Cynthia Faur

Responsive clean air compliance and climate sustainability counsel

Cynthia Faur is an environmental attorney who helps clients on all aspects of environmental law, including solid and hazardous waste, Clean Water Act compliance, endangered species issues and Superfund. She represents clients such as:

• Corporate and real estate companies
• Chemical companies
• Paper mills
• Electric generation companies

Prior to joining Quarles, Cindy served as the confidential senior policy advisor to the region 5 regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

• Counsels clients on all facets of the Clean Air Act. Clients turn to Cynthia for permitting, air quality modeling, New Source Performance Standards, hazardous air pollutants, mobile sources, fuel additives and ozone-depleting substances.
• Advises on climate change and sustainability issues like the regulation and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions, environmental justice considerations associated with the siting and operation of industrial facilities, development and substantiation of carbon reduction goals and corporate sustainability plans, and the consistency of environmental marketing claims with the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Green Guides.
• Represents clients in all aspects of state and federal enforcement, including responding to government information requests.
• Works with clients to evaluate and mitigate environmental concerns in complex transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and property transfers.

• Successfully negotiated a major Clean Air Act settlement on behalf of a power generation client. This settlement, one of the first in the EPA’s power plant enforcement initiative, not only resolved all potential past violations of the federal New Source Review (NSR) and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) rules but provided a future resolution of certain claims concerning those permitting rules.
• Favorably resolved allegations made by EPA that a chemical facility was a major source of hazardous air pollutants HAPS due to deficiencies in its Leak Detection and Repair Program. This resolution allowed the source to remain an area source of HAPs without the installation of additional emission control equipment. 
• Advised a client in the Chicago-Naperville, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin ozone nonattainment area on the generation of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compound (VOC) emission reduction credits (ERC) from the retirement of a large emission source.
• Represented a large Midwestern utility in permitting the major modification of two coal-fired generating units subject to the NSR and PSD programs. This permitting action included the generation of emission offsets for the fine particulate matter and the establishment of greenhouse gas best available control technology (BACT) limitations.
• Represented a natural gas utility in connection with a request for an aquifer exemption under the Safe Drinking Water Act to facilitate construction of an underground injection well.
• Negotiated agreements for a financial institution client's purchase of renewable energy certificates (REC.)