Steven A. Hann

Environmental and Municipal Litigation

• Steve represents clients in all aspects of environmental and municipal litigation at the federal and state court levels, and before administrative hearing boards. He also represents clients in various environmental and land use/zoning matters before local government agencies.
• Environmental and municipal litigation matters handled by Steve include wastewater and water quality issues; permit appeals; TMDL challenges; appeals of municipal wasteload management and sewage facilities planning decisions; land use and zoning disputes; tapping fee challenges; government enforcement proceedings; soil and groundwater contamination suits; resolution of cost allocation issues; storage tank actions; and the prosecution and defense of private party actions under various environmental laws.
• Steve represented the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association in its role as an Intervenor on behalf of EPA in litigation involving EPA’s establishment of the Chesapeake Bay TMDL, the most extensive TMDL ever developed in the United States. He successfully argued PMAA’s position before the Third Circuit United States Court of Appeals (American Farm Bureau Federation, et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., 792 F.3d 281 (3rd.Cir. 2015)), and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (American Farm Bureau Federation, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, et al., 984 F. Supp. 2d 289 (M.D. Pa. 2013)). Steve subsequently filed a brief with the United States Supreme Court opposing a Petition for Certiorari, which Petition the Supreme Court ultimately did deny in 2016. American Farm Bureau Federation v. E.P.A., 136 S.Ct. 1246 (2016)
• Steve was co-counsel to nearly eighty municipalities/municipal authorities in a challenge involving Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy. In this case, before an en banc panel of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, Steve successfully opposed a motion filed by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, seeking to dismiss the municipal entitities’ challenge to the Tributary Strategy.  Borough of Bedford, et al v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection; Kathleen McGinty, Secretary of Environmental Protection, 972 A.2d 53 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2009)
• Steve is counsel to various municipal entities in a challenge to the Indian Creek Watershed TMDL, which is presently before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Lower Salford Township Authority, et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011-cv-6489. In this case, Steve successfully challenged the approach used by EPA to develop the Indian Creek Watershed sediment TMDL, which compelled EPA to request that the District Court remand the sediment TMDL back to EPA for further consideration.
• Steve represented numerous municipal entities in the first two major appeals of TMDLs in Pennsylvania, which appeals involved the Skippack Creek Watershed and the Neshaminy Creek Watershed. Lower Salford Township Authority and Upper Gwynedd-Towamencin Municipal Authority v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, EHB Docket No. 2005-100-K; and Hatfield Township Municipal Authority, et al v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, EHB Docket No. 2004-046-L. Significantly, following the legal arguments made by Steve challenging the development of these TMDLs, they were withdrawn by the federal/state government agencies prior to being implemented, and prior to being incorporated into the NPDES permits of those wastewater treatment plants in the respective watersheds, resulting in a major cost savings to these entities.
• Steve represented various municipal entities in cases involving the recovery of attorney fees in TMDL litigation. In Hatfield Township Municipal Authority, et al v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection, 1983 C.D. 2010 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2011), Steve successfully obtained a reversal on appeal of an Environmental Hearing Board decision denying attorneys fees to municipal entities under the Clean Streams Law.
• Steve filed challenges to EPA rulemakings under the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act on behalf of a municipal authority. Nat’l Ass’n of Clean Water Agencies v. EPA, 734 F.3d 1115 (D.C. Cr. 2014).
• Steve represented municipal entities in a challenge to Pennsylvania’s issuance of a general stormwater permit in connection with the Indian Creek Watershed TMDL. Lower Salford Township Authority, et al v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EHB Docket No. 2011-151-L. This matter has since settled.
• Steve represented a local municipality in underlying zoning litigation involving the expansion of a landfill and a constitutional challenge to the municipality’s zoning ordinance. Steve prevailed at the local government level, which decision was eventually affirmed by the Chester County Court of Common Pleas (2005 WL 6426176) and by the Pennsylvania appellate courts. SECCRA v. Zoning Hearing Board of London Grove Township, et al., 898 A.2d 680 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006), allocatur denied, 5911 Pa. 740, 921 A.2d 499 (Pa. 2007).
• Steve successfully represented a local municipality in underlying zoning litigation regarding a conditional use application to develop and construct a mushroom growing substrate and composting facility, which decision was affirmed by the Chester County Court of Common Pleas. Superior Growers, L.P. v. Board of Supervisors, London Grove Township, (No. 2009-15011-LU, 2011).
• Steve represented the prevailing party in a landmark case decided by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held for the first time that a private cause of action exists under the Pennsylvania Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Act. Centolanza v. Lehigh Valley Dairies, Inc., 658 A.2d 336 (Pa. 1995).
• Steve filed an amicus brief with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association and the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, regarding an issue of first impression involving the land application of biosolids under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Farm Act. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court adopted the position asserted by Steve in the amicus brief, which is that the application of biosolids is a normal agricultural operation under the Right-to-Farm Act. Steve’s brief was cited by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in its decision. Gilbert, et al. v. Synagro, et al., 131 A. 3d 1 (Pa. 2015)
• Steve filed a Statement in Support of a municipal authority with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of amicus curiae Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association regarding a challenge to the authority’s adoption of a resolution establishing tapping fees. Hornstein v. Lynn Township Sewer Authority, 586 Pa. 508 (2006). The Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed the lower court decision in favor of the authority.
• Steve obtained a significant penalty reduction for a client in an administration action before the federal Environmental Appeals Board under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. In the Matter of Rybond, Inc., Docket No. RCRA-III-247.
• Steve represented a local water authority in a private cost recovery action brought in federal court pursuant to various environmental laws. North Penn Water Authority v. BAE Systems, et al, (E.D.Pa.) 2005 WL 2304736, 2005 WL 1715718, and 2005 WL 1279091.
• Steve has represented various clients in over fifty (50) appeals to Pennsylvania’s Environmental Hearing Board on a broad range of matters, including water quality issues, air and NPDES permitting TMDLs, stormwater management, sewage facilities planning and municipal wasteload management.
• Steve has advocated on behalf of and successfully represented municipal authorities on various tapping fee issues. Lisa J. Sankbeil, Executrix of the Estate of Jack Lanehart v. Greencastle, Franklin County Authority and Greencastle Area, Franklin County, Water Authority, Docket No. 2005-2428 (CCP, Franklin County) (Motion for Summary Judgment Granted). Strausser Enterprises, Inc. v. Easton Suburban Water Authority, Docket No. C0048CV200203756 (Plaintiff terminates own action for Declaratory Judgment).

