
R. Lee Vail, P.E., Ph.D.
Of CounselLee Vail is of counsel to the New Orleans office of Kean Miller. He joined the firm in 2010 and practices in the environmental regulatory, Process Safety Management, emergency response, and intellectual property groups. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Louisiana and holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. Prior to joining Kean Miller, Lee served as Manager of Environmental Affairs for a worldwide oil and gas company.
Lee brings more than 30 years of process engineering, project management, process safety management, and environmental regulatory experience in the petroleum refining industry to the representation of industry clients. His expertise includes sophisticated interaction on behalf of industry clients in connection with regulatory compliance and permitting, Process Safety Management (PSM), Risk Management Program (RMP), RAGAGEP, Process Safety Information (PSI), OSHA, EPA, and CSB investigations, release reporting, incident management, and litigation avoidance. Lee also represents clients in connection with pipeline regulatory and safety issues under PHMSA and Louisiana Department of Natural Resources programs, including jurisdictional determinations, registration requirements, compliance and due diligence associated with mergers/acquisitions of pipeline facilities or financing of projects including pipelines.
Lee is also a registered Patent Attorney and is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
- Successfully prosecuted multiple patent applications. Also successfully appealed multiple previously rejected patent applications before the Patent Appeal Board.
- Acted as in house environmental attorney for a major chemical manufacturer on a seconded basis for 18 months following acquisitions of billions of dollars of assets in the Gulf Coast region
- Representation of major midstream and chemical manufacturers in negotiations with the EPA concerning alleged RMP violations and with OSHA on safety regulations, including but not limited to alleged PSM violations
- Representation of pipeline company in connection with explosion at natural gas pipeline facility resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries, and ensuing litigation. Kean Miller also represents the client in associated investigations by PHMSA, OSHA, and LDEQ.
- Representation of pipeline company in connection with NGL pipeline fire and explosion resulting from pigging operation, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. Representation in associated investigations by OSHA, Louisiana State Police, LDNR, and LDEQ.
- Representation of a major chemical production facility in the management of complex OSHA, EPA, and other administrative agency investigations following an explosion and fire at its Louisiana facility
- Representation of a major midstream petroleum company in negotiations with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in reference to a compliance order and notice of penalty.
- Representation of a major paper company in negotiations with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality in reference to a compliance order and notice of penalty
- Representation of a global fertilizer company in the negotiation of an Engineering Services Agreement for Front End Engineering and the Licensing Agreement for necessary technology in connection with a multi-billion dollar Louisiana facility expansion
- Successfully appealed previously rejected patent application before the Patent Appeal Board by redrafting rejected claims (prepared by another) and filing a successful Appeal Brief, leading to the issuance of a patent
- Successful negotiations on behalf of a pipeline owner before the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Conservation, regarding a desired non-applicability determination, i.e., that the product carried by the line would not fall under the jurisdiction of the Office of Conservation. The decision exempted our client from pipeline safety regulations
Lee earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Louisiana State University in 1978. He earned his M.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Tulane University in 1983 and his M.B.A. from the University of New Orleans in 1987. Lee earned his J.D., cum laude, in 2010 from the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, where he was recognized as a Crowe Scholar. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Tulane University in 1990.
