Practice Overview

Harrison, Temblador, Hungerford & Johnson LLP provides focused legal advice and representation to clients in the mining, land use and natural resources fields.

Mining: We counsel clients at the concept stage of mining and reclamation projects and guide those projects through state and federal permitting processes. We defend clients' entitlements, if needed, at the administrative level and in court. We have extensive experience with vested rights and served as lead counsel in the landmark decision, Hansen Bros. Enterprises v. County of Nevada, 12 Cal. 4th 533 (1996), which defined vested mining rights and government's authority to impose new regulations on existing operations.

Land Use: Our land use and environmental law practice focuses on all aspects of urban, industrial and residential land development. Our expertise spans from project planning through the entitlements stage, and includes litigation to defend our clients' entitlements. Our land use practice is unique: because the firm specializes in environmental and land use matters, our attorneys are proven experts in their fields. Further, our expertise extends beyond the purely legal – we can provide the strategic advice necessary to navigate complex projects through any regulatory, political, or stakeholder obstacles that may arise. We have secured approval for several large, complex projects in the face of significant opposition.

Natural Resources: Our practice encompasses land use and environmental permitting, air quality, cultural resources, hazardous waste, water law, endangered species, and litigation under the major federal and state statutes. We also bring strong relationships with respected engineers, geologists, biologists and other consultants and can help to apply those resources in service of our clients. We have special expertise in the major environmental review laws, NEPA and CEQA, which are critical to environmental protection, but also can be sources of unnecessary permitting costs and delays. We provide clients with strategies to move through the NEPA and CEQA processes as efficiently as possible – strategies tested and honed through real-world experience.

Our expertise includes the following:

Mining Approvals

From application development to project approval and post-approval litigation.
Private lands, state lands, and federal lands.

Reclamation Plan Approvals

Major amendments, minor modifications and compliance.
Representation before the Office of Mine Reclamation and State Mining and Geology Board.

Vested Mining Rights

Vested rights investigation, determinations and defense.

Surface Mining and Reclamation Act

Compliance, including reporting and financial assurances.
Idle mine issues and interim management plans.
AB 3098 List eligibility defense.

Mine Safety and Health

Federal MSHA compliance and Cal-OSHA compliance.

Land Use Approvals

Complex land use approvals from project inception to post-approval litigation.
Urban mixed use, greenfield and brownfield developments, residential and commercial.
Solar energy development.

CEQA / NEPA

Draft document development, analysis strategy, post-certification litigation.
Consultant recommendations and scoping.

Clean Water Act / Porter-Cologne Act

Section 401 and 404 permitting, SWPPP development.
Wetland delineations and consultation with U.S. Corps of Engineers.

Federal / State Endangered Species Acts

Consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA-Fisheries, State Department of Fish and Game.

Federal and State Clean Air Acts

Air permits, representation before air districts.

National Historic Preservation Act

Compliance with federal and State cultural resources laws and litigation.

Transactional Representation

Negotiate and draft development agreements, leases, including mineral leases and access easements.

Litigation / Administrative Proceedings

Defense of vested property rights, including vested mining rights.
Defense of land use and mining approvals.
CEQA/NEPA litigation.
Regulatory takings/inverse condemnation litigation.
Representation before federal, State and local administrative bodies.