Hubs
Julie Cress is an environmental lawyer with over 15 years of experience in California and federal environmental and safety laws with a primary focus on air quality and climate change, assisting clients on regulatory, advocacy, incident response, and compliance and enforcement matters.
She has represented companies in the oil and gas sector, renewable fuels producers, aftermarket parts manufacturers, retailers, distributors, transportation companies, and other entities on compliance with federal, state, and local laws and permitting requirements.
Utilizing her experience in both the public sector and private sector, Julie is well-versed in responding to government requests for information including under the Clean Air Act Sections 114 and 208 and has represented clients in related enforcement actions, with a specific emphasis on Clean Air Act enforcement surrounding aftermarket defeat devices and California Air Resources Board regulations, including heavy duty mobile source regulations such as the Truck and Bus Regulation, Drayage Truck Regulation, and Transport Refrigeration Unit Regulation. Julie also counsels clients related to general compliance and enforcement defense surrounding federal and local air district requirements related to New Source Review and Title V permitting in California and other states. Having worked for a local air quality management district, Julie is skilled in helping California facilities navigating California's complex regulatory requirements as well as enforcement mechanisms such as variances and abatement orders. Additionally, Julie has assisted clients in various incident response activities such as air-specific reporting requirements and reducing enforcement exposure, along with advising on strategies for return to normal operation and future compliance.
Before entering private practice, Julie served as Staff Counsel to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), where she focused on a range of matters, including CARB's consumer products, fuels, vapor recovery, mobile source and portable equipment regulation and enforcement. In addition to her legal background dealing with environmental matters, Julie maintains strong on-the-ground experience in the plant environment, having been an EHS manager at a steel manufacturing company where she was responsible for two plants. In that role, she implemented environmental and workplace safety requirements and gained extensive experience implementing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA's) process safety management requirements, and federal, state, and local air permitting, water permitting and waste requirements. Earlier in her career, Julie also served as an inspector with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, where she was responsible for conducting annual inspections, investigating complaints and responding to/investigating air pollution releases at permitted facilities including refineries, chemical plants and other Bay Area manufacturing facilities.