Mr. Foster is a Shareholder in the Los Angeles office of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. A member of the Natural Resources, Litigation, Land Use, and Water & Public Lands groups, he focuses on air quality, water rights, water quality, endangered species and environmental and natural resources law. He handles private and public matters concerning the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), air quality issues and soil and groundwater contamination cases.

Mr. Foster calls on more than 20 years of experience in his areas of specialty. Among other groundbreaking work, he has challenged the environmental, economic and constitutional appropriateness of an air permit trading scheme (RECLAIM) on behalf of a metals industry alliance; represented farmers and manufacturers in major cases related to the San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and Purity Oil Superfund sites; represented farmers and land owners in the western San Joaquin Valley in litigation against the Bureau of Reclamation regarding water deliveries and provision of drainage; and represented numerous paint manufacturers and trade associations challenging local, state and federal air quality regulations.

Mr. Foster frequently represents clients before California’s local air quality management districts, including the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, Placer County Air Pollution Control District, the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District and the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, on matters involving permit applications and notices of violation. These matters have included advising a wine production facility on permitting issues, negotiating a penalty reduction for a cement batch plant, arranging the purchase and sale of emission reduction credits, defending a proposed multimillion dollar fine for portable drilling equipment and obtaining stipulated orders for abatement allowing continued facility operation pending permit modifications for a local ski area, a cheese manufacturing facility, several metal fabricators and coaters, a wood treatment facility and an industrial bakery.

Reported Cases

Sherwin-Williams Co. v. South Coast Air Quality Management Dist., 86 Cal.App.4th 1258 (2001)

Alliance of Small Emitters/Metals Industry v. South Coast Air Quality Management Dist., 60 Cal.App.4th 55 (1997)

Setliff v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours, 32 Cal.App.4th 1525 (1995)

Teitel v. First Los Angeles Bank, 231 Cal.App.3d 1593 (1991)