Contact: Brent
Direct: 916.818.3955
Main: 916.379.7530
2150 River Plaza Drive, Suite 320
Sacramento, CA 95833-3880
 

Expertise


Environmental Litigation

Enforcement Defense

Contaminated Property Transactions

Hazardous Waste and Hazardous Materials

Regulatory Reporting

Water Quality

Brent William Thompson

ATTORNEY

Overview

Brent W. Thompson is an experienced litigator and trusted counsel specializing in Climate Change and Energy Security, Critical Minerals, International Environmental Law, Enforcement Defense, Contaminated Property Transactions, and other environmental matters.

Mr. Thompson represents clients ranging from individuals and small businesses to commercial and agricultural landowners, developers, retailers, and large corporations. He helps clients navigate a broad range of issues, including but not limited to enforcement defense, contaminated property transactions, climate change, energy security, compliance programs, international environmental law, critical minerals, hazardous waste and hazardous materials, federal lands, and environmental litigation in state and federal courts.

His substantive expertise includes areas such as the Clean Water Act (CWA), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA), the proposed National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act, the California General Permit for the Discharge of Storm Water from Small Municipal Storm Water Systems (MS4), the U.S. EPA Multi-Sector General Permit (MSGP), and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Before entering private practice, Mr. Thompson retired from the U. S. Army’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. He worked in numerous duty locations worldwide on various strategic international, administrative, and environmental law issues. He also served as a military trial counsel and a Special Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting multiple felonies in federal district court.

He lives in Red Bluff, California, with his wife and twin daughters.

U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Attorney (Judge Advocate), 2010-2022

– Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, 10th Support Group & U.S. Army Okinawa

– Chief of Civil Law, 25th Infantry Division & U.S. Army Hawaii

– Chief of Administrative Law, 25th Infantry Division & U.S. Army Hawaii

– Brigade Judge Advocate, 2nd Infantry Brigade, 25th Infantry Division

– Battalion Judge Advocate, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne)

– Administrative & Civil Law Attorney, 1st Armored Division & Fort Bliss

– Trial Counsel, 3rd Infantry Brigade, 1st Armored Division

– Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Bliss Office of the Staff Judge Advocate

Indiana Office of the Attorney General, Appeals Division, Legal Intern, 2009

U.S. Army, Cavalry Officer, 2004-2007

U.S. Army, Enlisted Infantryman, 1997-2000

Assist in defending citizen suit actions brought under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65), the Carpenter-Presley-Tanner Hazardous Substance Account Act (HSAA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Defend clients against governmental enforcement actions, including government inspections, cease-and-desist orders, information demands, notices of violation, notices of proposed action, and cleanup and abatement orders.

Assist in defense of government entity in hazardous waste enforcement action brought by county prosecutors.

Assist in representing municipalities in Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) actions.

Provide strategic advice to landowners regarding contaminated property site investigation and remediation.

Draft master leases with consent and attornment for environmental claims.

Assist government entity with defense against hazardous substances and hazardous waste enforcement actions citizen’s suit.

Advise on writ of mandate to appeal Department of Toxic Substances Control’s final agency compliance tier decision.

Represent clients in contaminated property transactions, including drafting land use covenants.

Represented the U.S. government in multiple cases involving environmental organizations and cultural groups over access to federal property.

Assisted in litigation involving environmental impact statements, endangered species, and military training areas.

Represented the U.S. government in the contentious and highly publicized aftermath of an accidental discharge per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a foreign country.

The U.S. Army Command & General Staff College; Fort Leavenworth, KS (M.A., Military Operational Studies, 2020; With Distinction)

The U.S. Naval War College; Newport, RI (M.A., Defense and Strategic Studies 2019; With Distinction)

The U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School; Charlottesville, VA (L.L.M, Military Law with International & Operational Law Specialty, 2016)

The University of North Carolina, School of Government; Chapel Hill, NC (MPA, 2015)

Indiana University, Maurer School of Law; Bloomington, IN (J.D., 2010; Order of Barristers)

Montana State University; Bozeman, MT (B.S., 2004; Highest Honors)

Indiana

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces

U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas

Behavioral International Economic Development (BIED) Society, Washington, D.C., Center for International Law Policy, Assistant Director, 2022-present.

The Simons Center for Ethical Leadership and Interagency Cooperation, Fort Leavenworth, KS, Fellow, 2021-present.

The International Relations Council, Kansas City, MO, Member, 2020-present.

The Center for Junior Officers, United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, Leadership Fellow, 2020-2021.

Strategic Broadening Programme, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham England, Participant, 2016

The Project for International Peace and Security, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, Military Fellow, 2014-2015.

Legal News:  EPA Substantially Expands Inclusion of PFAS Chemicals in Final List of Contaminants for Regulatory Consideration. Hartman King PC, 2 November 2022.

Call Your Attorney: What Your Servicing Judge Advocate Can Do for You. The Armor and Cavalry Journal, Winter 2022.

“I Love the ‘90s” – Past Predictions of Future War, 1991-2000. Presented to The Society for Military History, Missouri Valley History Conference, 20 March 2021.

The Night that the Lights Went Out in Taipei. Small Wars Journal, 20 October 2020.

What the Army Gets Wrong About Mentorship, with Capt. Marcelo Pendleton-Moreno. Army Magazine, Vol. 69, No. 7, July 2019.

Modern Tragedy: How the Sicilian Expedition and the Iraq Campaign Exhibit Strategic Effects. The Strategy Bridge, 18 November 2017.

Military Leadership Lessons for Public Service (Book Review), The Strategy Bridge, 20 March 2017.

Leveraging the Lowcountry Veteran and Military Community in the Pivot to Asia, The Islander, 2 October 2016.

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t (Book Review), The Army Lawyer, 27-50-16-07, July 2016, at 43.

Ballistic Missile Defense in Europe, with Ali Sarihan, Amy Bush, Lawrence Summers, and Steven Tomaszewski, Turkish Journal of International Relations, Vol. 8, No. 3, Fall 2009, at 22.