Michael’s practice focuses on securing water supplies for state and local public entities, the reoperation of federal water projects, and sophisticated project permitting under NEPA, the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, and National Historic Preservation Act.
With nearly two decades experience in key regulatory agencies, Michael brings a deep understanding of federal environmental statutes and programs, including the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, NEPA, and the Corps’ civil works program. He offers invaluable insight to clients navigating federal permitting and enforcement matters.
Most recently, Michael served as Chief of the Water Law Section in EPA Region 4, overseeing implementation and enforcement of federal water programs across eight southeastern states and six federally recognized tribes. Before joining EPA, Michael held key positions in the Corps, including Deputy District Counsel (Mobile District), Acting Division Counsel (Northwestern Division), and Assistant Chief Counsel (Headquarters, Washington, D.C.).
Michael received his juris doctor from Washington and Lee University and holds an LLM in Environmental Law from Lewis and Clark Law School. Following law school, Michael clerked for Judge Dudley H. Bowen, Jr. of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Georgia.
Representative experience
Selected work.
Michael brings deep experience with a wide range of environmental laws and regulations. Representative matters since joining Jones Fortuna include:
- Representing the Brazos River Authority in its efforts to secure additional water supply storage in Whitney Lake, including associated NEPA reviews, water control manual updates, and hydropower impact analyses
- Representing a state water district in connection with a proposed Corps of Engineers feasibility study evaluating the allocation of water supply storage space in a large headwaters federal reservoir in an interstate basin containing sensitive habitats and significant hydropower uses
- Representing a state water authority in the ongoing development and construction of a major water supply reservoir
- Assisting with the implementation of forecast-informed reservoir operations to enhance water conservation and water supply uses at a Section 7 flood control dam in California
- Appointed counsel at the specific request of the court to provide pro bono representation to an individual in a Federal Tort Claims Act action against the U.S. Army for trespass onto private property through the discharge of carcinogenic waste, resulting in a wrongful death
- Ongoing representation of Tarrant Regional Water District in Texas in dealings with the Corps concerning billion-dollar flood control project
- Representing a public water system on compliance and enforcement matters under the Safe Drinking Water Act
While at EPA, he oversaw nationally significant matters, including:
- Restoration of the Jackson Mississippi water systems through stipulated orders addressing wastewater treatment and drinking water failures
- EPAs’ disaster response for drinking and wastewater systems impacted by catastrophic hurricanes and flooding in western North Carolina and Kentucky
- Oversight of permitting and enforcement under the Clean Water Act, including Section 404 and the NPDES program
- Implementation of the consent decree governing the City of Atlanta’s combined sewer system
- Negotiation and/or implementation of governing water and wastewater systems in major municipalities, including DeKalb County, Chattanooga, Lexington, Memphis, Nashville, and Miami
- Implementation of the “lead and copper rule” for public water systems
- Crafted the resolution to the decades–old prohibition on a Corps flood control project in the Mississippi’s Yazoo Backwater Area, balancing flood protection, wetlands conservation, and statutory compliance
- Florida’s assumption of the Clean Water Act Section 404 program, including Programmatic Agreement under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA)
- Application of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to federal projects and permits throughout the southeastern U.S.
Michael’s work at the Corps focused on the agency’s environmental and civil works program, including its water supply mission, and its Clean Water Act regulatory program. Highlights include:
- Lead Corps counsel in the “Tri-State Water Wars” litigation over the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) and Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa (ACT) River Basins (Georgia, Florida, and Alabama)
- Shaping Corps policies and procedures governing storage reallocations under the Water Supply Act of 1958
- Lead Corps counsel in seven successful prosecutions under the Archeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA), leading to additional indictments for ARPA violations at other Corps projects and establishing a roadmap for prosecutions across the nation
- Oversight of the NEPA process for the first update in 50 years to the water control manuals for the ACF and ACT Basins
- Lead permitting counsel on the Kemper County IGCC project, a combined mine and coal gasification project with over 300 stream crossings that was the poster project for the “Clean Coal Initiative” under the Bush and Obama administrations
- Legal lead in rebuilding Puerto Rico’s power grid following Hurricanes Maria and Irma
- Legal oversight of development and construction of Mobile Harbor’s modified turning basin project
Michael is intimately familiar with the federal agencies’ interpretation and implementation of a range of federal environmental laws, including:
- Clean Water Act wastewater and stormwater permitting and enforcement
- Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting and enforcement
- Oil Pollution Act
- Jurisdictional “WOTUS” determinations, both before and after the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA
- Clean Water Act Section 401 certifications
- Section 10 permits in navigable waters
- The Water Supply Act of 1958
- Modification of federal projects (Section 408 permits)
- Safe Drinking Water Act
- Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act
- National Environmental Policy Act
- Endangered Species Act
- Administrative Procedure Act
More about Michael
Education
- Lewis and Clark Law School, LLM in Environmental Law
- Washington and Lee University, JD
- University of the South, BA
Admissions
- State Bar of Georgia
- U.S District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
Clerkships & Honors
- Hon. Dudley H. Bowen, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia
- Joseph W. Kimbel Award, recognizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attorney who demonstrates the highest professional potential for future legal achievement