Jane C. Luxton
Jane C. Luxton is a partner in the Environment and Energy Practice Group of Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Washington office. She is chair of the firm’s Sustainability, CleanTech and Climate Change Team. Ms. Luxton concentrates her practice on environmental matters.
Ms. Luxton has extensive experience in environmental regulatory and litigation matters, with an emphasis on metals production and processing, and products containing metals. Her experience includes federal and state environmental laws as well as international environmental regimes.
Ms. Luxton’s expertise also includes energy (including alternative energy sources), natural resource damage actions, Endangered Species Act (including climate change-related issues), and emerging areas such as “conflict minerals,” supply chain transparency, corporate social responsibility and sustainability programs, and Dodd-Frank Act provisions relating to regulation of small businesses by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. As part of Ms. Luxton’s alternative energy practice, she advises clients regarding financial incentives, including participation in senior corporate acquisition and expansion strategy team efforts on renewables and financial incentives.
Prior to joining Pepper, Ms. Luxton was general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. As such, she was the chief legal officer for all NOAA activities as well as policy advisor to the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. In addition, she provided overall management and leadership to more than 100 attorneys.
In 2008, Ms. Luxton received a Presidential appointment as a commissioner of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. For her work at NOAA, Ms. Luxton was recognized twice with the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal Award (2008, 2009).
Before that, Ms. Luxton practiced environmental law for close to 20 years, most recently as a partner with King & Spalding. Her practice included establishing and managing coalitions of associations and companies to address a particular set of environmental law issues. She also has experience in international trade and antitrust matters.
Ms. Luxton was appointed as a trial attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice in 1978. While there, she received the Attorney General’s Award for prosecution of complex litigation. In 1981, she served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Ms. Luxton served as a congressionally-appointed member of the Board of Directors of the Mickey Leland National Urban Air Toxics Research Center, established under the Clean Air Act of 1990 (2010-2011). She is a past chair of the International Environmental Law Committee of the American Bar Association’s Section on Environment, Energy and Resources and currently serves as vice chair at large. She is a member of the Nominating Committee of the ABA’s Administrative Law Committee and also a member of the board of directors of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association.
While in private practice, Ms. Luxton has regularly been recognized as a leading practitioner of environmental law by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and other attorney ranking publications. She also is featured in Chambers Women in Law Profiles.
Ms. Luxton’s recent publications and speaking engagements include:
- “Hot Topics for Waste-to-Energy Investors and Developers - Part 2” (moderator), Pepper Hamilton LLP Webinar (April 10, 2013)
- “The New SEC Conflict Minerals Rule: Challenges in Compliance,” Wall Street Lawyer (Volume 16, Issue 11, November 2012)
- “The CFPB’s Enhanced Small Business Regulatory Requirements” (co-author), The Review of Banking & Financial Services (Volume 28, Number 10, October 2012)
- “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Regulatory Process: A New Focus on Small Business” (co-author), Non-Prime Times (Volume 2, Number 3, May/June 2012)
- “CFPB Issues Regulatory Agenda: Brace for the New Rules and the SBREFA Process” (co author), Financial Fraud Law Report (Volume 4, Number 4, April 2012)
- “An Uncomfortable Wake-Up Call for Dodd Frank Regulators,” Futures & Derivatives Law Report (January 2012, Volume 32, Issue 1) and Pepper Hamilton LLP Client Alert (February 10, 2012)
