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Fredric  Andes
OVERVIEW

Fredric P. Andes

Partner

Chicago

One N. Wacker Drive
Suite 4400
Chicago, IL 60606-2833

Washington, D.C.

555 12th Street N.W.
Suite 1200
Washington, DC 20004-1275

P 312-214-8310

F 312-759-5646

Fredric P. Andes is a partner in the Chicago and Washington, D.C., offices of Barnes & Thornburg and the leader of the firm's water team. Fred is involved in counseling and litigation on issues arising under various federal and state environmental laws, with a special emphasis on Clean Water Act matters.

OVERVIEW

Fredric P. Andes is a partner in the Chicago and Washington, D.C., offices of Barnes & Thornburg and the leader of the firm's water team. Fred is involved in counseling and litigation on issues arising under various federal and state environmental laws, with a special emphasis on Clean Water Act matters.

Fred is involved in clean water issues on the national and state levels. He was selected by the EPA to serve on the Federal Advisory Committee on the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Program. He is serving as coordinator for the Federal Water Quality Coalition, which is a group of municipal and other regulated parties that is participating in EPA's rulemaking on TMDLs and other key Clean Water Act programs.

Fred is also advising trade associations, industries, and municipalities on TMDLs, permits, and other water quality matters on the state and federal levels, including development of water quality standards, listings, TMDLs, and permit conditions.

Fred has been recognized by Illinois Super Lawyers Magazine since 2014. He also regularly appears on the Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA lists for his work in environmental law.

Before coming to Barnes & Thornburg, Fred was a partner with the Chicago law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal. Prior to working in Chicago, he spent nine years practicing environmental law in Washington, D.C.

Fred graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1980. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in 1977. Fred is a member of the Illinois State, District of Columbia, and American Bar Associations. He is admitted to practice in the state of Illinois, the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of Illinois and the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, and D.C. Circuits.

Honors

The Best Lawyers in America, 2024-2025

Chambers USA, 2022-2024

Illinois Super Lawyers, 2005-2020, 2022-2024

J Street Tzedek V’Shalom Award, 2021

EXPERIENCE

  • Fred Andes and Paul Drucker of the firm's Environmental Law Department represented the Upper Blackstone Water Pollution Abatement District (UBWPAD) in Worcester, Massachusetts in a significant victory against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

    The matter centered on a new water discharge permit that EPA issued in 2008 for the District’s sewage treatment plant. In 2001, the District had agreed to make $180 million worth of upgrades to its facility to meet new discharge limits. In 2008, as the upgrades were being completed, but before they went online, EPA issued a new permit that imposed even more stringent limits, adding $200 million more to the cost of compliance. Firm attorneys contended that these new limits were not authorized under the Clean Water Act, were not based on sound science and would ultimately do little to improve water quality.

    After the permit was issued, the District completed development of a new water quality model, which confirmed the District’s position that the new permit limits would not be effective in improving water quality. After appealing the final permit, the District moved for a stay of the permit by the First Circuit pending decision, which was granted.

    On Jan. 12, 2012, the parties were scheduled to conduct oral argument, before a panel that included retired Supreme Court Justice David Souter. However, before the oral argument could begin, the Court of Appeals announced that given the existence of the new water quality model, they believed that the proper course of action is for EPA to review the new information and consider whether to revise the 2008 permit limits in light of the new information. (This is exactly what the District was seeking.) Therefore, the Court decided that it did not need to hear the arguments about the current permit. Instead (and despite objections from EPA), the Court sent the case to its Civil Appeals Management Program, to conduct a mediation process among the District, EPA and the environmental groups that were also appealing the permit. The District will shortly be submitting a formal request to EPA to consider the new information in deciding how to revise the 2008 permit, and it is expected that these issues will be dealt with through the Court’s mediation process.
  • Represented intervenor-appellee Effluent Guidelines Industry Coalition; court affirmed lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of appellee in citizens suit challenging E.P.A. review procedures.
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