network of marine fuel bunkering facilities in connection with an anticipated stock acquisition;
Advised client on environmental liabilities and federal permitting requirements associated with the operation of a number of deepwater LNG ports located in the U.S. and targeted for acquisition;
Analyzed and developed a series of positions to advance in mediations with the government and other potentially responsible parties under CERCLA regarding liability for the cost of hazardous waste cleanup at major nuclear materials-processing facilities; and
Advises on issues related to climate change, including the applicability and impact of U.S. initiatives to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, and the identification of related liabilities associated with assets targeted for acquisition.

Publications

Co-Author, "EPA's Boiler MACT: Continuing Uncertainty for the Regulated Community," ABA Trends (July/August 2011).
Acknowledged Contributor, “New Federal Regulatory Initiatives and Compliance Obligations for Emitters of Greenhouse Gases,” Inside the Minds – Recent Developments in Greenhouse Gas Regulations (Aspatore 2010).

Speeches and Programs

Panelist, "The Legal Framework: Water Allocation, Quality, and Energy" (2010 Ground Water Protection Council Annual Forum, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sept. 2010).

Education

Vermont Law School, 2008, J.D., cum laude ; Vermont Law Review
Vermont Law School, 2008, M.S. (Environmental Law), magna cum laude; Managing Editor, Vermont Journal of Environmental Law
University of Texas, 2002, B.A. (Sociology)