Eric L. Martin

Experience

Eric Martin concentrates his legal practice in the areas of permitting and natural resource development, with an emphasis on oil and gas exploration, production and storage, carbon sequestration and mining. He helps clients acquire and dispose of natural resources, permit projects on the local, state and federal levels, and resolve development issues. Eric's experience includes representing clients before local governing bodies, state adjudicatory bodies and Oregon and Washington courts.

Prior to law school, Eric taught English as a Peace Corps volunteer in Targu Ocna, Romania (2003-2005) and worked at Historic Boston Incorporated, a historic preservation revolving fund and advocacy organization (2002-2003).

Representative Work

• Negotiated and drafted 30-year, $250 million joint venture for the development of natural gas reserves in Wyoming.
• Represented client in the successful land use permitting of a $250 million transportation infrastructure project.
• Represented client in the permitting of a 75 MW wind energy facility, including successful resolution of appeals brought under the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act.
• Represented client in the successful permitting of a 40-acre commercial composting facility, including successful resolution of appeals before the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals and the Oregon Court of Appeals.
• Assisted client in navigating local historic resource regulations and state historic resource review process in connection with the successful permitting of a $20 million new grade school.
• Advised numerous clients on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Endangered Species Act compliance in connection with a variety of development projects, including multiple wind energy facilities and mine sites.
• Advised clients on private property and Bureau of Land Management issues related to carbon sequestration and drafted carbon sequestration easements covering thousands of acres throughout the United States.
• Negotiated revisions to restrictive city environmental zoning regulations that allowed clients' businesses to remain in operation.
• Obtained reversal of Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development's denial of Measure 49 claim.
• Negotiated royalty agreements in connection with $35 million financing agreement for mineral processing facility.
• Conducted permitting due diligence and drafted permitting opinion in connection with $12.4 million refinancing for an assisted living facility.
• Drafted organizational documents and pumice mining leases for limited liability company owning 28,000-acre mineral estate.
• Authored title opinions for mineral resource development.

Professional Activities

• Member, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
• Member, NAIOP Oregon
• Member, Real Estate and Land Use Section, Oregon State Bar Association
• Member, Environmental and Natural Resources Section, Oregon State Bar Association

Presentations

• "Just Passing Through, Nothing to See Here: Pass-Through and Pore Space Rights," Bakersfield Association of Professional Landmen, Bakersfield, California, 2013
• "Fits & Starts: Legal Hurdles to CCS Deployment in the U.S.," 2013 Utah Governor's Energy Development Summit, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2013
• "Oregon Land Use: The Permitting Process," Best of CLE, The Seminar Group, Portland, Oregon, 2012
• "Carbon Sequestration on Federal Land: the BLM Takes the First Step with Site Characterization Permits," 11th Annual Carbon Capture, Utilization & Sequestration Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2012
• "Permitting Renewable Energy Projects," Renewable Energy Law, University of Oregon Law School, 2012
• "Oregon Land Use Update: Reviewing Interpretations of Local Land Use Regulations, Takings, and Industrial Lands Legislation," Best of CLE, The Seminar Group, Portland, Oregon, 2011
• "No Controlling Authority: The Use of Public Lands for Carbon Sequestration," Fifteenth Institute for Natural Resources Law Teachers, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, Stevenson, Washington, 2011
• "Heritage Collaborations the Statewide Way," (moderator) Oregon Heritage Conference, Astoria, Oregon, 2011
• "Conveying the Value of Heritage and Preservation" (moderator), Oregon Heritage Conference, Astoria, Oregon, 2011
• "Oregon Land Use Update: Urban/Rural Reserves and Measures 37 and 49," Best of CLE, The Seminar Group, Portland, Oregon, 2010

Civic Activities

• Commissioner, Oregon Heritage Commission
• Member, Columbia River Peace Corps Association

Publications

• "Approaches to Pore Space Rights," (coauthor) for California's Carbon Capture and Storage Review Panel, 2010
• "Carbon Dioxide Pipelines," (coauthor) for California's Carbon Capture and Storage Review Panel, 2010
• "Combining NEPA Compliance with Other Statutes: the National Historic Preservation Act and the Endangered Species Act," (coauthor) Special Institute on the National Environmental Policy Act, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2010
• "The Interaction of NEPA and Other Federal Laws," (coauthor) NEPA: Climate Change, Cumulative Impacts and Compliance, CLE International, 2009
• "Siting and Permitting Projects," (coauthor) The Law of Biomass, 2010
• "Siting and Permitting Wind Projects," (coauthor) The Law of Wind, 2009
• "Siting and Permitting Challenges," (coauthor) Renewable Energy in the Pacific Northwest, Law Seminars International, 2007
• "Liberalization and Cravathism: How Liberalization Led to the Reorganization of the Legal Profession in Germany and Japan," 43 Stanford Journal of International Law 169, 2007

Education

• Stanford Law School, J.D., 2008
  Associate Managing Editor, Stanford Law and Policy Review
• University of Vermont, M.S., 2003, historic preservation
• Gustavus Adolphus College, B.A., 2000, summa cum laude
  Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

• Oregon
• Washington

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