Steptoe's Interior Practice

Steptoe & Johnson LLP professionals offer a vast array of expertise for clients with interests before the Department of Interior and its various Bureaus.  Steptoe’s professionals with significant experience in Interior-related matters include:

Tom Collier.  Tom served as Chief of Staff to Secretary Babbitt and Chief Operating Officer of the Department of the Interior.  In that position, he assisted the Secretary in formulating Departmental priorities and in organizing the Department to accomplish those priorities.  He also chaired Department staff meetings and coordinated the efforts of the Assistant Secretaries.  After returning to Steptoe, Tom has handled and advised clients on a range of Interior-related matters, from natural resource damages cases to Federal land exchange issues to various disputes arising in Indian country.

John Duffy.  Prior to joining Steptoe, John was Counsel to the Secretary of Interior, where he provided strategic, tactical and political advice to Secretary Babbitt on a wide variety of issues, cutting across the various Bureaus in the Department, and gave policy guidance to Assistant Secretaries and Bureau Directors with the full authority of the Secretary.  In addition, he had full responsibility for the resolution of high-profile multiparty public disputes involving water rights, land claims and endangered species, and had primary responsibility for providing policy advice to the Secretary on Indian gaming matters.  In his current practice, John continues to handle matters and advise clients on issues in many of these same subject areas.

Molly Poag.  Molly practices in Steptoe’s Litigation group, focusing on complex litigation and arbitration.  Before her current position with Steptoe, Molly worked in the Clinton Administration as a consultant to Secretary Babbitt.  Her responsibilities at Interior included overseeing the Office of Regulatory Affairs and working on a variety of special projects, including the Forest Plan, Endangered Species Act issues, and various matters relating to National Parks.

Robert Jordan.  Bob has been a partner at Steptoe since leaving his position as General Counsel of the Army in 1971.  In that position, Bob served as legal counsel to the Army Secretariat, and also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Army for Civil Functions, responsible for providing policy supervision and oversight over the Civil Works program of the Army Corps of Engineers.  In his wide-ranging practice, Bob has been lead counsel for major corporate clients in litigation involving the scope and sufficiency of environmental assessments and environmental impact statements, including work on major oil exploration and development projects in Alaska. He supervised the major environmental litigation relating to construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.  Bob has also had extensive involvement in American Indian law matters ranging from disputes over Indian religious freedoms to tribal challenges concerning adverse DOI decisions.

Seth Goldberg.  Seth has an extensive practice in environmental and administrative law and litigation at Steptoe.  In the environmental area, his practice encompasses a range of subspecialties, including hazardous water and toxic chemical regulation, environmental remediation, pesticide regulation, and regulatory litigation.  Seth has handled a broad range of matters involving natural resource damage issues.  He had handled federal Superfund sites for major PRPs, as well as substantial numbers of matters involving state remediation. 

Cynthia Taub.  Cynthia’s practice encompasses a wide range of environmental regulatory issues with an emphasis on NEPA matters among other concerns.  Her practice includes the development of NEPA compliance strategies for clients, counseling them on the integration of the NEPA review process with statutory requirements such as the Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act.  Cynthia has also had extensive experience litigating ground-breaking CERCLA issues, as well as challenges to USACE wetlands determinations.

Steve Brose.  Steve’s practice as head of the Steptoe’s Regulatory & Industry Affairs Department encompasses a broad range of administrative, judicial and transactional matters, principally involving the oil and natural gas pipeline industries. 

Steve Reed.  Steve’s practice focuses in part on oil and gas pipeline regulation, representing major US oil and natural gas pipeline companies before various regulatory agencies. 

David Coburn.  David  practices in Steptoe’s Regulatory & Industry Affairs Department.  David’s representations includes advising major pipeline companies in navigating NEPA compliance issues, particularly as such matters relate to the requirements of the ESA, NHPA, related statutes, and jurisdictional concerns as they relate to states and Indian tribes.          

Sara Beth Watson.  Sara Beth’s practice focuses on environmental regulatory matters, among other issues, including the integration of various regulatory requirements in to a comprehensive compliance strategy for regulated entities.  She provides compliance counseling to a range of corporate clients and trade associations on various statutory regimes, including RCRA, CERCLA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and NEPA.  Her work includes negotiations with federal and state agencies, including the Department of Interior, administrative and federal court litigation and development of corporate and facility-specific compliance strategies.

David Bodney.  David’s practice out of Steptoe’s Phoenix office extends to Indian and gaming law matters, advising clients on a wide range of such issues, including tribal governance, membership, sovereignty, taxation, voting and water rights.  He has worked to secure passage of landmark Indian water rights legislation on behalf of tribal clients.  His work on Indian law involves a host of legal services, from government relations to litigation in federal, state and tribal courts.

Jim Derouin.  Jim maintains a significant environmental compliance and defense practice, representing clients on a broad range of environmental and natural resource issues, including environmental liability, groundwater contamination, surface water discharges, solid and hazardous waste disposal, mining, toxicology, endangered species, civil and criminal enforcement and complex project permitting.  

Jody Cummings.  Jody advises clients and litigates on various issuing arising in Indian country, including gaming, tribal recognition, religious freedoms, jurisdictional disputes, and environmental concerns.  Jody is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.     

Hunter Johnston.  Hunter is a member of Steptoe’s Government Affairs & Public Policy practice group.  He has extensive experience in developing independent power projects, among other matters.  Most recently, Hunter has focused on the development of gasification facilities in the U.S. and the use of substitute natural gas as a fuel for electric power.  He has actively lobbied Congress and various Administrations for more than twenty years in various issue areas.  

Senator J. Bennett Johnston.  Steptoe has further bolstered its expertise on DOI-related matters through a strategic alliance with former U.S. Senator Bennett Johnston (D-LA), and his legislative affairs group, Johnston & Associates LLC.  Among his numerous leadership positions during his time in the Senate, Senator Johnston was Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and Chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.