Mr. Montevideo is a partner in the Government & Regulatory Law Section of Rutan & Tucker, LLP, where he specializes in environmental law, emphasizing Superfund and cost recovery litigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (“CERCLA”), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”), the Hazardous Substance Account Act (“State Superfund”) and related provisions and common law theories of recovery.
Mr. Montevideo has worked on a number of matters involving various National Priority List Superfund Sites, such as the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Site, the McColl Site in the City of Fullerton, the Montrose Chemical NPL Site in Los Angeles (the Palos Verdes Shelf and the Los Angeles and Long Beach Harbors Complex), as well as various other State and federal Superfund sites throughout Southern California.
Mr. Montevideo advises clients on a regular basis on a number of regulatory compliance matters, including issues arising under the Clean Water Act (including NPDES and TMDL issues), the California Porter-Cologne Act, State and federal Underground Storage Tank Laws, State and federal laws addressing hazardous materials and acutely hazardous materials, lender liability issues, Proposition 65 (the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986), the Polanco Act (H&S Code § 33459 et seq.) the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 (AB 939), and related laws and regulations.
Mr. Montevideo has extensive experience in dealing with local, State, and federal regulatory agencies, including the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency (the Department of Toxic Substances Control), the California Regional Water Quality Control Boards, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, as well as local health departments, public works departments, and fire departments.
Mr. Montevideo also regularly advises clients in real estate transactions involving Brownfield properties and the purchase and sale of properties contaminated and potentially contaminated with hazardous substances and hazardous waste, including advising public entities in their acquisition and/or condemnation of contaminated properties.
Mr. Montevideo is presently the Chair of the Orange County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, and has acted as either the Chair or Co-Chair of this organization since January 1995.
Mr. Montevideo has also chaired the firm’s Environmental Law Practice Group since 1992, which represents a concentration of the firm’s environmental expertise in both the transactional and litigation settings. He is a member of the Orange County Bar Association, the California State Bar, and a former Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law at Chapman University College of Law.
Mr. Montevideo is also trained in the skills of mediation, having completed training at Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution.
Mr. Montevideo obtained his BA in 1981 from Ohio State University, graduating summa cum laude, and received his JD with honors from the Ohio State University College of Law in 1984. He has been with the law firm of Rutan & Tucker since 1984 and has been a partner since 1992.
Areas of Expertise
- Environmental Law
- Superfund and Toxic Tort Litigation
- Environmental Regulatory Compliance
- Public Law
- Litigation
Recent Presentations
- County Counsels’ Association of Governments - Spring 2013 Conference, “The Road to Numeric Limits in Municipal NPDES Permits – how did we get here and where to go next?”
- ABA Teleconference Presentation – February 2013, “Stormwater Regulation at the Crossroads: The Courts Weigh In”
- CASQA 8th Annual Conference – November 2012 “The LA River Bacteria TMDL – A Case Study of the Legal Problems with using Numeric Limits in Stormwater Permits”
- Whittier College, Environmental Law Symposium – February 2012 “ The Future of Stormwater in Southern California”
- CASQA 6th Annual Conference – November 2010 “The Legal Need for the Development of Water Quality Standards Considering the Unique Challenges of Urban Runoff”
- Program co-chair, Southern California Stormwater Water Quality Program, Law Seminars International, and moderated a panel discussion on "The Most Effective Ways to Address Urban Run Off"
Publications
- Are You Making “All Appropriate Inquiries?” – New U.S. EPA Final Rule Strengthens Environmental Due Diligence Standards, by Richard Montevideo, Partner and Olivia Marr, Associate, Orange County Lawyer, September 2006.
- Environmental Responsibility In California: Mediate It Or Litigate It, by Richard Montevideo, Partner [copyright 1998 Rutan & Tucker].
- The 1996 Lender/Fiduciary Reforms To CERCLA Are Likely The Last Major Reforms To Superfund Until After The Millennium, by Richard Montevideo, Partner [copyright 1998 Rutan & Tucker].