Steve Kelton practices environmental law in Holland & Knight's Government Section. He focuses on water quality law, NEPA, and endangered species law.
He has been involved with many significant projects such as:
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representing a major sewer district being sued under the Citizen Suit provision of the Clean Water Act
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helping write an amicus brief for the Supreme Court on the EPA v. Defenders of Wildlife case, arguing that the Clean Water Act cannot be turned into a "super land use" control statute to achieve the goals of the Endangered Species Act
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appealing a Corps of Engineers' wetlands jurisdiction determination
Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Kelton had extensive experience with CERCLA, the Clean Water Act, and other environmental laws. He spent 14 months at EPA headquarters on a fellowship with the water permits division working on oversight of state-run NPDES programs. Mr. Kelton wrote a letter to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency successfully arguing that a well-studied $100 million sewage system upgrade simply required a FONSI under NEPA, rather than a full-blown EIS. He also participated in legal internships at the EPA--New England (where he worked in the Superfund office) and the U.S. Air Force Environmental Law Office (where he applied asbestos regulations, historic preservation rules, and other environmental laws to military operations).
Before law school, Mr. Kelton spent nearly a decade in Boulder, Colorado, working with municipalities, businesses, and non-profit groups to increase recycling and reduce solid waste. He has been extensively involved with sustainability and corporate "green teams." He also participated in the Colorado Governor’s Computer and Electronics Recycling Task Force.
Mr. Kelton is admitted to practice before Colorado courts; his D.C. bar membership is pending.
During law school, Mr. Kelton was on the Editorial Board for the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, was an officer with the VLS Environmental Law Society, and served on the VLS Campus Greening Committee. He earned high grade awards for Law of Toxic Materials and Population Law. Mr. Kelton's major research included: offshore wind energy, using tax incentives to encourage landlords and renters to reduce energy consumption, and the environmental impacts of immigration.