Katz Barron Squitero Faust | Attorneys

Dennis M. Stotts
Member

Phone: (305) 856-2444
E-mail: dms@katzbarron.com
Fax: (305) 285-9227

Dennis Stotts is an AV-rated attorney practicing Environmental and Land Use Law including: evaluating environmental risks in real property transactions and mergers and acquisitions; enforcement; permitting; rulemaking; mediation; assessment and remediation of contamination in soil, surface water and groundwater; solid and hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal; air pollution; and wetlands regulation.

Prior to practicing law, Dennis was an environmental scientist and regulator with the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. He frequently assists clients in obtaining approvals from, and defending administrative and civil enforcement actions before, federal, state and local regulatory agencies.

Areas of Practice
Environmental Law
Land Use Law

Representative Experience

Serving as common counsel for 225 third party plaintiffs in CERCLA/Superfund action in U.S. District Court.
Successful negotiation of Administrative Order on Consent and Consent Decree with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice at a Superfund Site, and reducing potential liability of a Fortune-100 institutional investor-client by $25,000,000.
Conducting investigations to identify potentially responsible parties, reduce U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-assigned waste allocations and recover response costs at contaminated properties.
Negotiating and overseeing cleanup under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order for client that assumed primary responsibility for undertaking remediation at pesticide contaminated property.
Successfully negotiating a substantially reduced CERCLA (Superfund) allocation for a potentially responsible party at a petroleum-contaminated site in Florida, resulting in a low cost settlement with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under a de minimis Administrative Order on Consent.
CERCLA (Superfund) representation of potentially responsible parties at various Superfund sites throughout Florida.
As an environmental scientist and government regulator, supervised state environmental enforcement programs for all types of pollution, prepared administrative and judicial enforcement cases, and served as expert witness in geographic area of Florida with highest population and greatest degree of development.
Successful mediation of a variety of environmental disputes and litigation.
Assisting clients in the defense and prosecution of litigation involving a variety of environmental issues and the recovery of costs incurred in the investigation and remediation of contaminated properties.
Providing counsel to numerous clients on the environmental risks associated with the purchase and sale of properties and the acquisition of business entities.

Bar Admissions
Florida, 1984
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

Certifications and Specialties
Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator. Mediation practice is limited to environmental and land use disputes, whether court ordered, voluntary, or pre-litigation disputes.

Honors and Awards

Florida's Recycling Markets Advisory Committee - Gubernatorial Appointee
Marquis Who's Who in America, 2007 edition
Top Lawyers in South Florida, Environmental Law - South Florida Legal Guide, 2005, 2006
Florida Superlawyers, Environmental Law, 2006

Legal and Regulatory Experience:

Partner, Earl, Blank, Kavanaugh & Stotts, P.A., Miami, Florida
Environmental Law Associate, Peeples, Earl & Blank, P.A., Sarasota, Florida
Enforcement Section Head, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, Southeast Florida District (Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties). Supervised state enforcement programs relating to solid waste, water pollution, hazardous waste, air pollution, domestic waste, industrial waste, and wetlands. Served as expert witness in solid waste and water pollution administrative and civil litigation. Responsible for case preparation for administrative and judicial environmental enforcement. Responsible for implementation of Chapter 403, Florida Statutes, the Florida Air and Water Pollution Control Act, and Florida environmental regulations in the geographical area with the largest population and highest degree of development.
Environmental Permitting Specialist, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation. Performed technical review and evaluated solid and hazardous waste and resource recovery facilities, including conceptual plans, engineering and construction plans, pre-construction and post-construction ground and surface water monitoring and site preparation.

Education:
Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida, 1972, B.S. (Chemistry)

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1976, M.S. (Public Health, Environmental Sciences & Engineering)

Stetson University College of Law, 1983, J.D. (Cum Laude)

Selected Published Work:
Government and Private Party Enforcement of Federal Environmental Laws and Regulations, Treatise on Florida Environmental and Land Use Law, 2002

Representative Lectures on Environmental Law and Resource Management:

Dept. of Environmental Protection, Water Management District, and Army Corps of Engineers Permitting and Enforcement Procedures - Environmental Permitting School, Florida Chamber of Commerce
Basic Superfund Liability -- The ABC's of PRP Soup - Superfund - Liability Ten Years Later, The Florida Bar
What is Due Diligence? - Hazardous Waste in Land Use Transactions Seminar, National Business Institute
When Can I Stop Cleaning Up? - Avoiding Environmental Liability, National Business Institute
Groundwater Discharge Permitting - Environmental Permitting Summer School, Florida Chamber of Commerce
Common Law Environmental Claims - Environmental Permitting Short Course, Florida Chamber of Commerce
Regulation of Underground Storage Tanks - CLE International Conference on Hazardous Waste Cleanup
Storage Tanks Update: Regulation of Underground Storage Tanks under Federal and Florida Law - Environmental Permitting Summer School, Florida Chamber of Commerce

Professional Associations and Memberships:
Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Law Section (Chair, 1996-97)
Florida Bar Administrative Law Section
American Bar Association
Lambda Alpha International (Honorary Land Economics Society)
Florida Academy of Professional Mediators

Birth Information:
December 15, 1950, St. Louis, Missouri