Bart E. Cassidy

Bart relies on his legal, engineering and business experience to assist a diverse collection of clients in identifying practical and business-oriented solutions to environmental challenges.  Bart’s undergraduate and graduate education in engineering and practical experience as a licensed Professional Engineer have proven invaluable in assisting clients in evaluating federal and state environmental regulatory standards to complex industrial operations, and assisting in identifying alternative compliance scenarios.  His experience as an in-house corporate environmental, health and safety analyst also affords Bart an appreciation of the practical and business-oriented considerations critical to strategic planning. 

Bart leads the firm’s air quality/complex industry regulatory practice group.  Although his client-base is diverse, Bart primarily focuses on complex regulated industries, notably including the electric generating, petroleum refining, chemical processing, metal manufacturing and waste management industries.  He has provided local, regional and national support to his clients, particularly in the complicated realm of air quality compliance.  Bart has represented industry in defending numerous agency enforcement actions, including before judicial and administrative tribunals and in negotiating consent decrees and administrative consent orders.  These negotiations have culminated in a number of consent decrees in the context of EPA’s national enforcement initiatives, including under the New Source Review (NSR), hazardous air pollutant/MACT, and leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs. 

Bart’s comprehensive practice includes assisting clients in analyzing regulatory issues, designing permit strategies, securing necessary administrative authorizations and pursuing administrative appeals of agency action.  He has extensive experience in challenging EPA regulations before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, and has defended clients against third party permit appeals and environmental citizen suits. 

Bart has also served as primary environmental counsel on many transactions involving the transfer of complex industrial operations, including petroleum refineries, chemical plants and varied manufacturing industries.  His technical knowledge and background has also proved valuable in assisting clients with questions arising under federal risk management planning (RMP) and process safety management (PSM) programs, as well as in responding to industrial accidents and environmental releases. 

In his free time, Bart is an avid outdoorsman and greatly enjoys kayaking and hiking with his wife of more than 25 years and their two sons.  Bart also spends time teaching and coaching.