Robert J. Uram

Practice Details

• Firm Information
  Position

  Of Counsel

  Firm Name

  Sheppard Mullin
• Representative Cases & Transactions
  Cases

  Experience: Throughout his career, Robert has combined detailed knowledge of laws
  regulations, high st
  ards
  a willingness to work long hours to find solutions to intrinsically challenging problems.
  Advancing Federal/State/Tribal Relations: Robert has been instrumental in finding solutions to difficult issues on how the Federal government, States
  Indian Tribes work together on coal mining reclamation.
  Robert drafted
  negotiated cooperative agreements with six states that resolved a dispute that arose over the extent of state authority to regulate surface coal mining reclamation on federal l
  s. The Congress adopted the cooperative agreement model in Section 525 of the Surface Mining Control
  Reclamation Act of 1977.
  Robert resolved disputes between the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
  Enforcement
  states seeking to obtain approval for primacy under the Surface Mining Control
  Reclamation Act.
  As Director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
  Enforcement, Robert used a vision of Shared Commitment to improve contentious relations between his agency
  the states
  signed an agreement of Shared Commitment with the National Association of Ab
  oned Mine L
  Programs.
  Robert settled a lawsuit filed by the Navajo
  Hopi Tribes who objected to a 1989 regulation that said the Department of the Interior had the sole authority to regulate coal mining on Indian L
  s
  recognized their inherent Tribal sovereignty.
  Addressing Difficult Legal Issues: Robert has enjoyed working on resolving high stakes legal issues.
  Robert researched
  drafted regulations to define the proper st
  ards for the Bureau of L
  Management to review 183 applications for preference right coal leases on 496,000 acres of l
  that contained more than 12 billion tons of coal. The regulations were upheld in NRDC v. Berklund, 609 F.2d 553 (D.C. Cir. 1979).
  Robert provided the legal guidance for preparing a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act to evaluate the effects of adopting a new federal coal-leasing program. He was also a primary author
  reviewer of the document.
  Robert defended the Surface Mining Control
  Reclamation Act against existential challenges to its implementation. The courts rejected cases alleging that the Surface Mining Control
  Reclamation Act violated the Fifth
  Tenth Amendments of the United States Constitution, Hodel v Virginia, 452 U.S. 264 (1981)
  Hodel v. Indiana, 452 U.S. 314 (1981)
  rejected a bet the agency challenge to the agency's authority to set st
  ards for state programs beyond the bare minimums specified in the SMCRA. In Re Permanent Surface Mining Regulation Litigation, Appeal of Peabody Coal, 653 F.2d 514 (D.C. Cir. 1981)(En Banc), denied, 454 U.S. 822 (1981).
  Robert worked closely with the Army Corps of Engineers on the Special Area Management Plan for the San Diego Creek Watershed, the first watershed-wide comprehensive permitting plan in California for issuance of Section 404 permits.
  Robert developed an innovative, comprehensive approach to complying with the Environmental Protection Agency's Section 404(b)(1) Guidelines. The approach was approved in Friends of the Santa Clara River v. Army Corps of Engineers, 887 F.3d 906 (9th Cir. 2018), a case involving a Section 404 permit for the Newhall Ranch, a 20,000 home master planned net zero carbon emissions community.
  Robert drafted the Organic Trade Association's comments on the Department of Agriculture's proposed National Organic Program regulations. The comments lead to the Department's decision to reverse its proposal to allow use of sewage sludge
  genetically modified organisms in production
  use of irradiation in processing of organic food.
  Promoting Habitat Conservation As Part of Development: Robert has helped conserve habitat for endangered species
  worked on many key habitat conservation activities in both Northern
  Southern California.
  Robert advice on the proposed listing of the California Gnatcatcher under the state
  federal endangered species acts started the development community on the path that led to the passage of the State of California's Natural Community Conservation Program
  the development of multiple multi-species habitat conservation plans in Central
  Southern Orange County, San Diego
  Riverside
  other jurisdictions.
  Robert led the team that prepared a Habitat Conservation Plan the El Sobrante L
  fill in Riverside County covering two federally listed species
  29 other species of concern. The El Sobrante HCP was one of the first Habitat Conservation Plans in the country to comply with the Fish
  Wildlife Service's five-point policy, which required increased rigor.
  Robert negotiated a C
  idate Conservation Agreement for the Newhall Ranch with the Fish
  Wildlife Service to support the conservation of the San Fern
  o Valley spineflower, a tiny plant once believed to be extinct in southern California.
  Robert led a team that developed a plan for a six-mile long wildlife corridor through the Great Park to link the Clevel
  National Forest to the Laguna Coast. The plan fulfilled a decades long effort by a coalition of conservation groups led by the Laguna Greenbelt.
  In Northern California, Robert advised companies on the development
  approval of mitigation banks
  helped his clients place conservation easements on l
  to protect wetl
  s,
  endangered species like the California red-legged frog, the California Tiger Salam
  er, vernal pool fairy shrimp, vernal pool tadpole shrimp, the Alameda whipsnake, the Mission Blue butterfly, the Bay Checkerspot butterfly, burrowing owl
  western pond turtle.
  Improving Government Programs: Robert provided leadership
  direction for the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation
  Enforcement.
  Robert started the Acid Mine Drainage Technology Initiative to develop technical st
  ards to stop new mines from becoming a source of acid mine drainage. His work on the Appalachian Clean Streams Initiative served as a catalyst for the funding of hundreds of projects that have restored thous
  s of miles streams polluted by acid mine drainage.
  Robert successfully defended the agency's right to provide a federal backstop when state agencies failed to enforce the law under state primacy programs, defeating two bills, S. 1401
  H.R. 2372, which sought to remove this enforcement authority.
  Robert issued policy guidance that made it easier for private companies to voluntarily reclaim ab
  oned coal refuse piles.
  Robert issued a new mission
  vision statement, streamlined agency processes
  enhanced employee productivity by eliminating layers of unnecessary reviews
  carrying out reviews under the Government Results
  Performance Act to improve financial performance.
  Helping Clients Seeking Government Approvals: Robert has helped evaluate
  comply with the complex requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, the California Fish
  Game Code, among other laws.
  Robert has worked on hundreds of housing, commercial, recreational, master planned, solar, l
  fill, s
  
  gravel mines
  l
  exchanges projects primarily located in California, but he also worked on projects in Guam, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado
  Mississippi.
  Robert secured permits for housing developments
  master planned communities in dozens of California jurisdictions. Projects include the Windemere Ranch, the Gale Ranch, Alamo Creek, the Newhall Ranch, the Great Park, Spectrum 5, Spectrum 6, Quail Hill, Orchard Grove, Shady Canyon, Turtle Ridge
  Portola Springs.
  Robert also secured permits for the San Juan Capistrano High School, Coast Rock Products S
  
  Gravel Mine
  several l
  fills.
  Two of his projects were among the first new solar generation projects in Imperial County.