Air Quality & Climate Change
California’s air quality requirements and the State’s pioneering efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions are constantly evolving and present many challenges and opportunities for California businesses of all sizes. These businesses turn to Downey Brand to lead them through California’s stringent air quality regulations and complex greenhouse gas reduction requirements.
Our Air Quality and Climate Change attorneys stay current on the latest legal developments and provide cost-efficient compliance solutions for our wide range of clients. Whether it is an energy trader participating in the Cap-and-Trade program, a food processor permitting a new or expanded facility, an oil and gas developer analyzing their carbon impact under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), or a manufacturing facility trying to figure out how to maintain compliance with Clean Air Act (CAA) permits and reporting obligations, Downey Brand attorneys can provide strategic, practical counsel.
Businesses operating in California face some of the nation’s most stringent air quality requirements and these requirements may vary significantly based on location of operations. Our attorneys have strong knowledge of the myriad of federal, state and air district regulations and the practical experience to guide clients through permitting, compliance, and reporting obligations. We work with US EPA and California Air Districts to ensure our client’s operating needs are met during the rulemaking process. We assist clients in obtaining air permits required at new facilities and major expansions, including New Source Review (NSR), New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), and National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants. We advise clients on reporting requirements and compliance certifications, including Title V, and defend clients when being investigated by state or federal agencies.
Assembly Bill 32 (commonly referred to as AB 32) has charged the California Air Resources Board (CARB) with reducing greenhouse gas emissions. CARB’s actions to meet this challenge have resulted in compliance obligations that affect almost all industries in California. These obligations include reporting GHG emissions, participation in the Cap-and-Trade program, and restrictions on emissions of short-lived climate pollutants including methane. Our main office is located in Sacramento, just blocks from CARB headquarters and the other state agencies that are developing California’s greenhouse gas law and policy. Our close proximity to these agencies has given us the unique ability to get to know the key climate change regulators on a personal level. These relationships have helped us address our clients’ climate change related issues as quickly and accurately as possible.
Our attorneys have been involved in climate change regulation from the start, participating in the development of regulations to establish California’s greenhouse gas reporting system and the Cap-and Trade program. We have also participated in regulations impacting municipal utilities by the California Energy Commission, and in the statewide rules requiring the increased use of renewable energy resources as a source of power. Our attorneys are keenly aware of the risk that over-regulation of greenhouse gas emissions may cause companies to leave California (also known as emissions “leakage”). To that end, we have helped clients reach solutions with regulators to ensure that California remains on track for its greenhouse gas reduction goals, while ensuring that business operations remain feasible. We advocate on behalf of clients in proceedings to establish who will get rebates from their electric utility. We also obtained a favorable decision that set statewide precedent for how greenhouse gas impacts from gas fired power plants are analyzed in California.
Clients also turn to Downey Brand for advice on addressing greenhouse gas impacts within the construct of CEQA. Where significance standards have not already been set under CEQA, we help develop and apply such standards in a way that is both acceptable to the government and feasible for our clients. We work with our clients and consultants to develop defensible greenhouse gas impact analyses for our clients’ projects. Where necessary, we work to create feasible mitigation strategies to ensure that development is both financially viable and environmentally responsible. We represent our clients in court proceedings to defend appropriate greenhouse gas analyses, and to challenge inappropriate analyses, all with the goal of advancing our clients’ interests.
Our clients include power plant developers, oil and gas developers, transportation companies, food processors, cement manufacturers, aggregate mines, residential developers, and many other types of companies.
Selected Experience
- Assisted clients with developing legally-defensible greenhouse gas significance thresholds under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- Advised large industrial and commercial operations included in phase one implementation of the greenhouse gas reporting regulations on their obligations and potential upcoming liability for greenhouse gas emissions. Following implementation of Cap-and-Trade, advised energy clients on the mechanics of and obligations under Cap-and Trade.
- Developed an overarching greenhouse gas emissions analysis and mitigation strategy for an oil and gas extraction project.
- Assisted clients with developing legally-defensible greenhouse gas significance thresholds under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- Advised large industrial and commercial operations included in phase one implementation of the greenhouse gas reporting regulations on their obligations and potential upcoming liability for greenhouse gas emissions. Following implementation of Cap-and-Trade, advised energy clients on the mechanics of and obligations under Cap-and Trade.
- Developed an overarching greenhouse gas emissions analysis and mitigation strategy for an oil and gas extraction project.
- Advised developers regarding compliance with federal greenhouse gas requirements under the Clean Air Act. Represented a large retail service provider in the comprehensive greenhouse gas reduction proceedings in California under Assembly Bill 32 before the California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission.
- Advised clients regarding their ability to participate in California’s existing greenhouse gas emission offset development protocols.
- Worked with CARB to advocate for the development of new statewide greenhouse gas emission offset development protocols to provide new business opportunities for agricultural clients.
