Paulina Williams

Section Chair - Environmental Safety & Incident Response - Austin Partner

[email protected]

Austin

P: +1.512.322.2543
F: +1.512.322.3643
paulina williams baker botts austin

Paulina Williams advises clients across industrial and commercial sectors on complex environmental matters. Paulina's experience spans water quality, water rights, waste, air, and natural resources issues. She has worked extensively on environmental permitting, including contested case hearings, cross-agency consultations, and permit defense in state and federal court actions. She advises clients on environmental compliance, including guiding clients under the Texas Environmental, Health, and Safety Audit Privilege Act and helping with enforcement actions. In addition, Paulina litigates environmental claims and provides transactional support in deals involving significant environmental permits, liabilities, or risks.

Related Experience

Environmental Permitting

  • Represented power plant developers and owners with wastewater, water rights, and air permits, including associated contested case hearings
  • Represented a chemical company in time-critical wastewater permits for both a new and an existing facility
  • Represented water right holders, including river authorities and industry, in water rights permitting, including contested case hearings strategies
  • Represented river authority in petition-initiated contested case hearing to establish a watermaster program in the Brazos River Basin
  • Represented transportation and industrial project developers in Clean Water Act Section 404 individual and general permitting matters, including across multiple Corps districts
  • Counseled upstream and midstream companies regarding oil and gas environmental permitting requirements for wastewater and stormwater
  • Counseled project developers and engaged in cross-agency consultations regarding the National Historic Preservation Act and the National Environmental Policy Act in the context of permitting actions

Environmental Counseling, Enforcement, Investigations, and Transactions

  • Provided transactional support and regulatory counseling to water project developers, water rights holders, and industrial water users in connection with developing or securing water supplies
  • Counseled various industrial facilities including pipelines and terminals, regarding wastewater, storm water discharge and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act compliance obligations
  • Represented clients throughout cooperative Natural Resource Damages Assessments
  • Conducted internal investigations in multiple industrial sectors for distinct issues raised under the Clean Water Act
  • Counseled multiple facilities regarding wastewater and public water system audit findings and alleged violations
  • Represented chemical company in connection with alleged Clean Water Act Section 404 violation
  • Provided prompt on-site legal support at Incident Command for multiple oil spills
  • Counseled various industrial facilities regarding state and federal air quality regulations, including air permitting requirements and various applicability analyses, in the context of internal audits and responses to notices of violation
  • Negotiated contract provisions and conducted due diligence related to oil and gas, LNG, chemical production facilities, and numerous commercial sectors, including addressing multi-jurisdictional deals and complex permit transfer scenarios
  • Prepared comments for federal and state rulemakings

Environmental and Other Litigation

  • Defended various wastewater and air permits in Texas courts
  • Defended against citizen suits in federal court under the federal Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act
  • Assisted with litigation strategy and settlement of an Attorney General DTPA investigation regarding a utility rate application

Awards & Community

Ranked in Chambers USA, 2015-2022

Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Environmental and Water (Woodward/White, Inc.), 2021, 2022, 2023

Recognized as one of Austin's Top Attorneys in Land Use Environment by Austin Monthly Magazine, 2020, 2021, 2022

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