Fred’s practice focuses on advocacy before the United States Congress and federal agencies, including legislation, rulemakings, permitting, and federal policy.
Fred’s areas of concentration include energy, environment, privacy, cybersecurity, and financial services. In the energy and environmental arena this includes work on electricity policy, carbon capture and sequestration, electric transmission, climate change, environmental risk management, infrastructure permitting, biomass, and waste issues. Regarding privacy and cybersecurity, Fred has worked on data breach notice and security legislation and a variety of related bills affecting commercial use and management of personal information, as well as issues legislation and regulation affecting owners of critical infrastructure. He has represented a variety of clients in the financial services arena on issues related to banking, insurance, institutional money management, real estate, and electronic payment transactions.
Relevant Experience
- Leads the CCS Alliance, a multi-industry coalition to promote an appropriate risk management and regulatory structure to encourage development and financing of carbon capture and storage projects. Has prepared federal CCS risk management and regulatory legislation, as well as legislation for several states.
- Represents electric utilities before Congress and federal agencies on key issues, primarily in energy and environmental areas.
- Represents a leading information services company on federal legislation on privacy, information security, and related information policy issues.
- Led utility industry coalition effort to gain federal provisions promoting transmission infrastructure expansion, needed to support electric reliability and competitive markets, and advises clients on federal role in electric transmission siting and in obtaining federal environmental reviews and approvals for transmission projects.
- Directed preparation of influential national energy strategy policy proposals for a prominent business group.
- Guided clients through high-profile congressional investigations, including investigations of the 2003 power outage affecting customers in the Northeast, Midwest and Canada; a boardroom surveillance matter; and a nuclear safety investigation.
- Navigated clients through NEPA and other federal and state environmental compliance requirements for construction of a major linear infrastructure project through a National Wildlife Refuge.
- Brought about congressional review of barriers to competition in the real estate industry and their effects on consumers, where residential market fees exceed $60 billion annually.
- Directed effort resulting in enactment of federal legislation to reduce filing burdens and encourage investment in affordable housing.
- Assisted electric utility in obtaining emergency declaration and timely approvals for new infrastructure to preserve reliable electric power supply for Washington, D.C.