Monica Browner
Monica Browner
Associate

Monica Browner helps clients navigate complex environmental issues with a pragmatic and dynamic approach. Clients rely on her to minimize uncertainty in a constantly changing regulatory landscape. Monica uses her analytic skills and knowledge of state and federal environmental law to assist clients with a broad range of legal issues including compliance with various environmental regulations.
Sacramento 916.520.5377 direct
Associate
Sacramento 916.520.5377 direct
Christian L. Marsh
Christian L. Marsh
Partner / Executive Committee Member

Public agencies and private companies turn to Christian Marsh for advice on regulatory and land use entitlement issues governing real estate developments, ground and surface water supply projects, renewable and non-renewable energy facilities, mining operations and processing plants, and port and waterfront developments.
San Francisco 415.848.4830 direct
Partner
San Francisco 415.848.4830 direct
Counsel
San Francisco 415.848.4848 direct
Announcements
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April 5, 2021JD Supra Recognizes Three Downey Brand Attorneys as Top Authors in 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards
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January 15, 2020Downey Brand Names Two New Partners
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January 2, 2020Downey Brand Welcomes Two New Associates to Sacramento Office
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May 20, 2019Downey Brand Senior Associate Promoted to Counsel
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April 4, 2019Two Downey Brand Attorneys Earn JD Supra’s 2019 Readers’ Choice Awards
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May 29, 2018Downey Brand’s San Francisco Office Welcomes Attorneys Nicole Martin and Hina Gupta
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December 20, 2017Downey Brand Promotes Four New Counsel
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June 28, 2017Patrick Veasy Joins Downey Brand’s Environmental Practice
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January 13, 2017Christopher Rendall-Jackson Joins Downey Brand’s San Francisco Office
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January 6, 2017Downey Brand Names New Partners and Counsel
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July 27, 2012Downey Brand’s San Francisco Office Adds New Associate
In the News
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May 27, 2020Climate Change Suits Against Oil Companies Can Go Forward in State Courts, Plaintiffs’ Preferred Venue
Daily Journal
Speaking Engagements / Events
12 related items-
April 19 & 21, 2021Water Rights, Policy, Regulation, and the Future under the New Administration
Argent Communications 35th Annual California Water Law & Policy Virtual Conference -
March 9, 2021Coffee and Compliance: The Biden Administration’s Impact on Air Compliance
Mapistry's Weekly Webinar Series -
January 30, 2021Innovations in Water Storage As A Response To Climate Change
2021 California Water Law Symposium, Climate Change: Adapting to a Warming Climate -
September 10, 2020Greenhouse Gas Emission Impacts in CEQA & NEPA Environmental Review
Environment, Land Use and Real Estate Section of the BASF Barristers Club -
August 26, 2020Clean Air Act Under the Trump Administration
Mapistry's Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Virtual Summit -
May 12, 2020Coffee and Compliance: The Clean Air Act Under the Trump Administration
Mapistry's Weekly Webinar Series -
October 23-24, 2019Legal and Operational Viewpoints on Composting Operations: Wastewater and Air Concerns for Industry
Speaker, 2019 Mapistry Pollution Prevention Summit -
October 17-20, 201928th Annual Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite®
Presented by the California Lawyers Association -
July 2019Climate Change, Rising Sea Levels, Warming Water Temperatures, and Prolonged Periods of Extreme Weather
Speaker, Law Seminars International: 12th Annual Santa Fe Advanced Conference on Litigating -
June 20-21, 2019Developments in Water Supply Regulation, Reporting, and Legislation
Argent Communications 34th Annual California Water Law & Policy Conference -
June 28, 2016California GHG Emission Standards for Crude Oil and Natural Gas Facilities: Impacts on Midstream and Upstream Oil & Gas Industry
Joint Webinar with ERM -
October 6, 2015CEQA Update 2015
Panelist, Bay Planning Coalition
Blogs
1 related itemsLegal Alerts
7 related items-
January 27, 2021Biden’s Inauguration Day Executive Order on Environment and Energy Regulation
Environmental Law -
April 16, 2020CalEPA Issues Statement on Enforcement and Compliance Requirements During COVID-19 Pandemic
Downey Brand COVID-19 News and UpdatesEnvironmental Law -
April 11, 2018U.S. EPA Region 9 Enforcement Priorities Revealed
Environmental Law -
November 16, 2017Bay Area Air Quality Management District Sets Stringent New Standards for Toxic Air Emissions at Bay Area Facilities
Environmental Law -
July 26, 2017Local California Governments Sue Fossil Fuel Companies for Rising Sea Levels
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July 19, 2017State Legislature Reaches Agreement on Extension of the Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade Program; Stops the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s Proposed Cap (and-No-Trade)
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March 31, 2017Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Strategy Outlines a Role for POTWs in Organic Waste Diversion