- Admitted, Louisiana, 2010; Texas, 2016; United States Patent and Trademark Office
- Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Issues COVID-19 Order, Louisiana Law Blog, March 19, 2020
- Where Does It Say I Need to Annually Certify Compliance with RMP?, LSU Journal of Energy Law & Resources, Volume 7, Issue 2, 2019
- RMP Amendment Rule At Odds with OSHA Review Commission BP Husky Decision, Louisiana Law Blog, August 6, 2019
- 2017 RMP Amendments Now in Effect, Louisiana Law Blog, December 3, 2018
- Common PSM/RMP Problems and Suggested Solutions, Kean Miller Environmental CLE, Houston, Texas, September 14, 2018
- RMP Reconsidered (Proposal) - What are the Takeaways?, Louisiana Law Blog, June 1, 2018
- Consider RMP Reconsidered!, Louisiana Law Blog, May 18, 2018
- The New EPA, 10/12 Industry Report, August 22, 2017
- Risk Management Program Rule Delay Decided?, Louisiana Law Blog, June 12, 2017
- EPA Administrator Signs Rule Delaying the Effective Date of RMP Rule, Louisiana Law Blog, June 12, 2017
- Sequestering of Greenhouse Gases: California Is Considering a Legal Process (How Does That Affect the Rest of Us?), Louisiana Law Blog, June 9, 2017
- Awaiting EPA's Decision on RMP Delay, Louisiana Law Blog, June 6, 2017
- Impact of Delek Refining Decision on EPA's RMP Penalty Policy, Louisiana Law Blog, April 25, 2017
- Statute of Limitations Applies to Old PHA Recommendations, Louisiana Law Blog, April 11, 2017
- EPA Proposes to Further Delay Effective Date of RMP to 2019, Louisiana Law Blog, April 3, 2017
- EPA Delays Effective Date of RMP, Louisiana Law Blog, March 15, 2017
- EPA RMP Requirements: Information Availability, Louisiana Law Blog, March 8, 2017
- EPA RMP Requirements: Emergency Response Preparedness Requirements, Louisiana Law Blog, February 27, 2017
- Petroleum Refineries are back in OSHA's National Emphasis Program (NEP) - New NEP to Apply to All, Louisiana Law Blog, January 30, 2017
- EPA RMP Requirements: Third Party Audits Criteria and Implementation of Findings, Louisiana Law Blog, January 23, 2017
- EPA RMP Requirements: Third Party Audits and Privilege, Louisiana Law Blog, January 15, 2017
- EPA RMP Requirements: Root Cause Analysis for Near Misses, Louisiana Law Blog, January 9, 2017
- EPA Amends the Risk Management Program (RMP) Rule, Louisiana Law Blog, December 21, 2017
- OSHA Updates Safety Rules for Walking-Working Surfaces, Louisiana Law Blog, November 23, 2016
- Modified OSHA Policy Statement Defining Applicability: The "One Percent Rule" and Aqueous Mixtures, Louisiana Law Blog, July 22, 2016
- EPA's Proposed Revisions to RMP Rules have Arrived, Louisiana Law Blog, February 25, 2016
- Awaiting the Arrival of Proposed Revisions to OSHA PSM and EPA's RMP Rules: New OSHA Policy Statement Defining RAGAGEP, Louisiana Law Blog, July 9, 2015.
- Awaiting the Arrival of Proposed Revisions to OSHA PSM and EPA’s RMP Rules: Requiring Third-Party Compliance Audits, Louisiana Law Blog, April 7, 2015
- Awaiting the Arrival of Proposed Revisions to OSHA PSM and EPA’s RMP Rules: Applying PSM / RMP to Oil and Gas, Louisiana Law Blog, March 31, 2015
- Awaiting the Arrival of Proposed Revisions to OSHA PSM and EPA’s RMP Rules: Mandatory Updating of Defining RAGAGEP, Louisiana Law Blog, March 24, 2015
- Awaiting the Arrival of Proposed Revisions to OSHA PSM and EPA’s RMP Rules: Defining Recognized and Generally Acceptable Good Engineering Practices, Louisiana Law Blog, March 17, 2015
- Awaiting the Arrival of Proposed Revisions to OSHA PSM and EPA's RMP Rules: Atmospheric Storage Tanks, Louisiana Law Blog, March 10, 2015.
- EPA Proposes Changes to Oil Spill Dispersant Use, Louisiana Law Blog, January 20, 2015
- EPA Announces Proposed Rule to Amend National Emission Standards for Petroleum Refineries, Louisiana Law Blog, May 28, 2014
- If Flook and Diehr are Guidepost, where are we going? When is a process patentable?, Intellectual Property Today, October 2013
- Meeting the Great Lake Discharge Challenge: A Case Study, Environmental Progress, Winter 2000-01 (Volume 19 No. 4)
- A Case Study: Biodegradation of Refinery Oily Sludge. Presented at the Air and Waste Management Annual Meeting, Kansas City, June 1992
- Refiner Biodegrades Separator Type Sludge, Oil and Gas Journal, November 11, 1991