Environmental and Planning
Key Contacts
Our Environmental and Planning group is one of the largest and most experienced in Ireland, with market-leading expertise across the energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, data centre, transport, food and drink, waste and pharma sectors.
Working with our real estate, energy, infrastructure, construction, finance, and corporate colleagues, we partner with our clients and their technical advisors to provide seamless, multidisciplinary advice across the entire lifecycle of a project, from concept through to operation and disposal, aligning legal strategy with project goals.
We have a track record of achieving robust permitting decisions and in defending court challenges to permits, including: planning permissions, operational licences and maritime permits.
We represent clients in engagement with regulators, investigation processes and in the defence of criminal prosecutions.
We lead the environmental and planning due diligence of asset and share purchases, including negotiating warranties and indemnities and advise on environmental and planning liabilities in insolvency scenarios.
We advise on:
- Environmental Impact Assessment
- Appropriate Assessment
- Strategic Environmental Assessment
- Water Framework Directive Assessments
- Assessments under the Climate Act
- Applications for / amendments to planning permission, including strategic infrastructure, and planning compliance
- Applications for / amendments to EPA licences
- Negotiation of EPA required financial provision
- Waste licensing and waste management
- Offshore permitting / licensing of maritime activity
- Defending court challenges to grants of permits
- Planning injunctions and other injunctions under environmental law including in trespass and nuisance cases
- Contaminated land / remediation
- Environmental liability litigation
- Liabilities of directors, managers and others under environmental, health and safety legislation
- Lender, receiver and shareholder environmental liability
- Environmental auditing and compliance
- Reporting and investigation of safety and environmental incidents
- Defending prosecutions under environmental, planning and safety regimes
- Environmental due diligence and M&A advisory, negotiation of transaction documents
Experience Highlights
The lawyers in our Environmental and Planning Group have advised:
- a gas supply company on all aspects of its proposed LNG and CHP facility including obtaining planning permissions and operating permits and defending a High Court judicial review challenge to the extension of a planning permission which was referred to the CJEU;
- an international waste management company on its successful application for planning permission for a waste to energy facility. Representing the company in the defence of a High Court judicial review challenge to that grant of permission. Advising the company on the application for its operating permit;
- various data centre operators on successful applications for data centre developments;
- residential developers on a number of successful applications under the Strategic Housing Development and Large-scale Residential Development schemes;
- various renewable energy developers on applications for planning permission, including legal stress-testing of environmental reports;
- an international aquaculture operator on all aspects of licensing and regulatory compliance, including successful defences of a number of enforcement actions for alleged licence breaches and bringing judicial review proceedings to challenge an attempt to revoke an operating licence;
- Irving Oil on its acquisition of Top Oil. Environmental due diligence of more than 150 sites and advising on Seveso and COMAH;
- Ardian Infrastructure on its acquisition of leading energy utility Energia Group from I Squared Capital;
- Macquarie Asset Management on its acquisition of the Beauparc Group, Ireland’s largest recycling and processing led waste-to-resource business, and the Beacon Hospital, one of Ireland’s largest private healthcare providers;
- Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners on its acquisition of Elgin Energy and Ørsted’s European onshore business;
- Rabobank as lender to Ib Vogt / Highfield on the development and financing of four Irish solar farms (Rathnaskilloge, Gaskinstown, Clonin North and North Arklow) with a combined generating capacity of around 280MW;
- Kanadevia Inova, on the agreement to acquire the operator of the Dublin Waste to Energy Facility (Encyclis Ireland Operations Limited) and on its major upgrade of this state of the art WtE facility;
- Bord na Móna on the development of various wind farms and energy storage facilities throughout Ireland;
- Scandi Standard AB (publ) (SCST SS), one of Europe’s leading chicken producers on its agreement to acquire Glenhaven Foods;
- Novo Nordisk on the acquisition of its first manufacturing facility in Ireland, through the acquisition of a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility (and its related business) in County Westmeath from Alkermes plc;
- Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a specialist global investment manager focused exclusively on the infrastructure needed for the energy transition, on its acquisition of the Wexford Synchronous Condenser Project, a proposed 963 MVA.s. facility in Co Wexford
- Shrieve Chemical Company (a portfolio company of Gemspring Capital) on its acquisition of Carbon Chemicals Group Limited
- Octopus Renewables on its acquisition, development and project financing of the Ballymacarney and Harlockstown solar projects (aggregate capacity of 250 MW)
- the consortium comprising of funds and investment vehicles advised by ECP and KKR on its £5.75 billion recommended cash offer for DCC Energy plc
- a multinational plastics manufacturer in the successful defence of a prosecution by the EPA for alleged breaches of an operating licence
- an agri-food producer in defending a criminal prosecution by the HSA
- a drinks producer in defending a criminal prosecution by the HSA
- project companies on offshore wind farms in Phase 1, Phase 2 and the ‘future framework’ of the Irish offshore wind regulatory regime on the regulation and development of their offshore wind farms
- a number of public bodies and private organisations in respect of requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations.
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