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Publications
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March 2021The D.C. Circuit Overturns EPA’s 2019 Affordable Clean Energy Rule
Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter, Volume 1, Number 6 -
March 2021As Climate Change Exacerbates Wildfire Risk, Western States Adopt and Introduce Legislation to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter, Volume 1, Number 6 -
February 2021EPA Waiver to CARB Regarding “Non-Road” Diesel Engine Regulations Upheld; Phasing Out Agricultural Burning in San Joaquin Valley by 2025
California Air and Climate, Vol. 18 -
February 2021U.S. EPA Publishes the Clean Air Act Cost-Benefit Rule Amidst Opposition and the End of the Trump Administration
Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter, Volume 1, Number 5 -
February 2021U.S. EPA Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Emissions Regulations for Aircraft Engines
Environmental, Energy & Climate Change Law and Regulation Reporter, Volume 1, Number 5 -
January 4, 2021Arizona and Nevada Take Major Steps Towards Greenhouse Gas Reductions By 2050
Argent Communications Group -
January 4, 2021Sierra Club Files CEQA Challenge to Proposed New Off-Stream Storage for the Central Valley Project
Argent Communications Group -
December 2020Govenor Newsom Issues Executive Order to Conserve 30 Percent of California Lands
California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter, Volume 30, Number 3 -
December 2020California Air and Climate: CARB Expands Emissions Reporting Requirements and Considers Indoor Gas Appliances; SJVAPCD Pursues Additional Reductions from Glass Furnaces, Stationary Engines, and the Oil and Gas Industry
California Air and Climate, Vol. 17 -
September 2020California Air and Climate: CARB Focuses on Vessel and Truck Emissions
California Air and Climate, Vol. 16 -
July 2020California Air and Climate: CARB to Hold Second Public Workshop on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Ride-Sharing Services; Adopts Zero-Emission Truck Rule; Requests Comments on At-Berth Vessel Regulations
California Air and Climate, Vol. 15 -
June 10, 2020Climate Change Cases Can Move Forward in State Courts, But Will They Be Successful?
Daily Journal -
May 2020California Air and Climate: CARB to Hold Public Workshop on Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Transportation Vehicle Services; Updates to Air Toxics “Hot Spot” Regulations
California Air and Climate, Vol. 14 -
February 2020California Air and Climate: CARB Adopting Commercial Harbor and Zero-Emission Truck Rules; Workshops for New CARB Emission Reporting Rules
California Air and Climate, Vol. 13 -
January 2020California Air and Climate: CARB Targets Railyard and At Berth Vessel Emissions; San Joaquin Valley APCD to Require Additional NOx Reductions from Engines, Boilers, Process Heaters and Steam Generators
California Air and Climate, Vol. 12 -
November 2019California Air and Climate: CARB Continues Roll-Out to Reduce Emissions from Vessels in California Ports and Targets Ride-Hailing Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Update on AB 617
California Air and Climate, Vol. 11 -
September 2019California Air and Climate: CARB Reports Continued Declines in Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Tulare County Settles Lawsuit Involving Livestock Emissions
California Air and Climate, Vol. 10 -
July 2019California Air and Climate: BAAQMD Releases Draft Rule Regulating Methane Emissions; US Bureau of Land Management Releases Draft Fracking Plan for California
California Air and Climate: Vol. 9 -
May 2019California Air and Climate: CARB Audits SJVAPCD Emission Credit Program; Court orders EPA to Implement Landfill Methane Rule
California Air and Climate, Vol. 8 -
March 2019California Air and Climate: Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets for Ride-Hailing Companies; USEPA’s Alleged Failure to Recognize Battery Storage as Best Available Control Technology; CARB Adopts Particulate Matter Standards
California Air and Climate, Vol. 7 -
January 2019California Air and Climate: CARB Adopts Amendments to Cap-and-Trade Program and State-Wide Emissions Reporting Requirements
California Air and Climate, Vol. 6 -
November 2018California Air and Climate: CARB and San Joaquin Valley APCD Advance AB 617; Bay Area AQMD Targets Methane
California Air and Climate: Vol. 5 -
September 2018California Air and Climate: CARB Cap-and-Trade Amendments and Methods to Reduce Transportation GHG; BAAQMD Seeking Comments to Implement BARCT; Air Permitting Restraints Facing Composting Industry
California Air and Climate: Vol. 4 -
August 2018California Air and Climate: CA Solar Building Requirements; Updates from California Air Resources Board (CARB) on AB 617 Implementation
California Air and Climate, Vol. 3 -
June 2018California Air and Climate: Air Districts Begin Implementing AB 617 Retrofit Control Technology; SCAQMD to Regulate Indirect Sources
California Air and Climate, Vol. 2 -
April 2018California Air and Climate: Bay Area Methane; CARB Bans Refrigerants, Implements Community Air Protection and Approves Cap-and-Trade Amendments
California Air and Climate, Vol. 1 -
April 2016The 2015 Legislative Recap: Settling In and Taking a Breath
Contributor, California Environmental Law Reporter, Vol. 2016, Issue 4 -
November 2015The Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan: An Impossible Task?
Environmental Law News, Vol. 24, No. 2