Environmental and Municipal Regulatory Compliance

• Steve provides experienced counseling on current and emerging federal and state regulatory and compliance issues related to water and wastewater; stormwater and stormwater management; air and water quality/pollution control; land use; solid and hazardous waste management; and occupational safety and health.
• Steve advises clients on a broad array of environmental permitting issues (air, wastewater, NPDES, pretreatment, stormwater, wetlands, landfill, radiation protection, solid and hazardous waste), government reporting obligations, waste disposal and site remediation requirements and the regulatory process under federal and state brownfields and voluntary remediation programs.
• Steve provides guidance on numerous land use-related issues involving water and sewer service; municipal wasteload management; sewage facilities planning and regulation; stormwater management; wetlands and natural resources; and erosion and sediment control.

Environmental Due Diligence

• Steve counsels clients on environmental matters in real estate and business transactions, including the evaluation of lender requirements, the economic aspects of such transactions and the identification and management of environmental risk. He also guides clients through the complex regulatory maze for both property development and the redevelopment of environmentally impaired and brownfields properties.
• Steve prepares environmental provisions for real estate and transactional documents, and negotiates prospective purchaser and buyer-seller agreements with federal and state government agencies for environmentally impaired properties.
• Steve is experienced in assisting clients in addressing environmental due diligence and land use and zoning issues, and works closely with environmental consultants on the review and assessment of technical documents.

