• Contacts

    STEVEN M. POLAN

    Partner

    Co-Chair, New York City Government Practice Group
    email

    Infrastructure

    Manatt’s Infrastructure Group brings a multidisciplinary team of professionals with extensive knowledge, experience and contacts to assist our clients in the development, financing, building and in appropriate cases the privatization of public infrastructure. Manatt’s multidisciplinary approach allows the firm to combine its substantial industry knowledge in the Transportation, Energy, Water and Public Buildings sectors, with professionals from its Government and Regulatory, Project and Public Finance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Litigation, Land Use, Real Estate and Environmental practice groups to deliver unparalleled perspective and practical advice to assist our clients in achieving their goals.

    Transportation
    Manatt’s Transportation Group is dedicated to providing public and private clients with the widest range of high-quality legal and government representation. From high-speed trains to subways and highways, Manatt attorneys are experienced and adept in meeting clients’ needs from project inception to completion. Our professionals have experience in privatization and financing matters in both domestic and international projects, as well as matters of public procurement, land use and zoning, and in fostering political support and obtaining necessary governmental approvals to advance our clients’ projects.

    Energy, Environment & Resources
    The Energy, Environment & Resources transactions lawyers at Manatt have one of our firm’s fastest-growing practices. That growth reflects our depth of experience and skill in dealing with the interaction of increasingly complex environmental and energy regulations that confront every company doing business in the United States. Our attorneys have a well-deserved reputation for a preeminent, comprehensive practice focusing on the global energy industry. Although we represent private- and public-sector energy consumers on a variety of issues, our primary focus is on companies that develop, produce, market, acquire, transport and process energy resources.

    Water
    Our Water Group has over 30 years of experience in representing water and other investor-owned utilities and developers on a wide range of financing, environmental, water law and water utility issues. We are experienced in utility finance, including public and private debt and equity offerings. We also have experience in mergers and acquisitions and in obtaining state regulatory approvals associated with debt and equity issuances by public utilities, mergers and acquisitions of public utilities, and other commercial and financing transactions. We recently obtained state regulatory approval for a subsidiary of American Water Works, the largest investor-owned United States water and wastewater utility company, for an initial public offering and divestiture from a German conglomerate.

    We represent public utilities before state and federal regulatory commissions in regard to the development, financing and construction of major utility infrastructure projects, such as water desalination plants, storage and distribution facilities and other water and wastewater facilities. We also advise developers and public utilities in acquiring, administering and protecting water rights.

    Attorneys & Professionals

    Email
    Name
    Office
    Phone
    Allen-Niesen, Keith M. Los Angeles 310.312.4105
    de Recat, Craig J. Los Angeles 310.312.4319
    DeHart, June Langston Washington, D.C. 202.585.6510
    Faso, John J. Albany 518.431.6701
    Feinrider, Nancy K. New York 212.830.7194
    Friedman, Kenneth D. New York 212.830.7184
    Gantz, Clayton B. San Francisco 415.291.7600
    Grodzinski, Ron New York 212.830.7160
    Kieffer, George David Los Angeles 310.312.4146
    Moyer, Craig A. Los Angeles 310.312.4353
    Naggar, Eric I. New York 212.790.4500
    Polan, Steven M. New York 212.830.7292
    Walsh, James S. Albany 518.431.6717
    Wolff, Ted New York 212.790.4575

    Infrastructure

    Representative Matters

    Transportation

    • Represented Transport for London in connection with privatization initiative for the London Tube and implementation of London's congestion charging program.  Negotiated contracts and assisted in contract administration.  Provided advice in connection with European Commission competition rules relating to Manatt's expertise in international transit contracting matters.
    • Represented Amtrak in connection with the Northeast Corridor high-speed project, including equipment acquisition and finance, long-term maintenance arrangements, design-build facility contracts and claims resolution.
    • Represented Taiwan High Speed Rail Consortium in connection with the DBOM contract for high-speed rail in Taiwan.
    • Represented leading transportation technology and equipment suppliers in government contracting matters.
    • Worked with the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority and the United States Department of Transportation in developing the loan financing approach that has served as the model for the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).  Our team developed and implemented the federal lobbying strategy that led to the enactment of legislation designating the project as a high-priority corridor and obtaining $60 million in appropriations to support a $400 million federal loan.
    • Provided expert support to the United States Department of Justice in evaluation of tax-oriented transactions involving railroad equipment in the United States and Europe.
    • Served as independent arbitrator in connection with the resolution of claims arising from the development of the Honolulu rail transit project.
    • Represented the City of Reno in the Reno Transportation Access Corridor Project.  Worked with the Nevada congressional delegation, the authorizing and appropriating committees of Congress and the Department of Transportation to establish the project's eligibility for an $80 million federal TIFIA loan, and is assisting the City of Reno in finalizing the critical funding for this $250 million project. 
    • Representing an international investment bank before Congress on its interests in transportation policy.
    • Assisted the National Parks Conservation Association in efforts to encourage Congress to (1) make $440 million investments in park roads a component of the economic recovery program, (2) increase the funding level for the federal Park Roads and Parkways program in upcoming surface transportation reauthorization, and (3) modify the structure of the federal Transit in Parks program to improve effectiveness.
    • Representing a major rail company in connection with the development and regulatory approvals required for a large near-dock inter-modal facility.

    Energy & Resources

    • The development, purchase and sale of natural gas, pipeline construction and electric power generation within the United States and between U.S. and Mexican interests and U.S. and Canadian interests.
    • Negotiating and preparing agreements to purchase natural gas, refined products and electricity, reserve transmission and pipeline capacity, and develop and install alternative energy sources.
    • Project finance transactions on behalf of energy companies and financial institutions in combined cycle, cogeneration, geothermal, coal and hydro projects.
    • Proposed mergers of petroleum refiners and marketers and natural gas and electric distribution companies in both the U.S. and Canada, including extensive litigation and environmental due diligence.
    • Represented national waste management companies in development of landfill gas and waste export projects involving financing and construction of new infrastructure in contested regulatory environment.
    • Various contractual arrangements, including negotiating financing of and contracts for sales by a petroleum coker and the sales contract (plus associated environmental cleanup) for a mothballed petroleum refinery.

    Water

    • Representation of water public utilities in numerous rate, rulemaking and complaint proceedings before the CPUC.
    • Representation of a water utility in settlement negotiations with several state agencies arising out of a toxic waste spill.
    • Representation of a large water utility in rulemaking proceeding involving the adequacy of the CPUC water quality standards.
    • Representation of a land developer in appellate proceedings, federal and state court trial, and before the CPUC, to enforce a civil judgment against a water public utility.
    • The continuing representation of an owner of industrial real property in CERCLA cost recovery litigation against past tenants, owner and operators responsible for groundwater contamination.  We are also coordinating site characterization and remediation efforts at this site, including negotiations with federal and state regulators.
    • Representation of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority, La Puente Valley County Water District, and California Domestic Water Company in litigation in federal court in Los Angeles to recover costs expended to remediate contaminants in groundwater in the Baldwin Park Operable Unit of the San Gabriel Basin Superfund Site, as well as in the more than year-long negotiations between water entities, responsible parties and EPA to reach agreement upon a joint cleanup/water supply project that is the largest of its type in the country.
    • Representation of the San Gabriel Water Quality Authority in litigation in federal court in Los Angeles to recover costs expended to remediate contaminants in groundwater in the South El Monte Operable Unit of the San Gabriel Basin Superfund Site.
    • Representation of a landowner in the oversight efforts by a national oil company to remediate groundwater contamination caused by our client's former tenant.
    • Representation of a major water agency in public policy and infrastructure development.