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Professional background
Biography image

Tanya C.Nesbitt

Partnermoc.eniHnospmohT@ttibseN.aynaT
Atlanta

O 404.407.3605

Washington, D.C.

O 202.331.8330

Tanya C.Nesbitt

Partner

Focus Areas

Examples of Tanya’s experience include:

  • Advised multinational home appliance manufacturer of litigation and regulatory risks associated with zero-waste-to landfill environmental benefit claims on facility and product level.
  • Represented national transportation company in response to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s hazardous waste compliance order and successfully obtained reduced penalty violation.
  • Represented New Mexico municipalities in cost recovery action to remediate municipal water supply contaminated by hazardous substances used by private company.
  • Represented national petroleum company in defense against EPA investigation and incident response to oil spill in San Francisco harbor.
  • Successfully settled and negotiated penalties in EPA enforcement action for industrial stormwater permit compliance under the Clean Water Act.
  • Successfully advised investment company on environmental risks associated with purchase of a former sawmill site.
  • Led Fifth Amendment takings litigation involving a $56 million-dollar partial settlement of over 30 just compensation claims involving the East Lake Sammamish Trail in Sammamish, Washington.
  • Obtained partially favorable ruling on summary judgment for Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service decisions creating a master development plan and well-pads for the exploration and development of oil and gas in the Colorado River Basin.
  • Defended two lawsuits bringing National Environmental Policy Act and Federal Land Policy and Management Act challenges regarding the Bureau of Land Management issuance of leases for the development of oil and gas in Southwest Colorado.

Environmental Justice

  • Advise federal agency of the conservation and legal implications of returning the National Bison Range to federal tribal management.
  • Analyze and evaluate the socio-economic impacts of oil and gas lease sales on local communities under the National Environmental Policy Act.
  • Panelist, “The Effects of Climate Change on NRD Claims,” 9th Annual Tribal Natural Resource Damages Assessment, March 2024
  • Speaker, “ESG: All You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask,” Widener University Commonwealth Law School, February 2024
  • Co-presenter, “Startups Streamlined – Navigating Atlanta’s Thriving Startup Ecosystem,” Thompson Hine Webinar, February 2024
  • PFAS Panelist, “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” ABA Environmental & Energy, Mass Torts, and Products Liability Litigation Committee Joint Regional CLE, February 2024
  • Moderator, “How to Build Environmental and Climate Justice Into Industrial Planning,” Air and Waste Management Association, January 2024
  • Speaker, “ESG: Intensifying Focus for 2024,” Georgia Energy Exchange, January 2024
  • Panelist, “Federal Environmental Justice Enforcement Initiatives and Their Impact on Permitting,” ALI-CLE, December 1, 2023
  • Faculty Speaker, “Climate Change and Natural Resources Damages,” Law Seminar International Natural Resource Damages Conference, September 2023
  • Panelist, “Environmental Justice,” Environmental Law Institute Summer School Series, July 2023
  • Panelist, “Managing Environmental Risk in Changing Times: A Forum for EH&S Counsel and Leaders,” Thompson Hine Webinar, May 2023
  • Moderator, “EJ & Public Lands,” American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Public Lands and Resources Subcommittee, Community Conversation, May 2023
  • Speaker, “ESG: The State of the Law and Requirements,” Chemical Industry Council of Illinois, Hot Topics Seminar, May 2023
  • Panelist, “Opportunities and Challenges in the New Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Frontier: From Theory to Practice,” 21st Annual Illinois State Bar Environmental Conference, May 2023
  • Panelist, “Regulatory and Litigation Updates on Greenwashing and ESG Claims,” Thomson Reuters & Celesq, May 2023
  • Speaker, “ESG & Sustainability for Manufacturers,” Manufacturers Alliance Sustainability Council Meeting, March 2023
  • Presenter, “Environmental, Social and Greenwashing? Establishing a Clear Sustainability Mission,” Thompson Hine Webinar, February 2023
  • Panel Member, “An ESG Collaborative Roundtable: Developing Best Practices for Navigating the Moving Target That is ESG,” Thompson Hine ESG Collaborative Workshop, January 2023
  • Speaker, “6PPD and other emerging water contaminants,” CICI’s Water/Wastewater Issues Seminar, November 2022
  • Moderator, Environmental Law Institute’s Women in Environmental Law and Leadership (ELI WELL), “Beyond Generations: A multi-generational conversation on the past, present, and future of women in environmental law and policy,” July 2022
  • Speaker, “Anticipating the Impacts of a More Conservative United States Supreme Court on Environmental Law & Policy: Cases Relating to Separation of Powers and Federal Agency Jurisdiction,” Law Seminars International, July 2022
  • Panel Speaker, “Amending NEPA to Enhance Environmental Justice and Climate Change Assessments,” Environmental Law Institute, April 2022
  • Panel Speaker, “NEPA Modernization: The Biden Administration’s Re-Write of the Trump Administration’s NEPA Re-Write,” Law Seminars International, January 2022
  • Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2024 for Environmental Law
  • Selected to Law360’s Environmental Editorial Advisory Board, 2023, 2024
  • Listed in The Lawdragon Green 500: The 2024 Leaders in Environmental Law, Environmental Litigation
  • Listed in Lawdragon 500 Leading U.S. Environmental Lawyers, 2023
  • Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), Fellow, 2023
  • The National Black Lawyers Top 100, 2022
  • The National Black Lawyers 40 Under 40 in Washington State, 2021
  • Department of Justice Award for Outstanding Service recipient, 2018

Professional Associations

  • Co-Chair, Public Land and Resources Committee of the Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, American Bar Association
  • ABA SEER Liaison, ABA Council for Diversity in the Educational Pipeline
  • Member, Environmental Law Institute, WELL Steering Committee, D.C. Chapter
  • Member, Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), Atlanta Network
  • ESG Committee Member, Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA)

Community Activities

  • Rebuilding Together Atlanta, Board Member

Education

  • The George Washington University Law School, J.D., 2008
  • Smith College, B.A., 2005

Bar Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • Georgia
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