Opening Session

Rewriting the Rules: Institutional Controls, PFAS Accountability & Florida’s Brownfields Surge

Moderator: Robyn Neely, Esq., Partner, Chair, Environment and Natural Resources Practice, Akerman LLP

Panelists:

Laurel Lockett, Esq., Shareholder, Carlton Fields, P.A.

Michael Stag, Esq., Partner, Stag Liuzza, LLC

Howard Nelson, Esq., Partner, Government Relations & Land Development, Bilzin Sumberg

Michael Goldstein, Esq., Managing Shareholder, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A.

Michael Larson, Esq., Partner, Akerman LLP & President-Elect & Board Member, Florida Brownfields Association, Inc.

Florida’s remediation and redevelopment landscape is evolving rapidly, with new legislation, innovative legal strategies, and updated institutional control practices reshaping the path forward. This opening session will provide a multifaceted view of the latest policy, legal, and regulatory developments that are driving change.

Key topics include:

• Innovative Institutional Controls: Updates on FBA’s Petition to Seek Amendment to Ch. 62-524, F.A.C., the so-called “Delineated Area” Rule, no-drill zones, restrictive covenants, and local ordinances are being applied to achieve risk-based remedies, offering practical solutions that balance remediation costs with long-term site management.

• PFAS Litigation & Municipal Funding: An inside look at the $12.5+ billion national PFAS settlements and emerging legal strategies municipalities can use to secure remediation funds, with guidance on deadlines, statute of limitations, and the evolving multi-district litigation (MDL).

• Contaminated Media Forum Discussion: DEP's Contaminated Soils Forum was originally established in 1998 to provide an open forum for external and internal interested parties. In response to numerous requests, the forum has been re-established and renamed Contaminated Media Forum (CMF) to provide that open forum and to come to consensus on how to apply the lessons learned from Risk Based Corrective Action (RBCA).  The last meeting was held in 2019.  Might it be time to meet again?

• Florida’s Brownfields Expansion (CS/HB 733): A deep dive into the sweeping statutory changes enacted in 2025, including streamlined site closure pathways, expanded participation for federally regulated sites, elimination of outdated mapping requirements, and new incentives for housing, parks, and cultural projects.

Together, these topics will equip attendees with the knowledge to navigate Florida’s new Brownfields era, address the complexities of PFAS liability, and apply cutting-edge institutional controls to real-world remediation projects.

Robyn Neely, Esq., Partner, Chair, Environment and Natural Resources Practice, Akerman LLP

Robyn Neely focuses her practice on environmental site contamination issues related to real estate and corporate sales and acquisitions, and leases, including pre-acquisition, pre-leasing and pre-foreclosure due diligence analysis. Her practice also includes managing the investigation and remediation of contaminated properties and brownfield redevelopment including innovative solutions to risk management with risk based corrective actions. Her clients include private equity firms, homebuilders, residential apartment developers, hotels and resorts, lenders, international manufacturers, cell tower developers and service providers, municipal governments, and REITs throughout the United States.

Robyn’s comprehensive environmental experience includes the assessment and remediation of sites impacted by arsenic, petroleum, chlorinated solvents, chlorinated pesticides, PCBs, asbestos, and radon, and involves risk-based closures and other alternative strategies for site closure, as well as environmental compliance matters including defense of enforcement actions under CERCLA, RCRA and state environmental laws. Her experience also has included industrial wastewater, air quality, landfills and hazardous waste. In consultation with engineers, geologists, and other technical experts, she assists with environmental due diligence, compliance and risk assessments and develops practical and cost-effective strategies to address existing contamination, or environmental violations.

Robyn is consistently recognized by legal publications, including Chambers USA and Best Lawyers of America, which named her a Lawyer of the Year for Environmental Law.

Laurel Lockett, Esq., Shareholder, Carlton Fields, P.A.

