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The President of SEA, L.C. is
Richard C. Fortuna. For the past 23 years, Mr. Fortuna has
been one of the principal architects of the nation's
preventive hazardous waste management policies. Mr. Fortuna
is best known for his work in developing key provisions of
the 1984 RCRA Amendments, including the land disposal
restriction, corrective action and “hammer” provisions,
while serving on the House Energy and Commerce Committee
under Congressman James Florio. In addition, he
participated in the enactment of the original Superfund Act
in 1980, while a member of Congressman John J. Dingell’s
personal staff, and contributed to the 1986 Superfund
Reauthorization (SARA). Based on these and other
legislative successes, a recent Brookings study identified
“reducing exposure to hazardous waste” as one of the Federal
government’s 50 greatest accomplishments of the 20th
century.
After leaving Capitol Hill in 1983, Mr. Fortuna served as
Executive Director of the Hazardous Waste Treatment Council
for 11 years -- a group which played a pivotal role in
implementing all key RCRA and CERCLA policies and
provisions. Mr. Fortuna is one of the few individuals who
has: personally developed provisions of the RCRA and CERCLA
(Superfund) legislation, followed and affected their
implementation for over twenty years, and has witnessed
first hand the response of regulated industry to the
changing nature of federal and state legislation regulations
in this area.
Mr. Fortuna is considered one of the foremost experts on
RCRA and CERCLA’s (Superfund) origins, purposes, provisions
and implementation. Mr. Fortuna has been admitted as a RCRA,
CERCLA (Superfund) and/or Clean Water Act Expert witness in
Federal and State Court and EPA ALJ proceedings. Mr.
Fortuna has served as a RCRA, CERCLA (Superfund) and/or
Clean Water Act (CWA) Expert witness in over twenty cases or
proceedings involving RCRA, CERCLA (Superfund) and/or Clean
Water Act (CWA) legislation, regulation, policy, purposes or
implementation. Summarized below are the significant
accomplishments of Mr. Fortuna in all of SEA’s areas of
practice including market studies, compliance strategies,
policy development, technology evaluation, and as a RCRA,
CERCA (Superfund) expert witness. All included are links to
summaries of the cases and proceedings in which Mr. Fortuna
has served as a RCRA, CERCLA (Superfund) expert witness:
Over 23 years experience in drafting environmental
legislation, implementing policies, conducting market
studies and observing regulated industry’s response to
environmental statutes, regulations, deadlines, and market
conditions;
Was a principal architect of the 1984 reforms to RCRA
(i.e., Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments of 1984 – HSWA),
and participated in the original enactment of Superfund in
1980, and its 1986 Reauthorization;
Followed and influenced the implementation of both RCRA
and Superfund for eleven years as the Executive Director of
the nation’s largest trade association of technology-based
waste management firms. In this capacity, Mr. Fortuna
worked with over two hundred firms and their customers in
responding to ever-evolving hazardous waste regulatory
requirements, and understanding the costs of waste
treatment, compliance and remediation;
Conducted numerous market studies involving wastewater
management technology and analyzed the impact of Clean Water
Act regulations for numerous due diligence investigations (See
Resume)
Authored a book, Hazardous Waste Regulation, published by
McGraw-Hill with a Forward by the late Senator John Chafee –
the Floor Manager for the 1984 HSWA;
Conducted numerous market studies and due diligence
investigations in the hazardous, solid, and radioactive
waste sectors for commercial waste management firms,
insurance companies and financial institutions regarding:
the advisability of market entry, the need for restructuring
of current services to respond to future needs and demands,
and the likelihood of future success of a given technology
or market strategy;
Extensive experience with trial, deposition, and
Congressional testimony. Was admitted as a RCRA expert in
an EPA ALJ proceeding and in Federal and State Court trial;
Worked on eleven separate insurance coverage cases
involving a variety of defenses and investigations, all on
behalf of the insurer. Familiar with the history and
structure of numerous state regulatory programs. References
available upon request;
Provided expert witness testimony on the history and
intended impacts of RCRA and CERCLA policies on the
practices of hazardous waste generators and facilities that
treat, store, and dispose of hazardous waste. Opinions
focused on whether various activities were properly
classified as regulatory compliance, and on the portion of
claim costs that are so classified. Prepared numerous
Expert Reports; have been deposed and testified at trial;
Established valuable Court precedents on the
classification of RCRA Corrective Action activities as
regulatory compliance, rather than compelled remediation;
Developed a model for classification of enforcement
actions;
Amassed an archive of industry, government and
professional reports on waste management practices,
knowledge of groundwater contamination, and Federal/State
policies, regulations and legislation;
Organized 12 national and regional conferences on RCRA
and CERCLA policy issues and treatment/remediation
technologies, and organized or testified before
Congressional hearings on over twenty-five occasions; and,
Served on DOE’s Technology Development and Deployment
Advisory Committee for 5 years.
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