Heusel

Laura Heusel focuses her practice on environmental diligence, environmental permitting and regulatory issues, and environmental litigation. Laura brings to her legal practice years of experience as a professional engineer in both the public and private sectors. With this, Laura applies a practical mindset to help clients navigate the technical rigors of environmental regulations and find cost-effective solutions to today’s regulatory challenges.

• Environmental
• Environmental Counseling
• Environmental Litigation
• Catastrophic Events & Major Claims
• Government Relations
• Public Utilities
• Telecom, Broadband & Video

• Regularly represents clients engaging in industrial, manufacturing, and land use activities that require environmental permitting and compliance expertise.
• Represents sellers and purchasers of contaminated properties, conducts extensive environmental due diligence, and negotiates environmental indemnity agreements for properties.
• Provides regulatory reviews regarding environmental permits, historical and cultural resources, threatened and endangered species, and compliance with local land use and zoning requirements for the financing of large-scale renewable energy projects throughout the Southeastern United States.
• Represents clients regarding environmental permitting and regulatory issues under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and state associated laws.
• Serves as environmental counsel for regional wastewater and solid waste management authorities in Mississippi.
• Assists clients with environmental testing of soil, groundwater, air emissions, and ambient air and advises regarding facility-wide environmental audits.
• Represents clients in negotiations with the EPA and state environmental regulatory agencies regarding permitting and compliance issues, enforcement issues, and environmental remediation.
• Assists clients with both litigation and regulatory burdens under CERCLA and the Mississippi and Alabama Voluntary Evaluation Programs.
• Advises state and local government authorities regarding the use and reporting requirements for funds provided by the American Recovery Plan Act and the Inflation Recovery Act and state and federal procurement requirements.
• Represented clients in obtaining permits and modifying local management plans for solid waste facilities in Mississippi.
• Represented industrial facilitates applying for Title V permits issued by state environmental agencies in Mississippi and Alabama.
• Conducted environmental due diligence for acquisitions in industries including boat maintenance and sales locations, fuel service stations, fast-food restaurants, and cold storage facilities.
• Led multi-disciplinary work groups developing Watershed Restoration and Protection, Source Water Protection, and Education and Outreach Plans for the water supply reservoir serving Jackson, Miss.

• Adjunct Professor, Environmental Law, Mississippi College School of Law, 2024
• Judicial extern for the Honorable Neil P. Olack, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
• Law Clerk for the United States Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Washington, D.C.

• Mississippi, 2017
• Alabama, 2018

• Mississippi College School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 2017
  • Mississippi College Law Review, Staff (2015 – 2017); Best Case Note Award (2016)
  • Best paper awards in Legal Writing I, Appellate Advocacy, Environmental Law, Clean Water Act and Wetlands, Trial Practice, and Professional Responsibility
• University of Mississippi, M.S., Environmental Engineering, summa cum laude, 2004
• Mississippi State University, B.S., Biological Engineering, magna cum laude, 1998

• Mississippi Bar Association, Section of Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Land
  • Executive Committee Member
• Licensed Professional Engineer, Mississippi
• Air & Waste Management Association
  • Mississippi President, 2018
  • Mississippi Vice-Chair, 2017
• American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources
  • Newsletter Subcommittee Member, 2017-2023
  • Law Student Mentor
• Mississippi Manufacturers Association
  • Environmental Committee Member
• Manufacture Alabama
  • Environmental Committee Member

• Speaker, "The Effect of Loper Bright on Environmental Law," The Mississippi Bar CLE, September 10, 2024.
• Presenter, Annual Environmental, Health, and Safety Conference.
• Author, "Competing In Triathlons Makes Me A Better Lawyer," Law360 Expert Analysis, January 24, 2024.
• Presenter, "Panel on the EPA Good Neighbor Plan Under the Clean Air Act," MMA EHS Conference, October 5, 2023.
• Panelist, "Water News You Can Use: 404, 401, and All Things WOTUS," MMA EHS Conference, October 20, 2022.
• Presenter, "Due Diligence: What's New and Here's What to Do," MMA EHS Conference, October 19, 2022.
• Presenter, "ESG - Environmental and Property Considerations," ESG and Energizing Economic Development in Mississippi CLE, January 13, 2022.
• Author, "The Latest on Defining WOTUS: Is it All about Adjacency?," American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Water Quality and Wetlands, October 31, 2022.
• Presenter, "Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery," 2021 A&WMA Southern Section Conference, Biloxi, MS, September 21, 2021.
• Co-Author, “Which Came First, the Standard or the Suit,” IADC, Toxic and Hazardous Substances Litigation Committee Newsletter, April 2020.
• Author, “Maui or Not? Here Comes the Latest on the Hydrological Connectivity Theory,” American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, October 7, 2019.
• Author, "Hands Out of the Cookie Jar! Recent Court Decisions Limit EPA's Non-Discretionary Duty to Regulate Storm Water for Clean Water Act Citizen Suit Jurisdiction," Water Quality and Wetlands Committee Newsletter, Vol. 15, No. 1, ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, March 2018.
• Author, “Notable 2017 Cases Under the Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Citizen Suit Provisions,” Monthly News Roundup, Manufacture Alabama, February 2018. 
• Author, Note, The Environmental Protection Agency on Thin Air, Michigan v. EPA:  The Problem of Regulations on Remand Without Vacatur, 35 Miss. C.  L. Rev. 514 (2017).
• Author, “Cuba’s Constitutional Mandate for Environmental Protection:  Is it Enough?”  ABA Joint Newsletter of the Section’s Special Committee for Young Lawyers and the Young Lawyers Division’s Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Committee, Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 4, June 2016.
• Presenter, Update on Environmental Law Trends and Topics in 2017; Mississippi Engineering Society Winter Meeting, Jackson, MS, February 2017.
• Presenter, Update on the National Stormwater Rule and Its Implications for Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi; MS-LA-AL Environmental Law Seminar, Destin, FL, June 2014.
• Presenter, Nutrients:  Too Much of a Good Thing?  The Basics of Wastewater Nutrient Removal and Why You Need to Know About It; Mississippi Engineering Society Annual Conference, Jackson, MS, April 2013.

• Charles Clark Inn of Courts (Pupil, 2016 – 2017)
• Leadership Greater Jackson (Class of 2013 – 2014)
• Jackson Chapter President, Mississippi Engineering Society (2012 – 2013)
• Lead Civil Engineer for project trips to Pune, India and Burundi, Africa with Engineering Ministries International, planned water supply and sanitation infrastructure projects