Doug MacCourt is a partner who concentrates his practice on environmental and natural resources law, energy development, land use, public works projects, and property transactions for industrial and contaminated sites. For the past 25 years he has represented private and public sector clients to permit, construct and operate energy, transportation, industrial and economic development projects. Doug is chair of the firm’s Indian Law Group, co-chair of the Sustainable Practices Advisory Group, and advises Native American tribes and tribal enterprises on all aspects of federal Indian law and economic development. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America in the Native American and Natural Resources Law categories, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and has been selected as a 2013 Top Rated Lawyer in Land Use and Zoning by American Lawyer Media and Martindale-Hubbell™.
Doug has extensive experience with state and federal cleanup and regulation of hazardous waste, natural resources damages, and citizen suits. He advises client/consultant teams in all phases of local, state, and federal cleanup, development and natural resources permitting.
Doug represents clients before state legislative bodies and Congress on appropriations and project matters, and has successfully defended clients’ rights on appeal before the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, Oregon Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court and U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Professional Experience
- Ater Wynne LLP, Portland, Oregon, Partner, 2002 to present; Of Counsel, 1999 to 2002
- Environmental Manager and Director of Brownfield Programs, City of Portland, Office of Transportation, 1991 to 1999
- Martin Bischoff Templeton Langslett & Hoffman, Attorney, 1988 to 1991
Education
- University of Oregon, J.D., 1988
- Certificate in Natural Resources and Environmental Law
- Humboldt State University, B.S., cum laude, 1983
Admitted to Practice
- Oregon
- Alaska
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
- U.S. District Court of Oregon
- U.S. District Court of Alaska
Professional Activities
- NW Environmental Business Council, Board of Directors
- National Association of Local Government Environmental Professionals, Board of Directors
- US-Germany Bilateral Work Group on Brownfields
- 1000 Friends of Oregon, Cooperating Attorney
- Oregon State Bar, Indian Law Section, Past Chair; Environmental and Natural Resources Section, Member; Real Estate and Land Use Section, Member
- American Bar Association, Natural Resources and Environmental Law Section
Representative Matters
- Environmental cleanup and redevelopment of large primary aluminum smelter properties in Oregon and Washington
- Environmental cleanup, land use approvals, funding and redevelopment of large carbide manufacturing sites
- Lead defense counsel for marine terminal operator at large public port facility; successfully defended natural resource damage and ESA claims from major petroleum spill
- Renewable energy (solar, wind, hydroelectric) licensing, permitting and development for Native American tribes in Southwest, Midwest, and Alaska Native Corporations
- Obtained tax credits, FERC certification and Energy Facility Siting Counsel approval for $100 million, 90 Mw high-efficiency gas-fired cogeneration facility
- Permitted, and successfully defended land use challenges at local level and on appeal for state-of-the-art integrated processing and recycling facility
- Environmental and land use approvals and tax credits for $90 million pulping process for Pacific Northwest region’s largest producer of recycled content newsprint
- Air, water, waste, and cleanup permitting and compliance defense for ship construction and repair facility and metal pipe facility
- OSHA compliance and appeals for national producer of motor vehicle parts
Representative Publications and/or Presentations
- Renewable Energy Development in Indian Country: A Handbook for Tribes. A Project for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and The Alliance for Sustainable Energy. 2010.
- Environmental Insurance. The Year in Review: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. American Bar Association.
- Superfund and Brownfields: Origins and Evolution of Federal Cleanup Law in the US. Journal for European Environmental & Planning Law. 2006.
- Solid Waste Law and Regulation. Environmental Deskbook. Oregon State Bar. 2006.
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