Municipal Specific Environmental Issues

• Steve has developed a specific expertise in environmental matters affecting municipal authorities and municipalities. He represents these entities in environmental litigation matters and routinely advises them on the numerous environmental regulations and policies unique to them.
• Steve is experienced in issues involving water and wastewater; water quality; stormwater management; NPDES permitting and enforcement; pretreatment; TMDLs; municipal wasteload management; expansion and upgrade of sewage treatment plants; sewage facilities planning and regulation; wet weather issues (including SSOs and CSOs); interjurisdictional and intermunicipal agreements; wellhead protection; and, the public water supply.
• Steve has drafted and amended various ordinances, resolutions and agreements that relate specifically to municipal environmental issues (e.g. pretreatment ordinances). He also routinely advises municipal entities on emerging environmental and land use legislative and regulatory developments at the federal, state and local levels, and prepares written comments on behalf of such entities on government regulatory and policy initiatives. Steve has submitted comments on various regulatory initiatives in Pennsylvania, including proposals addressing NPDES permits, wastewater treatment requirements, Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Standards Implementation and Pennsylvania’s Watershed Implementation Plan in conjunction with the Chesapeake Bay TMDL. Steve has also provided written and oral comments to EPA’s Science Advisory Board in connection with its peer review of EPA’s draft guidance document entitled Empirical Approaches for Nutrient Criteria Derivation.
• Steve was appointed in 2017 as a member of the Wastewater workgroup for the Chesapeake Bay Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan, which workgroup efforts are ongoing in 2018.
• Steve served as the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association’s alternate member to the Pennsylvania Sewage Advisory Committee (April, 2011 to March, 2013).
• Steve served as the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s representative to Pennsylvania’s Sewage Advisory Committee (April, 2009 to March, 2011).
• Steve was a member of the Legislative and Regulatory Needs Work Group established in 2008 under Governor Rendell’s Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force.
• Steve was appointed by the Pennsylvania General Assembly to serve on an advisory committee to a legislative task force on sewage management and treatment established pursuant to House Resolution 88 of 2005, and testified before the task force on the impact of TMDLs on municipal authorities and impact of statewide nutrient water quality criteria.
• Steve served as a member of the Point Source Workgroup established by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to address point source issues related to Pennsylvania’s Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy.
• Steve is a frequent speaker on issues related to municipal entities and has also presented two national teleconferences that he developed on water quality issues affecting wastewater treatment plants.

Municipal Law Specific Issues

• Steve is the East Region Solicitor to the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association and interacts regularly with the Association’s staff and member Authorities across Pennsylvania on a diverse range of legal, regulatory and legislative issues. In his capacity as Solicitor, Steve provides guidance directly to member authorities (as well as clients of his law firm) on a variety of issues, such as general water or wastewater matters, authority agreements and resolutions, board member issues, tapping fees, developer agreements, reservation of capacity agreements, rate issues, water and sewer regulations, stormwater authorities and compliance with state law bidding and procurement requirements, as well as the Municipal Authorities Act, Right-to-Know Law, Ethics Act, Sunshine Act, and Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act.
• Steve routinely handles a wide range of issues unique to municipal authorities under the Municipality Authorities Act and other laws, and works closely with municipal authority engineers and staff.
• Steve frequently attends municipal authority meetings in a solicitor and special counsel capacity.
• Steve provides annual training to municipal authority Board Members on such topics as Municipal Authorities Act, Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act and Right-to-Know Law, and state ethics requirements.
• Steve presents annual Solicitor updates and seminars on timely topics impacting municipal authorities at conferences, seminars and webinars sponsored by the Pennsylvania Municipal Authorities Association.
• Steve was a significant contributor to the Tenth Edition of the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce and Economic Development’s publication entitled Municipal Authorities in Pennsylvania, published January, 2015.