Gwendolyn R. Keyes

Partner

Co-Chair, Environmental Practice Group

When an in-house client goes to Gwen for advice, we know that she is thinking with the mind of a regulator, not just giving us abstract textbook opinions. At the end of the day, that is what I need to advise my C-Suite on the best interests of the company.

— Legal 500 US Client

Emailgwen.keyes@us.dlapiper.com

Call+1 202 799 4419

Washington, DC Atlanta

About

Gwen Keyes combines the trial skills learned from her 17-year career as a prosecutor with her in-depth knowledge of local, state and federal governments and deep understanding of environmental law to advise clients on complex litigation and regulatory matters so clients can mitigate legal risks and achieve their business and operational imperatives.

Gwen advises a wide variety of business, institutional and organizational clients on all aspects of environmental policy, government relations, compliance planning, incident response, subsequent enforcement and litigation matters and special investigations for private and municipal clients. Having worked on matters involving every environmental statute, a significant portion of Gwen’s practice focuses on helping clients understand the regulatory and litigation risks associated with permit issues, worker safety, and emerging contaminants, including PFAS and ethylene oxide, as well as plastics and asbestos. She specializes in assessing facility impacts on fence-line communities and developing strategies for community engagement when appropriate. Gwen also advises clients on environment, social and governance (ESG) matters and the impacts climate change can have on business operations.

Gwen spent more than twenty years in the public sector, serving as both an elected and appointed official at the state and local levels, as well as in various agencies within the federal government. She served as the Principal Legal Advisor (General Counsel) for Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and as Chief of Staff at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Obama Administration. In addition, Gwen served as the EPA Region 4 (Southeastern Region) Regional Administrator (RA), where she was responsible for establishing and implementing environmental policy, including the principals of environmental justice for eight southeastern states and six federally recognized tribes. Gwen finalized the Region's Environmental Justice (EJ) Policy (previously stagnated for 10 years), instituted regular environmental justice information sessions with state partners and communities, and created a Regional EJ Interagency Working Group with other federal agencies to strategically and comprehensively address community concerns. Gwen also instituted the Colleges and Underserved Community Partnership Program (CUPP) which partnered college students with senior federal staff to provide much needed environmental, health and technical services to some of the poorest jurisdictions in their region.

Notably, Gwen is a twice elected District Attorney for the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit in DeKalb County, Georgia. She was the first African American and first woman to hold that office and was recently recognized by Forbes on its inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers.

Areas of FocusEnergy and Natural Resources Industrials Regulatory and Government Affairs Environment, Health and Safety

Bar admissionsDistrict of ColumbiaGeorgia

CourtsSupreme Court of the United StatesUnited States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia CircuitSupreme Court of GeorgiaGeorgia Court of Appeals

EXPERIENCE

Serves as the Chief Counsel for a 190+ member trade association focused on the safe production, packaging and transportation of mission chemicals and advises on the day-to-day operations and interactions regarding regulatory matters and litigation strategies with EPA.
Serves as primary environmental counsel for a global agricultural science company providing daily advice and counsel on compliance, remediation, and sustainability concerns arising from various state and federal laws.
Represents multiple co-defendants, in a high-profile, first-of-its-kind Endangered Species Act litigation against the entire tire industry regarding the use of an anti-degradation chemical 6ppd in tires.
Serves as environmental regulatory counsel for a medical technology services and solutions company providing strategic and legal advice with respect to federal and state environmental policy, including regarding air emission and pesticide registration for the use of ethylene oxide as a sterilization agent.
Serves as primary environmental compliance counsel for a data center provider and operator successfully resolving to the client’s satisfaction numerous state-led permitting inquiries and enforcement actions involving water, air and waste concerns.
Coordinates and provides counsel regarding a global worker protection investigation for a industry leading consumer products company.
Successfully crafted and executed an engagement strategy for a leading global manufacturer focused on commercial print and advanced materials & chemicals, to have USEPA amend a chemical rule proposal to expand compliance flexibilities to enable continued operation of key business units.
Negotiated a favorable settlement for a chemical manufacturer defending a citizen suit claim of non-compliance with the Clean Water Act.
Drafted the defense strategy that facilitated a favorable Clean Air Act settlement for a large public power utility resulting in a significant reduction in penalties assessed.
Successfully defended two waste disposal companies against the EPA’s claims of inadequate financial assurance under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Assisted a newly elected local government client with reviewing the terms of the Clean Water Act Consent Decree, drafting a plan to address previous performance challenges with staff responsible for compliance and outlining a strategy to engage state and federal regulatory agencies in response to a citizen suit alleging noncompliance. Facilitated approval of a Consent Decree Modification which gave the client more time to implement cost effective remedies while also addressing the community's and NGO's environmental justice concerns.
Conducted an internal investigation into alleged employee violations of an organization's policies and procedures that resulted in an employee agreeing to repay funds inappropriately obtained.
Led the largest legal program within DHS, comprised of approximately 1500 attorneys and staff in 60 locations across the country providing legal advice to ICE client senior officials as they led a global team of nearly 20,000 employees committed to protecting national security and public safety via the enforcement of immigration and customs law.
Managed the day‐to‐day operations of the EPA's nearly $8 billion budget and 15,000 employees in concert with other senior agency officials. Participated in the development and coordination of viewpoints of various stakeholders as the Agency finalized or proposed significant environmental regulations including the Clean Water Rule, the Clean Power Plan, the Definition of Solid Waste (DSW) Rule, Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule, Ozone NAAQS and the Worker Protection Standard.
Operated as the lead enforcement official responsible for coordinating all civil and criminal aspects of environmental protection in conjunction with state partners and headquarters representatives in accordance with the statutory provisions of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Clean Air Act (CAA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, (RCRA) National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other environmental laws.
Served as the chief negotiator on numerous highly sensitive and complex environmental matters involving diverse stakeholder interests including a comprehensive and enforceable historic agreement with the State of Florida establishing, for the first time, a science-based protective limit (WQBEL) on NPDES permits controlling phosphorus pollution discharges into the Everglades thereby ending nearly twenty years of litigation.
Served as the EPA's co-representative to the RESTORE Act Council and supervised the personnel tasked with addressing the ecosystem restoration and community resiliency in the Gulf of Mexico coastal region after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Managed to fairly balance the interests of law enforcement agencies, next-of-kin, the media and the community-at-large during the initiation and supervision of a year-long Special Civil Grand Jury Investigation into fifteen officer-involved fatalities that occurred within DeKalb County, Georgia within the span of one year.