- “New Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Must Contend with Enhanced Regulatory Requirements” (co-author), Delaware Banker (Winter 2012, Volume 8, Number 1)
- “New Disclosure Requirements on Conflict Minerals and More: Coming Very Soon,” Financier Worldwide Magazine (January 2012)
- “Betting on the Sun: The U.S. and India Connection in the Current Renewables Market” (moderator), Pepper Hamilton LLP Webinar (January 10, 2012)
- “The SBREFA Era Has Arrived for Consumer Financial Reg Writing – What the EPA and CFPB Have in Common” (speaker), American Bar Association Business Law Section Consumer Financial Services Committee 2012 Winter Meeting (January 9, 2012)
- “The ‘Speed Bump’ Amendment in Dodd-Frank: What is It and What Does It Do?” (co author), Consumer Finance Law Quarterly Report (Fall and Winter 2011, Volume 65, Numbers 3 and 4)
- “Dodd-Frank Regulators Beware: New Rules Will Not Survive Without Sound Economic Justification,” Pepper Hamilton LLP Financial Services Alert (August 18, 2011)
- Testifying before the House Small Business Committee Hearing “Lifting the Weight of Regulations: Growing Jobs by Reducing Regulatory Burdens” in support of H.R. 527, the Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011, and H.R. 585, the Small Business Size Standard Flexibility Act of 2011 (June 15, 2011)
- “Understanding EPA: Promoting Business Opportunities for Danish Energy and Environment Technology Companies” (speaker), Workshop for the Energy and Environment Team of the Trade Council of the Embassy of Denmark, Washington, D.C. (June 3, 2011)
- “New Opportunities for Contaminated Sites: RE-Powering America’s Land and the Racer Trust” (moderator), Law Seminars International TeleBriefing (May 10, 2011)
- “Demystifying RE-Powering Deal Financing” (moderator), “A Bright Idea: RE-Powering America Through Renewable Energy” (speaker), Brownfields 2011 (April 4, 2011)
- “Calling For Clarity On Conflict Metals,” Law360 (March 2, 2011)
- “Cleantech’s ‘Sputnik Moment’: What’s Next?” (co-author), Law360 (February 14, 2011)
- "EPA's New Plan for Renewable Energy on Contaminated Sites" (speaker), Law Seminars International TeleBriefing (November 15, 2010)
- “Polarization on Science Issues in EPA Risk Assessment,” American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Seminar: “The EPA’s Ambitious Regulatory Agenda” (November 8, 2010)
- “Meeting the New Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards: What Companies Need to Know,” 63-76, Inside the Minds: Recent Developments in Greenhouse Gas Regulations, (Eddie Fournier ed., Thompson Reuters/Aspatore 2010)
- “The Nuts and Bolts of Solar Energy and How It Impacts Environmental Lawyers” (speaker), ExecSense Webinars (July 13, 2010)
- “How to Turn Blighted Property into Community Assets through Re-powering” (co-author), Environmental Leader (July 6, 2010)
- “Industry Cries Foul to EPA’s Attempt to Regulate GHG Emissions Using the Clean Air Act” (co-author), Sustainable Development Law & Policy: Climate Law Reporter (Winter 2010)
- “Another Climate Shoe Drops: The SEC Climate Change Disclosure Guidance,” (co-author), Pepper Hamilton LLP Sustainability, CleanTech and Climate Change Alert (February 2010)
- “Second and Fifth Circuits Open the Door to Climate Change Public Nuisance Lawsuits” (co-author), The Essential HazMat News (February 2010) and Pepper Hamilton LLP Sustainability, CleanTech and Climate Change Alert (October 2009)
- “Rx for Trouble: Health Care Facilities Pay Fines for Flushing Drugs Down the Drain” (co-author), Pepper Hamilton LLP Health Care Law Alert (February 2010)
- “Green for Green: Federal and State Tax Breaks for Renewable Energy Projects” (co-author), Practical U.S./Domestic Tax Strategies (January 2010) and Pepper Hamilton LLP Sustainability, CleanTech and Climate Change Alert (January 2010) (under the title “Green for Green: Financial Incentives Available for Renewable Energy Development”)
- “Climate Change and the ESA: Regulatory Decisions Keep Litigation Prospects Strong,” Washington Legal Foundation (July 2009).
Ms. Luxton is a member of the District of Columbia bar and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court as well as the Fourth, Eleventh, District of Columbia and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Education
A.B. 1973, with honors, Harvard University
J.D. 1976 Cornell Law School
Bar Admissions
Admitted to practice in the District of Columbia
