Environmental Bankruptcy Law
A Practice Guide
Environmental Bankruptcy Lawcovers such topics as:
- A brief history of bankruptcy law and its general purposes and key concepts (Chapter 2)
- The different chapters of the Bankruptcy Code (Chapter 3)
- The timeline of a typical bankruptcy case (Chapter 4)
- Key statutory provisions (Chapter 5)
- Obtaining information in bankruptcy cases (Chapter 6)
- Filing proofs of claim and administrative expense applications (Chapter 7)
- The distinction between the treatment of compliance obligations versus the treatment of monetary liabilities under environmental bankruptcy law and the differences in treatment based on whether an environmental bankruptcy issue involves "property of the estate." (Chapter 8)
The Practice Guide then examines the case law that addresses:
- The obligation to comply with nonbankruptcy law in managing and operating "property of the estate" (Chapter 9)
- The scope of the police or regulatory exception to the automatic stay (Chapter 10)
- Equitable remedies such as cleanup orders and bankruptcy law (Chapter 11)
- The priority of environmental claims and compliance obligations compared to other claims and liabilities (Chapter 12)
- When environmental claims arise and become dischargeable in bankruptcy (Chapter 13)
- Options for dealing with contaminated property owned by the bankruptcy estate (Chapter 14)
- Free and clear sales of contaminated property under bankruptcy law (Chapter 15)
- Plan confirmation objections based on feasibility, provisions forbidden by law, and the permissible scope of discharge of environmental liabilities (Chapter 16)
- Estimation and adjudication of environmental claims in bankruptcy (Chapter 17)
- Abandonment of contaminated property in bankruptcy (Chapter 18)
- Insurance coverage when addressing environmental liabilities in a bankruptcy proceeding (Chapter 19)
- Discussions of jurisdictional and standing issues in environmental bankruptcy cases including withdrawal of the reference (Chapter 20) and environmental settlements (Chapter 21).
Alan S. Tenenbaum is the National Bankruptcy Coordinator with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental Enforcement Section in the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Alan has worked at DOJ since 1988 and supervises or participates in many of the Department’s environmental bankruptcy cases for federal client agencies. Alan has helped coordinate federal and state agency participation in numerous bankruptcy cases, including Asarco, General Motors, Tronox, FirstEnergy, Philadelphia Energy, Peabody, Exide, Alpha, Fruit of the Loom, and Eagle-Picher.
In 2022, Alan was named as a Presidential Rank Award Distinguished Senior Professional Winner. In 2010, Alan was a recipient of the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award. Alan is a frequent speaker on many of the environmental bankruptcy law topics covered in this Practice Guide. Alan has also presented many training sessions to federal and state attorneys on environmental bankruptcy law topics.
Alan earned a BA in mathematics from Cornell University in 1978. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1981 where he was an executive editor on the Harvard Law Review. He clerked for Judge Jon Newman on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals from 1981 to 1982. Alan is originally from North Bellmore, New York. In his spare time, Alan plays tournament bridge and is an Emerald Life Master. He currently lives in Washington, DC.
