Allison C. Smith

Allison Smith focuses her practice in environmental and energy law. Her experience includes CEQA and land use litigation, conducting environmental due diligence, and permitting solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and gas-fired energy facilities. Allison regularly counsels companies on federal and state air quality and carbon regulations, including the California Cap-and-Trade Program and Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).

Prior to practicing law, Allison was a volunteer in the Peace Corps in Côte d’lvoire and taught English in Tokushima, Japan, with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.

Education

Tulane University Law School, J.D., 2005
Certificate in Environmental Law
Environmental Law Journal
Order of the Barristers

University of Virginia, B.A., Environmental Science and Anthropology, 1996

Admissions

California

United States District Court for the Eastern District of California

Carbon Transactions and Advising

• Advise on carbon offset and inset transactions, including drafting and negotiating over twenty carbon offset and inset purchase and sale agreements.
• Counsel clients on compliance with California climate disclosure laws, including S.B. 253 on greenhouse gas emissions reporting, S.B. 261 on climate-related financial risks, and A.B. 1305 on carbon offsets.
• Advise clients on carbon offset project development for the compliance and voluntary markets, including negotiating development services and offset marketing agreements.
• Provide pre-litigation advice and counsel forest offset project owners on compliance and disclosure under the California cap-and-trade regulation.
• Advise manufacturers, industrial facilities, and electricity producers and importers on compliance with the California cap-and-trade program, mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting, and the LCFS.
• Advise project owners on development of carbon capture and storage projects under the California LCFS. 

Energy Project Finance and M&A

• Conducted permitting and environmental due diligence for the sale, financing, and acquisition of 100+ energy facilities. Negotiate contractual terms related to environmental matters and allocation of risk.
• Deliver environmental and permitting opinions for the benefit of lenders and project investors for debt and tax equity financing. 

Project Development

• Provided CEQA and permitting advice for the development of over two dozen solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, storage, and gas-fired energy facilities throughout California.
• Helped successfully defend the City of Sacramento and Redevelopment Agency against multiple CEQA challenges to the largest mixed use redevelopment project west of the Mississippi.
• Advised a renewable energy developer on permitting and environmental review under CEQA and NEPA for a 147 MW wind repower + 50 MW storage on state and federal lands in northern California.
• Secured local approvals for a biomass plant repower and defended the project against multiple CEQA lawsuits, settling both suits and obtaining a release of all claims against the project owner.
• Won appeal of a CEQA challenge to the City of Sacramento’s general plan update in Citizens for Positive Growth & Preservation v. City of Sacramento (43 Cal.App.5th 609 (2019)).
• Represented multiple geothermal and gas-fired power plant projects before the California Energy Commission in application for certification and petition to amend proceedings.

Compliance and Enforcement Defense

• Defend industrial, food processer, and data center clients in administrative enforcement actions brought by local air districts, including the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, and South Coast Air Quality Management District.
• Negotiated a 90% deduction in a 7-figure penalty demand for alleged violations of California appliance energy efficiency regulations.
• Joint defense of a group of small fuel companies against enforcement by the California Air Resources Board under the California greenhouse gas reporting regulation and Cap-and-Trade Program.
• Defense of sellers and manufacturers of consumer products against enforcement by the California Air Resources Board.
• Defended a pollution control device manufacturer against lawsuits for $25 million in civil penalties brought by the California Air Resources Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District, and Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, obtaining a full defense verdict.

Insights & Presentations

• Regular contributor to the Stoel Rives Renewable + Law Blog and the Stoel Rives Environmental Law Blog
• Permitting Renewable Energy Projects in California: The CEC’s Opt-In Certification Program, Webinar, October 2024
• Moderator, Addressing Carbon Pollution: A Logical Component of California’s Decarbonization Strategy and Its Likely Consequences for Clean Energy Demand, California Clean Energy Procurement Summit, May 2024
• The Rise of Carbon Capture and Storage and its Role in the Road to Carbon Neutrality, CIPA Annual Meeting, June 2023
• The Rise of Carbon Capture and Storage and its Role in the Road to Carbon Neutrality in California, West Coast Landmen’s Institute, September 2022

• “California releases draft blueprint to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045,” Attorney Analysis, Westlaw Today, June 2022
• “Permitting and Land Use” (co-author), Chapter 6, The Law of Solar Energy: A Guide to Business and Legal Issues, Stoel Rives LLP, Sixth Edition, 2022
• “Greenhouse Gas Analysis and Climate Mitigation,” California Environmental Quality Act: The Year in Review, December 2019
• “Ninth Circuit Strikes Down California ReMAT In Winding Creek Solar Case” (co-author), Solar Industry, August 2019
• “Implications of NEPA Streamlining,” Association of Environmental Professionals, California State Conference, March 2019
• “SB 100: Clean energy law,” Daily Journal New California Laws supplement, January 2019
• “Western states race to counter Trump’s retreat on climate change policy,” Westlaw Journal Environmental, December 2018
• Moderator, “Mindfulness and Competence in Legal Practice,” Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, October 2018
• “Western States Proceed with Climate Legislation Regardless of Trump’s “ACE” Rule” (co-author), Renewable Energy World, September 2018
• Moderator, “Regionalization and the Future of Market Development in the West,” Infocast California Energy Summit, May 2018
• “California cap and trade at the crossroads,” Westlaw Journal Environmental, April 2017
• Moderator, “California’s Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015: What’s Next for SB 350?” Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite, October 2016
• “Cap-and-Trade Links will Bolster Market,” San Francisco Daily Journal, July 2016
• Moderator, “How Will the EPA CPP Affect California and the West,” Infocast California Energy Summit, May 2016
• Moderator, “Renewables On the Grid: Integration Challenges and Proposed RPS Standards,” Platts California Power and Gas Conference, November 2015
• “EPA Enforcement Update,” Stoel Rives 2015 Workshop Series, October 15, 2015
• “California Dreaming,” PV Magazine, July 2015
• “The Short and Long Game of California’s GHG Reduction Plan,” Law360, May 2015
• “Get Ready for California’s Energy Storage Boom,” Solar Industry Magazine, April 2014

Professional

• California Lawyers Association, Environmental Law Section, Executive Committee, Advisor
• American Bar Association, Environment, Energy and Resources Section, Member
• Sacramento County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Member
• Power Association of Northern California, Member
• Association of Women in Water, Energy and Environment, Member
• California Women in Energy, Member
• Association of Environmental Professionals, Member
• California Women for Agriculture, Member