Honigman partner Richard A. Barr joins Environmental Advisory Rules Committee

Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP (Honigman) is pleased to announce that its Partner, Richard A. Barr, has been appointed to serve on the Environmental Advisory Rules Committee of the Office of Regulatory Reinvention (ORR). Barr is one of two attorneys to be appointed to the 13-member, state-wide committee.

“This Advisory Rules Committee will help identify onerous rules that are hurting job creation, while not providing much social benefit,” said Steve Hilfinger, Michigan’s Chief Regulatory Officer and director of the ORR. “This committee has many diverse perspectives – we have representatives from utilities, environmental groups, and manufacturers, as well as environmental lawyers and local officials. This is a highly talented group that I am confident will make strong recommendations to make Michigan’s regulatory system more efficient and effective.”

A member of Honigman’s Environmental Department and Co-chair of the firm’s Investment Incentives and Tax Savings Practice Group, Barr’s practice focuses on environmental, real estate and business law. He is a noted authority on the redevelopment of contaminated sites, including the use of federal, state and local incentives for Brownfield redevelopment.

Barr served on the Part 201 Advisory Group of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality from 2006 to 2007, which recommended many changes to Michigan’s primary environmental protection law at that time. He also has spoken at numerous conferences on the issues of tax incentives and Brownfield redevelopment.

Barr earned a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School and a B.B.A., with high distinction, in Accounting from the University of Michigan.