Education

J.D., Emory University

B.S., Rutgers University

Certificate of Completion for the Promoting Racial Equity in the Workplace Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education

Awards

Publications

European Union Deforestation Regulation: What US companies should know, 24 September 2024
US environmental law post-Chevron: Changes ahead, 15 July 2024
EPA considers extending comment period for proposed rules regulating PFAS in RCRA corrective actions, 20 March 2024
Continuing prioritization of environmental justice, EPA extends comment period for draft revision of Technical Guidance, 04 January 2024
EPA’s newly adopted PFAS TSCA rules spell significant compliance obligations for businesses, 31 October 2023
Governor Newsom enacts two California laws on disclosures of GHG emissions and climate-related financial risk, 11 October 2023
Agencies are now required to consider greenhouse gas emissions in procurement decisions, budgets, and environmental reviews, 02 October 2023
UN Climate Summit: What to watch for in Dubai, 28 September 2023
EPA releases Draft National Strategy to Prevent Plastic Pollution, 09 May 2023
New Executive Order advances federal environmental justice strategy and action: Impact on the regulated community, 02 May 2023
Earth Day 2023: Converging on action in an environmental era like no other, 21 April 2023
Proposed environmental and climate-related requirements for federal contractors – what general counsel need to know, 08 February 2023
EPA delays setting PFAS effluent limitations, asks states to fill the temporary gap, 25 January 2023
COP15 | Biodiversity: US Legal and Business Perspectives, 21 December 2022
The historic Inflation Reduction Act makes significant changes to federal environmental law and programs, 19 August 2022
"Implementing environmental justice—The ABA EJ Task Force," January 03, 2023
"Environmental Justice Policy Gains Momentum Under the Biden Administration," February 22, 2021
"Legal Challenge to Federal Ban on SEPs May Result in Change in Enforcement Policy," October 15, 2020
"EPA Issues Compliance Advisory Regarding Pesticide Devices Making Claims to Kill the Novel Coronavirus," June 9, 2020
"Medical Waste & COVID-19: Important Developments," March 26, 2020
"Escalated Tension with Iran Heightens Cybersecurity Threat Despite Military De-Escalation," January 8, 2020
"EPA's 20 Proposed Low-Priority and High-Priority Chemical Substances: Comments are Due November 2019," August 28, 2019
"Water ISAC Releases Broader Cybersecurity Guidelines for Water & Waste Water Utilities," July 29, 2019
"EPA Amends Freedom of Information Act Regulations," July 3, 2019
"New Hazardous Waste Pharmaceutical Rule Imposes New Obligations on Health Care Providers," April 5, 2019
"EPA Issues New Emergency Response Requirements for Community Water Systems," April 3, 2019
"Significant Cyber Supply Chain Management Changes on the Horizon for Electric Utilities," October 31, 2018
"DOT Aims to Create Flexible Regulatory Framework for Automated Vehicle Technology," October 11, 2018
"FERC Raises the Threshold for Cyber Incident Reporting," July 24, 2018
"Updated TSA Guidelines Suggest New Approach for Pipeline Cybersecurity," April 24, 2018
"DC Circuit Decision Loosens Restrictions on Solid Waste," March 23, 2018
"GAO Reports Challenges and Successes in Cybersecurity Framework Adoption," March 5, 2018
"Federal Government Takes Steps to Shape Rules for Automated Vehicles," September 18, 2017

Presentations and Seminars

Media Mentions

"DLA Piper Lands Ex-EPA Chief Of Staff In DC," Law360, April 21, 2022
Frequent contributor on MSNBC regarding various legal topics

Prior Experience

U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Principal Legal Advisor, 2015-2017
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chief of Staff to Administrator Gina McCarthy, 2013-2015, Regional Administrator, Region 4, 2010-2013
Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit, Decatur, GA, District Attorney, 2005-2010
DeKalb County Solicitor General's Office, Decatur, GA, Solicitor General, 1999-2004, Chief Assistant Solicitor General, 1998-1999, and Senior Assistant Solicitor General, 1993-1994

Civic and Charitable

Board member, Environmental Financial Advisory (EFAB)

Memberships And Affiliations

Executive Committee, Environmental Law Institute
Co-chair, Task Force on Environmental Justice, American Bar Association
Member, Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, American Bar Association
Member, American College of Environmental Lawyers
Partnership for Public Service, Strategic Advisor for Government Executives (SAGE)