Laurel Lockett practices in the areas of environmental law and commercial real estate. She has substantial experience with cleanup, purchase, sale and redevelopment of brownfields and other contaminated sites, including manuscripting of environmental insurance policies and other creative solutions to risk management, including risk based corrective action and alternative closure strategies. She also has substantial experience with redevelopment of federal superfund sites, industrial and domestic wastewater, storage tank regulation, landfill, PCB, used oil, hazardous waste, and air permitting and regulation. In addition her experience extends to the resolution of environmental enforcement matters, negotiation of prospective purchaser/BFPP agreements with state and federal agencies, consent orders, remediation plans and terms of conditional closure associated with the cleanup of hazardous waste, petroleum, chlorinated solvents, PFAS, and other contaminants with local, state, and federal environmental agencies, redevelopment of those sites and other environmental aspects of real estate and commercial transactions, including asbestos and indoor air quality issues, vapor intrusion, and lead based paint.

• Environmental permitting and enforcement issues in diverse areas including industrial and municipal domestic wastewater treatment, water reuse systems, storage tanks, landfills, used oil processing facilities, and hazardous waste permitting and regulation and a wide variety of industrial facilities.
• Negotiated settlements, consent orders, and remediation plans associated with the cleanup of hazardous waste, petroleum, chlorinated solvents, such as dry cleaning chemicals, and other contaminants with local, state, and federal environmental agencies, including on brownfields and NPL sites.
• Represented PRPs at various federal Superfund sites, including past service as administrative chairman of the Technical Committee for the Peak Oil Site Generators Group and counsel handling processing of challenges to allocation for hundreds of settling parties at the Peak Oil Site in connection with EPA de minimis settlement offers.
• Environmental aspects of real estate transactions, including creative solutions to environmental risk allocation, brownfields development, manuscripting of environmental insurance products, and indoor air issues such as vapor intrusion, asbestos, radon, and lead paint.
• Represented lenders, buyers, and sellers in commercial and industrial real estate purchase, development, redevelopment, and management, including manufacturing facilities, brownfield sites, Superfund and hazardous waste sites and former golf courses, and redevelopment projects on those sites including hotels, shopping centers, single family and multifamily residential, independent living and over 55 facilities and uses commercial warehouses, including leasing and property management issues.

Michael Stag, Esq., Partner, Stag Liuzza, LLC

Michael G. Stag is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner at Stag Liuzza. A seasoned litigator, Mike is known for his work in environmental and toxic tort law, having secured over $300 million in settlements and more than $1 billion in jury verdicts. He pioneered Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (TENORM) litigation and is passionate about holding corporations accountable for environmental harm. Mike earned his MBA and Juris Doctorate from Loyola University in New Orleans and has represented clients in landmark cases, including a $1.056 billion verdict against ExxonMobil. He resides in New Orleans with his family.

Howard Nelson, Esq., Partner, Government Relations & Land Development, Bilzin Sumberg

Howard has more than 30 years of experience in environmental law and land development. He represents clients throughout all phases of the development process from site location through permitting and construction, as well as in permit appeals and defense of environmental enforcement matters.

Howard represents several national homebuilders throughout Florida and the eastern United States in pre-acquisition site analysis and post-acquisition remediation. He works closely with a network of environmental professionals, including engineers and planners. He also represents a variety of other types of businesses in contamination assessment and remediation.

Howard has extensive experience representing clients in complex wetland matters, including issues related to protected and sensitive wetlands, preservation efforts and enforcement defense. 

Michael Goldstein, Esq., Managing Shareholder, The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A.

Howard has more than 30 years of experience in environmental law and land development. He represents clients throughout all phases of the development process from site location through permitting and construction, as well as in permit appeals and defense of environmental enforcement matters.

Howard represents several national homebuilders throughout Florida and the eastern United States in pre-acquisition site analysis and post-acquisition remediation. He works closely with a network of environmental professionals, including engineers and planners. He also represents a variety of other types of businesses in contamination assessment and remediation.

