Jeff Civins

Fellow since 2011

Haynesboone

Senior Counsel

(512) 867-8477 (work)

(512) 750-1284 (mobile)

[email protected]

Austin, Texas

Region 6 AR, LA, NM, OK, and TX

ACOEL Committees

Communications Committee Education Committee Outreach Committee

Jeff Civins is a senior counsel at Haynes and Boone, LLP in Austin. Jeff has practiced all aspects of environmental law since 1975, assisting clients in compliance matters, transactions, and litigation. As an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law, Jeff taught a seminar on Environmental Law Concerns in Business in the spring of 1987 and has been teaching a seminar on Environmental Litigation each spring since 1992. Jeff is a frequent speaker and writer on a wide range of environmental law topics.

Jeff is a fellow of the American College of Environmental Lawyers and a member of the Advisory Board of UT’s Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center. He is the organizer and co-editor of the Thomson Reuters Texas Practice two-volume treatise on Texas Environmental Law and co-author of the chapter on Environmental Aspects of Business Transactions. Jeff is a former chair of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and is standing chair of the section’s Annual Texas Environmental Superconference, now in its 38th year. Jeff also chairs the EarthxLaw Advisory Council.

Jeff received an AB in chemistry from Brandeis University, an MS in organic chemistry from Penn State, and a JD from the University of Texas School of Law. Prior to law school, Jeff taught science in public and private schools in New York City

Degrees

AB Chemistry, Brandeis University 1967
MS Chemistry, Penn State 1970
JD University of Texas School of Law 1975

Admissions

Texas

Court Admissions

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

Professional Societies and Organizations

Fellow, American College of Environmental Lawyers (2011-present)
Fellow, American, Texas, and Austin Bar Foundations
Member of the College of the State Bar of Texas
Member and Former Chair, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section, State Bar of Texas
Standing Chair, Annual Texas Environmental Superconference (1988-present)
Chair, EarthX Law Advisory Council
Member, Advisory Council of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law & Business
Member, Advisory Board, practicalESG.com
Member, Administrative Law and Litigation Sections, State Bar of Texas
Member, American Bar Association, Sections of Environment, Energy, and Resources, and of Litigation and Administrative Law
Member and Former Chair, Air and Waste Management Association, Central Texas Chapter
Member, Equal Justice America, Advisory Board
Former Member, University of Texas Law School Alumni Association Executive Board
Former Chair, Leadership Circle and former Board member and President, Communities-In-Schools, Central Texas Chapter

Other Environmental Career Experience

Analytical Chemist, Federal Water Pollution Control Administration Summer 1967
Partner and Associate , Vinson & Elkins 1975-1984
Partner, Kelly, Hart & Hallman 1984-1990
Partner and Senior Counsel, Haynes and Boone 1990-present
Adjunct Professor, University of Texas School of Law
Environmental Law Concerns in Business 1987
Environmental Litigation 1992-Present

Representative Publications (not including ACOEL Blogs)

Founder and Co-Editor, Volumes 45-46, Environmental Law, Thomson Reuters Texas Practice
Environmental Aspects of Business Transactions, with M. Mendoza, Chapter 33, Volumes 45-46, Environmental Law, Thomson Reuters Texas Practice
"Reflections on a Half-Century of Environmental Law Practice," author, blog post, ACOEL, April 23, 2025
"Port Arthur Community Action Network (PACAN) v. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality—A Nut Case?" author, blog post, ACOEL, March 20, 2025
Control of Methane in the Oil Patch Low Hanging regulatory Fruit , Jeff Civins, Mary Mendoza, and Nicolette Nunez, Thomson Reuters Practical Law, June 2, 2023
What are PFASs and what actions are being taken in the US to regulate them, Michael Scanlon, Jeff Civins, Nicolette Nunez, Vikki Marsh, and Ann Al-Bahish, Chemical Watch, March 2022
Repurposing the EIS Process for ESG--A Holistic, Alternatives Analysis, practicalESG.com, October 25, 2021
Risks To The Energy Sector Posed By Climate Change Litigation, article published in The Advocate, Winter 2018
EPAs Clean Power Plan--A Prognosis, UTCLEs Renewable Energy Law Seminar, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, 2017
Identifying and Indemnifying Against Environmental Risks, Jeff Civins and Mary Mendoza, The University of Texas School of Law, 2015 Mortgage Lending Institute, November 6, 2015, Dallas, Texas
Corporate Sustainability A Legal Perspective, Article for ABA Section of Environmental, Energy, and Resources In-House Counsel Newsletter, Vol. 16, No. 3, August 2015
Environmental Due Diligence - Counting Carbon, with Mary Mendoza and A. Sencenbaugh, Natural Resources & Environment, ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, Fall 2009
Corporate Dealmaking in a Carbon Conscious World, with M. Mendoza, State Bar of Texas 8th Annual Advanced In-House Counsel Course, July 30, 2009, presentation and article
The Carbon Revolution Answering the Call, with M. Mendoza, Texas Bar Journal (April 2009)
Climate Change Disclosures Avoid the Heat, with M. Mendoza, Texas Lawyer, February 2009
Corporate Sustainability and Social Responsibility A Legal Perspective, with M. Mendoza, Texas Bar Journal, April 2008
Who’s Liable Now New Federal Brownfields Legislation, with B. Phillippi, article, Texas Bar Journal, December 2002
MTBE Use in Gasoline Opens Pandoras Box, with C. Fernandez, article, Texas Lawyer, November 18, 2002.
Environmental Implications of Business Transactions, with R. Pressley, University of Texas
Lender Concerns Under Environmental Laws, State Bar of Texas Environmental Law Journal (April 1990).
Environmental Law Concerns in Real Estate Transactions, Southwestern Law Journal, Southern Methodist University (February 1990).

Illustrative Projects

Represented 2 of 7 energy companies in contested EPA proceeding involving the first NPDES permits issued in the Gulf of Mexico.
Represented Texas Eastern in resolving liabilities with 17 states and EPA associated with the presence of PCBs in their compressors.
Represented GATX in DC Circuit Court and a proposed deep water port in Texas Court of Appeals on issues of whether emissions from vessels should be attributable to terminal.
Assisted Shell in addressing regulatory issues associated with its proposed development of a multi-billion dollar gas-to-liquids project on the Gulf Coast.
Represented American Airlines in its settlement with United Airlines in a bankruptcy proceeding regarding contamination at JFK Airport.
Represented a consortium of underwriters in counseling on environmental risks associated with the TXU buyout by Kohl Kravis and TPG.
Represented the U.S. Department of Treasury in environmental due diligence of new General Motors.
Represented Penn Central Corporation in its settlement of a Superfund case involving a former battery manufacturing facility--the Marathon Battery Site--on the banks of the Hudson River.
Represented the State of Texas, working with DOJ and EPA, in Clean Water Act enforcement litigation against Koch Industries involving over 300 oil spills in six different states.

Citations of Major Published Cases

NRDC v. EPA, 725 F.2d 761 (D.C. Cir. 1984)