Between attending a parent-teacher conference for one of her two daughters and successfully negotiating and litigating state and federal wastewater discharge permits for municipalities across the state, Melissa Thorme will take a moment to share a humorous story from an early morning at the barn with her horse, Bailey Thorme has that unique ability to balance her productive career with her family and her other interests, which include writing a novel. It is no wonder that Thorme’s intellect, ability to focus, and creative approach to problem solving provide her with the tools necessary to so aptly tackle the maze of federal and state statutes, regulations, guidance documents, agency memoranda, and policies regulating the quality of municipal wastewater and storm water discharges in the State.

During the past ten years, California has upped the ante in water quality regulation, shifting its policy from fairly reasonable to extremely stringent and contentious regulation. Thorme’s practice, in which she represents publicly-owned treatment works (i.e., wastewater treatment plants owned and operated by cities, counties, and sanitation districts and funded by residential, commercial and industrial ratepayers) and municipal separate storm sewer systems, has been at the forefront of California’s ever-changing water quality regime.

Recently, Thorme successfully challenged three discharge permits issued to the City of Los Angeles and City of Burbank by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region, and is awaiting confirmation of that victory by the Second District Court of Appeals. She also succeeded in overturning the approval by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of improper beneficial uses erroneously included by the Los Angeles Regional Board in its Basin Plan! Thorme also negotiated discharge permits that have withstood administrative challenges by third parties, and provided her specialized knowledge to achieve informal resolutions of complex technical and legal issues in lieu of pursuing costly litigation.

Working with Downey, Brand, Seymour & Rohwer’s white collar crime defense specialist, Matthew Jacobs (a former First Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Criminal Division), Thorme has successfully negotiated reasonable civil resolutions in lieu of criminal liability for alleged discharge permit violations. Thorme also works closely with the firm’s industrial water quality specialist, Katharine Wagner, on issues affecting both municipal and industrial dischargers. These are simply a few examples of how Thorme, with the aid of Downey, Brand’s depth of expertise, is uniquely situated to provide clients with a full array of legal services.

Thorme’s ability to assist her clients is aided by her participation and membership in national and statewide trade organizations that focus on water quality concerns and potential solutions thereto. Thorme is the chair of the Clean Water Subcommittee and an active member of the Water Quality Committee for the Association of California Water Agencies and the Attorneys Committee of the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. She also shares her expertise by speaking at national conferences hosted by the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies and writing articles on cutting-edge water quality issues for national law journals, such as the Environmental Law Reporter.

New water quality issues emerge on a seemingly daily basis, with increased scrutiny on the regulation of storm water and the operation of sanitary sewers, and the State’s development of Total Maximum Daily Loads for impaired water bodies. There is no doubt that Thorme, along with associates Nicole Granquist and Courtney Hamamoto, will provide leadership, valuable contribution, and insight into this constantly evolving area of law.