Steven Hann is a Principal at the Pennsylvania law firm of Hamburg, Rubin, Mullin, Maxwell & Lupin, where he focuses his practice on environmental and municipal law, and chairs the firm’s Environmental Law Department. Steve personally deals with and is experienced in every facet of a broad based environmental law practice. Steve represents a diverse client base, including municipalities, municipal authorities, business entities, individuals, builders and developers, all of which are affected by the complex web of federal and state environmental laws and regulations. Steve handles all facets of environmental litigation with government agencies and private parties. Steve also advises clients on regulatory and compliance issues, environmental permitting, environmental issues arising in business and real estate transactions, and land use and zoning issues. Steve also provides clients with experienced counseling on legislative and regulatory developments at both the federal and state levels.
In addition to his environmental law practice, Steve has a sophisticated practice in the area of municipal law, with a specific emphasis on municipal authorities. Steve is the East Region Solicitor for the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association (responsible for the eastern half of Pennsylvania), an organization representing the interests of over 700 municipal authorities in the Commonwealth. In this position, Steve assists the Association’s staff on a daily basis with various tasks, such as addressing member inquiries and dealing with proposed legislative and regulatory initiatives. He also provides frequent guidance directly to member authorities on a variety of subjects, such as general water and wastewater matters, stormwater, authority agreements and resolutions, board member issues, tapping fees, developer agreements, reservation of capacity agreements, rate issues, water and sewer regulations, and compliance with state law bidding and procurement requirements, as well as insight on various statutes, such as the Municipality Authorities Act, Right-to-Know Law, Ethics Act, Sunshine Act and Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act. Moreover, in his daily practice, Steve represents and advises municipal clients of his law firm on the aforementioned issues, as well as environmental issues, such as permitting, compliance, water quality, and stormwater management; water and wastewater issues, such as sewage facilities planning, pretreatment and wasteload management; and, the drafting of agreements and resolutions used by municipal authorities in their daily operations. Steve is frequently appointed as special counsel for municipal entities, and has likewise been retained as both an expert and mediator in matters involving municipal authorities. In December 2019 he was appointed Environmental Counsel for the Bradford City Water Authority, a regional authority in the northern tier of Pennsylvania that provides water to a number of area municipalities. In June 2018 he was appointed Special Counsel for Lehigh Township, Northampton County. Steve was a significant contributor to the latest edition of the Department of Community and Economic Development’s publication, Municipal Authorities in Pennsylvania. (Tenth Edition, 2015)
Moreover, during his career, Steve has also litigated cases of significant import in both the federal and state court systems. He recently litigated the well-publicized case involving the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, the most extensive TMDL ever developed in the United States. This case was ultimately appealed to the United States Supreme Court. He has also litigated numerous water quality cases in Pennsylvania, including those involving NPDES permits and TMDLs, and the recovery of attorneys’ fees. In addition, he has recently filed an amicus brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on issues of first impression involving the land application of biosolids. He has also been an advocate on behalf of municipal entities before Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board, where he has litigated over fifty (50) appeals, most of which involved Pennsylvania municipal authorities. Steve has also been a frequent author and speaker on both environmental and municipal law-related issues. Since 2010, he has participated in or was the sole presenter at over fifty (50) seminars/webinars and continuing legal education courses.
Prior to law school, Steve was an environmental consultant. Following his graduation from Penn State, Steve was employed as a meteorologist focusing on air quality and air pollution issues. Thereafter, Steve was hired as a member of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Field Investigation Team under the federal Superfund program, where he was engaged in various activities related to the investigation and remediation of hazardous waste sites. In this position, Steve was selected by EPA Headquarters to travel throughout the country as a speaker for an EPA sponsored training course on hazardous waste site inspections.