Lee Smith
Lee N. Smith focuses his practice on land and natural resource regulation and development, environmental compliance, water law, and litigation. He is experienced in federal and state water quality, air quality and hazardous materials compliance issues, including environmental due diligence projects for mining and energy projects. He has handled cases before the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the San Joaquin Unified Air Pollution Control District, and local environmental agencies. He has drafted and negotiated environmental provisions for complex agreements and assisted clients on due diligence issues. Lee has also been involved in state court litigation concerning pesticide contamination, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and Prop. 65 litigation, as well as federal litigation involving pesticide registration and the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Lee Smith is a partner in our Sacramento and Fresno, California offices.
Practice Areas
- Water Quality
- Environmental and Natural Resources
- Wine and Vineyard Law
Professional Associations
- Fresno Chamber of Commerce, Environmental Issues Committee Counsel
- Citizen’s Advisory Committee to the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District
- California State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Chair
Education
- University of Utah College of Law, J.D., 1988, William S. Leary Scholar, 1985-1986
- Brown University, A.B. environmental studies, 1981
Bar Admissions
- California
Wineries Taking Greenhouse Gas Reduction Seriously
At least fourteen wineries Oregon have instituted improvements to reduce Greenhouse Gas (“GHG”) emissions, including the installation of solar panels, lighting retrofits, tank insulation and in some cases, have gone so far as to use goats, sheep, and raptors instead of lawn-mowers and pesticides. For instance a winery in Eugene, reportedly has trained owls and red-tailed hawks to protect the vineyards from the small birds that like to feed on their grapes.
In 2009 the fourteen wineries in Oregon banded together to create the first industry carbon-reduction program. The “Carbon Neutral Challenge,” a joint project of the Oregon Environmental Council and the Oregon Wine Board included twenty percent of Oregon’s wines annual production in 2009. In other words, one in five bottles of wine produced in 2009 was produced in a facility that completed the Carbon Neutral Challenge. Each contributing winery accounts for their greenhouse gas emissions and incorporates this information into a carbon inventory tool. The participants must also become part of the Climate Registry.
Over the last year these projects have repeatedly prevented 211 metric tons of methane from being released; the CO2 is equivalent of 9,370 barrels of oil consumed; the annual emissions of 770 cars or the electricity used by 489 homes in one year. For any emissions that remain after all their reduction efforts, the wineries have located verifiable offset projects in the agricultural sector including methane digesters in Oregon, Washington and Idaho through the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
