Legal Update

Biography: Ms. Dunham has worked on water quality issues for almost 20 years. She is a respected water quality expert in California, and provides Special Counsel services to the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA), whose membership includes over 300 agencies that hold municipal stormwater permits. In her role in representing CASQA, Ms. Dunham has filed amicus briefs on CASQA’s behalf in several cases, including to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court in Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., et al. v. County of Los Angeles, et al., and the California Supreme Court in State Department of Finance, et al. v. Commission on State Mandates. Ms. Dunham works with both Phase I and Phase II communities and is very familiar with municipal stormwater requirements. She assists Phase I communities in negotiating and defending MS4 permits; she assists Phase II communities in the development of reasonable requirements for stormwater management plans; she continues to assist a number of permittees in implementing adopted stormwater permits, including drafting municipal stormwater ordinances; she assists clients in filing Test Claims with the Commission on State Mandates. Ms. Dunham represents clients with respect to policies, regulations, and guidelines proposed by Regional Water Quality Control Boards (Regional Boards), the State Board, the U.S. EPA, and other environmental agencies. She assists numerous clients on specific impaired water body listings and total maximum daily loads (TMDLs). She is also known for expertise in the area of water quality standards. Ms. Dunham frequently appears before the various Regional Boards and the State Board on both regulatory and policy matters. She is intimately familiar with the State Board’s petition process and has filed or assisted in the filing of many petitions for review, including petitions for review that include requests for stay. She has also been active in filing writs of mandate in the Superior Courts of California where necessary to challenge unreasonable decisions taken by the Regional and/or State Boards.

Biography: Mr. Hagerty provides both advisory and litigation services on both surface and groundwater water quality issues under federal and state law. He regularly advises clients regarding the obtaining of and compliance with NPDES permits and represents clients in administrative actions regarding such permits. Mr. Hagerty’s work includes municipal storm water permits, permits for publicly owned treatment works and construction related permits. It also includes advising water suppliers on issues related to water quality, endangered species and other water supply constraints. A particular focus of Mr. Hagerty’s practice is the relationship between water quality, water supply and land use planning.