Feb 24 2016

Texas law firm finds many companies “over-complying” with environmental laws.

Houston – February 24, 2016

Texas industry is spending millions of dollars “over-complying” with environmental laws according to recent analyses performed by the AL Law Group, a Texas-based environmental law firm.   Unnecessary over-compliance can increase costs, create additional liabilities, and distract company resources from being used toward more effective environmental improvement efforts, according to the firm.

“Over-compliance doesn’t necessarily mean better compliance . . . or better environmental protection”, said Jed Anderson, a lead attorney with the firm.  “Sometimes it means that limited resources are being spent on non-required administrative-oriented exercises rather than results-oriented environmental improvements.”

Why is “over-compliance” occurring?

One of the primary causes of over-compliance is the growing size and complexity of U.S. environmental law.  U.S. environmental laws are the most complicated laws in human history–and they are getting even more complicated.  Gina McCarthy, the now head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, once said, “I hate that each sector has 17 to 20 rules that govern each piece of equipment and you’ve got to be a neuroscientist to figure it out.”  This growing size and complexity is leading to significant legal ambiguity and legal misunderstanding–and therefore over-compliance in many situations.

Another factor contributing to “over-compliance” according to the AL Law Group is that many companies do not legally scrutinize their permit submissions and environmental management systems–which can be subject to legal interpretation based on case law and other legal decisions.  According to Anderson, much of this is likely due to dramatically increased legal billing rates over the past 15 years–which the AL Law Group has uniquely designed itself to address.  “Because of our unique design, we are able to provide our services at about 1/2 to 1/3 our primary competitors rates”, said Anderson.

The AL Law Group’s OCELA Service

The AL Law Group’s “Over-Compliance Environmental Legal Assessment” or “OCELA” service is a unique legal product designed to show companies where over-compliance is commonly occurring and share with clients the tools the AL Law Group has successfully utilized to help clients save money, reduce liability, and reinvest in more productive environmental improvement efforts.

One leading Texas environmental consultant said, “The AL Law Group helped me save my client over $500,000 in what otherwise would have been an unnecessary facility change.”  Another Director of Environmental Operations for a Fortune 100 Company said, “The AL Law Group helped me save my company thousands of dollars . . . even after I paid their bill.”

Anderson concluded, “We are excited by the response to OCELA.  Not only is it rewarding to help companies increase profitability and decrease liability in the complex morass of environmental law, its rewarding to help them improve their environmental performance at the same time.  It’s just a win-win all around.”