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LaJuana Wilcher, Samantha Propp speak at Kentucky Chamber Environmental Conference
by Mandy Hicks
LaJuana Wilcher and Samantha Propp, both attorneys and partners with ELPO, are giving presentations at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce‘s annual Environmental Conference this week in Lexington, Kentucky.
LaJuana and Samantha are speaking on WOTUS – waters of the U.S. – at a session today. The seminar will “explore the evolution and status of the jurisdictional boundaries of the CWA (including Congressional action), address the expansion of CWA regulation over the years and explain the implications of these actions.”
LaJuana will also speak at the closing session, “EPA, Opinions and the 114th Congress” on February 11. The sessions will address how voters view environmental regulations and the EPA and how Congress is likely to address environmental legislation during the coming year.
About LaJuana Wilcher
LaJuana has extensive experience in environmental law, particularly at the EPA. She has served in top-level environmental policy positions in federal and state government. She has unparalleled knowledge and experience representing clients before environmental administrative agencies and courts throughout the country, including a matter before the U.S. Supreme Court. Regularly pressing cases relating to environmental permitting, compliance and enforcement issues involving wastewater, air, wetlands and hazardous waste, she also counsels clients on the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.
LaJuana served as the nation’s senior regulatory official for water programs at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 1989 to 1993. She led EPA’s involvement in the Exxon Valdez oil spill litigation negotiations, in which the government reached a settlement of more than $1 billion with Exxon for the environmental damage sustained because of the Valdez spill. She was also instrumental in launching EPA’s watershed protection approach and Clean Water Act section 319 nonpoint source grant program, and in major policy decisions involving federal drinking water, wetlands and storm water requirements and permitting.
About Samantha Propp
Samantha is a frequent speaker on environmental law topics. She works primarily in the areas of environmental law, school law and employment law. Samantha holds a J.D. degree from The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, a Master of Arts degree from the University of San Francisco, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She is admitted to practice law in Oregon and Kentucky, and is a 2009 graduate of Leadership Bowling Green.
