Marty develops land use and environmental permitting strategies based on the local, state, or federal approvals required for development. He often plays the role of quarterback on permitting teams and leads zoning- and land use-related discussions with lead agencies. He handles public hearings before planning and zoning boards and other permitting-related administrative hearings. His combination of permitting experience and first chair trial and appellate court litigation experience enhances his representation of clients through the lifecycle of a project, from planning through development.

Marty has a deep interest in mining and reclamation and helps mining industry clients with the exploration and development of minerals and related transactions. He closely follows global mining, including the precious metals, building materials, and industrial minerals industries. He has experience obtaining local, state, and federal approvals for quarries, surface mines, underground mines, sand and gravel pits, and precious metals mines on private and public lands throughout the US. He also has experience obtaining approvals for mining-related land uses and infrastructure such as rail transloading terminals, concrete and asphalt plants, and mineral processing (heap leaching) and waste storage facilities.

Marty’s experience is both state and federal based. For example, in California, he counsels clients on compliance and litigation relating to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA). At the federal level, he helps clients with permitting, compliance, and litigation relating to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the Mining Law of 1872, and federal mining and reclamation laws, including the Bureau of Land Management’s 43 CFR §§ 3809 Surface Management Regulations. He also has experience permitting mining and other land uses that are subject to the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), a federal land use management plan that covers 10+ million acres of public lands in the desert regions of seven California counties (Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego).

While Marty focuses his practice on the mining industry, his experience covers a wide variety of projects and land uses, including shopping centers, freight terminals, brownfields redevelopment, mitigation and conservation banking, and some of the largest distribution centers in Southern California. He is currently permitting offshore wind and Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) projects. He also helps clients with due diligence, transactional work, and the resolution of alleged violations.

Before joining Hunton, Marty was assistant general counsel at the one of the country’s leading suppliers of construction aggregates and heavy building materials. He helped manage land use, zoning, and permitting activities for the company’s network of quarries and mines throughout the US. He was also previously a director of a publicly traded gold and base metals company with projects in the US and Canada. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association’s (CalCIMA) Legal Action Committee.

Relevant Experience

• Obtained land use approvals for projects throughout California, in cities and remote desert areas, and completed attendant environmental reviews under CEQA.
• Secured mining-related state and federal approvals and reclamation plans for facilities throughout the US, including in California.
• Extensive experience litigating CEQA and land use issues in California state court and appellate proceedings.
• Obtained multiple CWA section 404 permits and section 401 certifications and completed attendant environmental reviews under NEPA.
• Asserted vested (grandfathered) rights to avoid the need for local land use permits or zoning approvals for mining activities in multiple states.
• Asserted rights under the Mining Law of 1872 to conduct mining activities on federal public lands notwithstanding apparent restrictions in land use management plans, including the DRECP.
• Permitted mining activities in US national park units in accordance with the Mining in the Parks Act.
• Handled multiple administrative matters and appeals before the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, and the Interior Board of Land Appeals, including mineral and mill site validity examinations.

Education
BA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008

• Coming Full Circle in the Fifth—Revisiting the Concept of ‘Urban Decay’ and its Increasingly Limited Role in CEQA, Environmental Law Section of California Lawyers Association—Environmental Law News, Vol. 27, No. 1
• Analyzing Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under CEQA: Why the Questions Left Unanswered by ‘Newhall Ranch’ Have Demonstrated the Need for an Update to the CEQA Guidelines, Environmental Law Section of California Lawyers Association—Environmental Law News, Vol. 26, No. 2
• California Court of Appeal Affirms Finding that Federal Mining Patents did not Entitle Plaintiff to an Exemption from Compliance with Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation—Mineral Law Newsletter, Vol. XXXIV, No. 3
• Public Interest Standing Under CEQA—Will We Ever Learn What Types of 'Urgent Considerations' Outweigh a Petitioner's Standing?, Environmental Law Section of California Lawyers Association—Environmental Law News, Vol. 26, No. 1
• South Coast Air Board will not be Expanded to Include 'Environmental Justice' Members as Senate Bill 1387 Fails to Pass in the Assembly, Climate Change Law & Policy Reporter
• California Court Grants CEQA Defendant Discovery into Plaintiff-Group’s Standing, Washington Legal Foundation—Legal Opinion Letter, Vol. 27, No. 7
• Protecting California’s Disadvantaged Communities—An Examination of How the State’s New Environmental Justice Laws May Affect the CEQA Entitlement Process, Environmental Law Section of California Lawyers Association—Environmental Law News, Vol. 27, No. 2
• California Air Resources Board Unanimously Approves SCAQMD’s 2016 Air Quality Management Plan and Adopts Amendment Regarding Indirect Source Rules, Climate Change Law & Policy Reporter
• California Appeals Court Upholds Legislative Workaround that Mooted CEQA Suit Targeting Development Project in Los Angeles, Washington Legal Foundation—Legal Pulse
• Managing Strategic Growth Using Lawful Impact Fees, American Planning Association—Zoning Practice, Vol. 34, No. 7
• Open-Pit Metallic Mining in California—Still Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place (To Mine), Environmental Law Section of California Lawyers Association—Environmental Law News, Vol. 28, No.2
• Tenth Circuit Strikes Down GHG Emissions Analysis Completed by Bureau of Land Management for Major Coal Leases, Climate Change Law & Policy Reporter