Matthew R. Oakes is a Trial Attorney in the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. Mr. Oakes’ practice involves both enforcement and defensive litigation under federal pollution control statutes, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. Representative cases include defense of a series of EPA’s “Implementation Rules” including the Greenhouse Gas SIP Call, the SIP Failure Finding, and the Federal Implementation Plan related to Greenhouse Gas state level implementation. He previously defended EPA’s Clean Air Mercury Rule in the D.C. Circuit and is currently defending the position of the United States in Appleton Papers v. George Whiting (E.D. WI), a case related to the PCB cleanup of the Fox River in Wisconsin. The Fox River cleanup is the largest active CERCLA cleanup in the country, with a total cleanup cost estimate of roughly $1.5 billion dollars. Mr. Oakes is a 2002 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and received his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University.
Matthew Oakes
Adjunct Professor
Trial Attorney, Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division
