David Rieser

Practice Areas

David Rieser has more than three decades of experience advising clients in all areas of environmental law, including legislative, regulatory, compliance and law enforcement matters, corporate, commercial and real estate transactions, governmental and private cost-recovery actions, environmental insurance coverage, and remediation of contaminated sites. David serves Fortune 100 and mid-sized companies operating in a broad range of industries, including power generation, chemicals, petroleum, steel, food and consumer products, financial services, and waste management.

In the legislative and regulatory arena, David has represented trade associations, industry groups, and individual companies in numerous matters involving the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). He also represented power generating companies in permitting and administrative proceedings, and prepared responses to agency requests for information regarding Clean Air Act (CAA) issues.

David has served as a voice for clients in drafting and negotiating regulations in Illinois, won site-specific regulatory relief from the Illinois Pollution Control Board (IPCB), negotiated federal corrective action orders for hazardous waste facilities under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), served as common counsel for potentially responsible parties in actions under the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), and obtained no further remediation letters (NFR) under the Illinois Site remediation Program (SRP) for a number of developer and industrial clients with contaminated properties. David also represents clients in matters involving the Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), including enforcement issues and lease negotiations.

David regularly counsels buyers and sellers of commercial and industrial property and businesses as well as their lenders on the assessment and allocation of environmental risks of the transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions of assets valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Recent transactions have involved assets located in Europe and the United States, and include deals for contaminated and other properties requiring environmental remediation.

An experienced litigator, David has argued cases in federal and state courts, including a recent victory in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, in which he represented a coalition seeking to preserve commercial navigation in the Chicago waterways. Other matters have included cost recovery and enforcement actions.

Professional Memberships

Illinois Site Remediation Advisory Committee

Chairman, Board of Directors of the Lake Michigan Section of the A&WMA

Chairman, local host committee for the A&WMA Annual Conference and Exhibition held in Chicago in 2013

Publications

EPA Accepting Public Comments on Amended Ethylene Oxide Regulations, Washington Legal Foundation, 9 June 2023

“Time keeps on slipping, slipping: Seventh Circuit rules RCRA settlement triggers CERCLA statute of limitations,” ABA’s SEER Environmental Digest, March 2, 2020

“For Sure: Indemnity Claim Triggered by EPA Notice Letter, Not State Negotiations,” ABA’s SEER Environmental Digest, January 3, 2020

“Boiler Plate: Disclaiming liability in a settlement is not the same thing as not settling,” ABA’s SEER Environmental Digest, October 24, 2019

“Don’t Mention It: Seventh Circuit Rules RCRA Settlement Triggers CERCLA Statute of Limitations,” ABA’s SEER Environmental Digest, September 17, 2019

Illinois Editor, Brownfields Law and Practice: The Cleanup and Redevelopment of Contaminated Land, Matthew Bender

Illinois Editor, Brownfields Law and Practice: The Cleanup and Redevelopment of Contaminated Land, Matthew Bender

“Illinois” (Chapter 27), Implementing Institutional Controls at Brownfields and Other Contaminated Sites, Second Edition, ABA Books

“Fish Yourself out of Asian Carp Scare.” Law360, March 28, 2013

“Not so Full Disclosure: Protecting Trade Secrets in Greenhouse Gas Reporting,” The Legal Impact of Climate Change, Aspatore Books, 2012

Education