Howard has extensive experience representing clients in complex wetland matters, including issues related to protected and sensitive wetlands, preservation efforts and enforcement defense. Michael R. Goldstein, Managing Shareholder of The Goldstein Environmental Law Firm, P.A., and a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent and Chambers and Partners rated attorney, practices exclusively in the areas of environmental law and environmental redevelopment for a broad range of clients, including retail, residential, and industrial developers, public and private companies, real estate funds, lenders, and local governments. A major aspect of Mr. Goldstein’s environmental legal practice involves support of real estate and business transactions, including managing pre-acquisition and pre-leasing due diligence investigations; structuring, negotiating, and drafting environmental provisions in purchase, lease, and development agreements; and assisting lenders evaluate and limit the risk of exposure to environmental liability in connection with new loans and potential foreclosures. In addition, he works closely and extensively with real estate development principals and engineering, planning, and design professionals to help coordinate federal, state and local regulatory approvals for complex retail, industrial, residential, mixed use, and marina related projects throughout the State of Florida. 

Mr. Goldstein’s practice has a heavy emphasis on the remediation, financing, and beneficial reuse of contaminated sites and involves a broad array of Brownfields related transactional, administrative, regulatory, legal, legislative, and policy work for clients in both the private and public sectors. He has developed a national reputation as one of the leading and most innovative Brownfields practitioners in Florida, working on important and precedent establishing projects as well as heading up or participating in numerous local, regional, state, and federal environmental restoration initiatives. On a statewide level, Mr. Goldstein was the founding Chairman of the Florida Brownfields Association and served as its Chairman and/or President for the first five years of the organization’s existence. Mr. Goldstein’s tenure as Chairman and President was distinguished by his commitment to elevating environmental justice and public health as critical areas of emphasis for business, community, regulatory agency, and local government stakeholders. In 1996, the Miami-Dade County Commission appointed him Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Brownfields Task Force, a post that he held until the committee’s business was completed in 2004. In January 2006, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to serve on the Advisory Board of the Bureau of National Affair’s highly respected Environmental Due Diligence Guide, which serves as a national reporting, editorial, and opinion forum for environmental transactions and related Brownfields and policy matters. In 2008, he founded and funded the Goldstein Brownfields Foundation, which is dedicated to empowering economically and health disadvantaged individuals and communities with scholarships, programming, and resources to restore polluted land, revitalize neighborhoods, and protect public health. The Goldstein Brownfields Foundation also focuses on increasing the ethnic and gender diversity of lawyers working in the environmental arena through academic scholarships, educational and career programming, and professional mentoring. In 2009, Mr. Goldstein was appointed to the Executive Committee of the National Brownfields Coalition, an affiliation of private and public sector stakeholders working in the U.S. Congress to advocate for improvements in environmental redevelopment policy and legislation. 

Michael Larson, Esq., Partner, Akerman LLP & President-Elect & Board Member, Florida Brownfields Association, Inc.

Michael Larson is an environmental attorney who routinely advises clients on a range of complex environmental law issues arising in litigation, regulatory, and transactional matters. In addition to handling environmental disputes regarding environmental liability and administrative challenges to agency action, he frequently assists clients with the cleanup, reuse, repurposing, and redevelopment of Brownfield sites and other contaminated or distressed properties throughout Florida. Michael closely guides clients through the intricate process of obtaining environmental regulatory closure of contaminated sites. As part of these efforts, he works effectively with a network of environmental and engineering professionals. Michael also counsels clients on applying for, and seeking the transfer and sale of, Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits awarded under the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Brownfields Redevelopment Program. 

In addition, Michael's practice involves performing and managing significant environmental due diligence in connection with real estate and corporate transactions across the country. He routinely aids clients with assessing potential environmental risks associated with transactions and assists with risk management strategies, including the procurement of environmental insurance policies.  He also advises on a range of complex environmental permitting and compliance matters, including the transfer of permits as part of completed transactions.

Michael has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America for Litigation - Environmental and in the Florida edition of Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Environmental.