“Understanding our clients’ operations is essential to developing practical solutions to complex problems.”

With more than 20 years of experience working on regulatory and other matters related to air quality, Kate now co-leads the firm’s air practice group.  She works with a range of clients, from petroleum refineries, power plants, and chemical and other product manufacturers, to commercial and development entities.  She is able to draw on her background in applied science, including hands-on experience in the chemical manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors, to deliver legal advice that reflects an understanding of her clients’ technical operations.  Kate has extensive experience in counseling clients on compliance issues under federal and state air pollution control regulations, including virtually all aspects of the Title V permitting program.  In recent years, she has spent considerable time negotiating agency enforcement actions alleging violations of regulatory requirements, including on behalf of several complex industrial facilities.  Kate has also handled litigation matters, with a particular focus on defending environmental permits against third-party appeals and other administrative challenges.

Kate shares the firm’s commitment to community involvement.  She is an active member of the Environmental and Energy Policy Council of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.  She also serves on the Tredyffrin Township Planning Commission.  Kate has served for nearly a decade as a member of the Board of Directors of the Brandywine Valley SPCA.  She was previously elected to the Board of Directors of the Women’s Energy Network Greater Philadelphia Chapter.  She also previously served on the Upper Merion Township Environmental Advisory Council, including as Chair, for several years, and the Board of Directors of Delaware Valley Earth Force. 

Kate has spent her entire legal career at the firm, beginning as a summer associate, and then working part-time while finishing law school.  Now she works closely with more junior attorneys at the firm as a partner mentor and served as the firm’s associate workload partner for five years.  In 2014, Kate graduated from LEADERSHIP Philadelphia’s Core Program.  In law school, she was a member of the Temple Law Review, and in college at Drexel, Kate was selected for the Honors Program, eventually earning the highest grade point average among all biology majors in her graduating class.  Outside of work, Kate and her husband have a young daughter and two adopted golden retrievers and enjoy spending time outside, especially kayaking and swimming at their favorite lake.

Examples of Kate’s recent experience include the following:              

• Represented multiple clients in responding to emerging state and local environmental justice policies and regulations, including in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the cities of Philadelphia and Chicago.
• Represented a national metal recycling company in negotiating federal consent decrees with the Department of Justice and the United States Environmental Protection Agency to resolve alleged violations of regulatory requirements at multiple facilities.  Such negotiations involved the application of complicated Clean Air Act (CAA) and other statutory and regulatory standards across several environmental media.
• Represented industrial facilities in opposing third-party challenges to environmental permits necessary for implementation of key facility projects.  Kate has also assisted clients in challenging objectionable permits issued to our clients’ facilities by environmental agencies.
• Represented major power plants in challenging emission standards for electric generating units (EGUs), including, under the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) and the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for fossil fuel-fired EGUs (MATS).  Kate’s work for these clients has included challenging CSAPR and MATS before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and, ultimately, the United States Supreme Court.  Similarly, Kate assisted a power plant in opposing attempts by other states to impose stricter emission standards pursuant to the CAA’s good neighbor provision.
• Assisted a major petroleum refinery throughout a year-long process to revise its Title V operating permit.  This process involved New Source Review (NSR), Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR), and greenhouse gas regulations, among other federal and state regulatory programs.  This work included extensive negotiations with the state environmental agency, significant administrative appeals, and the resolution of a variety of enforcement issues.

• Pennsylvania Super Lawyers listing (environmental law), since 2017; “Rising Star” listing (environmental law), 2013-2015. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. Click here to view the selection methodology.
• No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey or any other jurisdiction.

"Air Regulatory Update," presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting in Bordentown, NJ, December 10, 2024

"PFAS/PFAS-Containing Materials: Destruction and Disposal," presented at the Air & Waste Management Association Allegheny Mountain Section Environmental Workshop, June 6, 2024

"Negotiating Federal Consent Decrees with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Strategies for Negotiation, Implementation and Compliance," a Strafford Publications webinar, January 30, 2024

"Air Regulatory Update," presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting in Bordentown, NJ, October 17, 2023

“Air Regulatory Update,” presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting in Middlesex, NJ, May 16, 2023

"Federal and State Air Update and Emerging Issues," presented at the PBI Environmental Law Forum, Harrisburg, PA, March 16, 2023

"Negotiating Consent Decrees for Environmental Violations: Critical Strategies for Modifying and Managing Compliance," a Strafford Publications webinar, June 21, 2022

"Legal Perspective on Oil and Gas Air Quality and Compliance Developments" presented at the Marcellus Shale Coalition's Virtual Air Quality Compliance Reporting and Testing Training, October 22, 2020

“Air Regulatory Update” presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting in Princeton, NJ, February 25, 2020

“Internal Environmental Auditing:  Best Practices for the Audit Process & Protecting the Findings” presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey’s Plant Operations Management Workshop, Princeton, NJ, December 4, 2019

“Air Quality Regulation” presented at the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy 2019 Science Conference, Bryn Mawr, PA, April 16, 2019

“Air Regulatory Update” presented at the Chemistry Council of New Jersey Environment Committee Meeting in Fairfield, NJ, February 26, 2019

“What’s in the Air? Permitting-Enforcement-Modeling-Continuous Monitoring” presented by MGKF and ALL4, Bala Cynwyd, PA, July 17, 2018

"Hot Topics and Advanced Air Permitting" presented at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Environmental Law Forum in Harrisburg, April 11, 2018

"Air Update" presented at the Environment Committee Meeting of the Chemistry Council of New Jersey (CCNJ), Bordentown, NJ, February 23, 2018

"A Regulatory Overview for Plant Management" presented at the Plant Operations Management Workshop sponsored by the Chemistry Council of New Jersey (CCNJ), East Brunswick, NJ, December 5, 2017

"Hot Topics and Advanced Air Permitting" presented at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Environmental Law Forum in Harrisburg, April 5, 2017

“Are You Prepared for an Environmental Emergency at Your Camp?” presented at Tri-State CAMP Conference, April 2, 2017

"Environmental Compliance for Camps," an MGKF webinar presented on behalf of AMSkier Insurance, February 25, 2016

"Preparing for and Responding to an Emergency of Casualty Incident," sponsored by MGKF in Bala Cynwynd, PA, June 24, 2014

“Industrial Boiler MACT,” a webinar presented for the McIlvaine Company’s Hot Topic Hour, March 22, 2012

“Impact on Ambient Air Rules for PM2.5 and Ozone,” a webinar presented for the McIlvaine Company’s Hot Topic Hour, December 9, 2010

“Impact of Ambient Air Rules for Fine Particulate Matter and Ozone on Fossil Fuel Power Plants,” a webinar presented for the McIlvaine Company’s Hot Topic Hour, April 22, 2010