John is a member of the Firm's Environmental Law and Energy & Natural Resources Practice Groups in the San Francisco office. He has a wide range of experience in environmental, health and safety law with a focus on issues related to contaminated property, including remediation, working with regulatory agencies, cost recovery, as well as due diligence to help clients avoid the need for those other services. Beyond those "dirty dirt" issues, John counsels clients regarding regulatory compliance, transactions, and permitting and entitlement issues. As someone who had to implement legal advice as a former manager of radiation safety programs in nuclear power plants, John strives for pragmatic advice focused on solutions, rather than lengthy discussions of the applicable law. In addition, he defends clients in enforcement actions by state and federal governmental agencies, District Attorneys, and private enforcers (Prop 65, Clean Water Act citizens suits).

John's practice includes; the Clean Water Act (including stormwater, discharge permits, and citizen suits), RCRA, CERCLA, and their state law equivalents; green chemistry/sustainability issues; California's Proposition 65; and investigation of occupational accidents, workplace inspections and enforcement actions under federal and state OSHA(s).

Bar Admissions

• California
• Washington (Inactive)

Education

• Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clarke College, J.D.
• Purdue University, B.S., Environmental Health

• New "Warehouse Indirect Source Rule" Requires Action Now

  By John Epperson |July 2021

• General Permit for Winery Process Water Discharge Issued

  By John Epperson |April 2021

• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: Cal/OSHA Emergency COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standard Takes Effect

  By John Epperson |December 2020

• Businesses Must Now Demonstrate Storm Water Permit Compliance to Get a Business Permit
• CalEPA Draft Vapor Intrusion Guidance Released for Public Comment
• Buchalter Client Alert COVID-19: Environmental Compliance during COVID-19 (Hint: EPA did not Suspend Environmental Laws)
• Buchalter Client Alert COVID-19: Planning for Re-Opening: What Owners, Property Managers and Users of Office and Retail Properties Should Consider
• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: San Francisco Continues "Shelter in Place" Order with Limited Expansion of Essential Business Operations
• Federal Court Prohibits Prop 65 Warning on Glyphosate-based Herbicides
• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: San Francisco Supervisors Pass COVID-19 Emergency Ordinance on Cleaning Hotels and Commercial Office Buildings
• Draft General Permit for Winery Wastewater Discharge Released for Comment
• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: UPDATE: San Francisco's Emergency Ordinance on Cleaning Commercial Office Buildings and Hotels Signed by Mayor and Became Effective July 17, 2020
• Some Relief for Generators of Retail Hazardous Waste in Sight
• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: Guidance in Implementing San Francisco Department of Public Health COVID-19 Health Screening Forms
• California Employers Will Soon Have to Take Action upon Notice of Potential Covid-19 Exposure within One Business Day, Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert, October 5 2020
• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: Cal/OSHA Emergency COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standard Takes Effect
• General Permit for Winery Process Water Discharge Issued
• Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Safety Rules to be Revised, CA.GOV, May 14 2021
• New "Warehouse Indirect Source Rule" Requires Action Now
• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: COVID-19 Infection May Be an OSHA Recordable Work-Related Illness
• EPA Announces Comprehensive PFAS Strategic Roadmap
• Buchalter COVID-19 Client Alert: OSHA Issues COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Rules
• Changes Coming to Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
• Update: EPA Takes Fast-track to Adopt New Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Standard
• California's New Plastics Recycling Laws - A Lot to Sort Through
• "Retail Hazardous Waste" Targets Expand in California
• California's Ban on PFAS in Food Packaging Takes Effect January 1, 2023
• How Cos. Can Prep For Calif. Ban On PFAS In Food Packaging
• John Epperson, Moderator at the Bar Association of San Francisco
• John Epperson, Moderator at Bar Association of San Francisco, Environmental Law Section CLE
• John Epperson, Speaker at Strafford Webinar Program
• John Epperson, Speaker at Environmental Facilities Managers Roundtable
• John Epperson, Speaker at Strafford Webinar
• John Epperson, Panelist at the Environmental Facilities Managers Roundtable
• Industrial Association of Contra Costa County Roundtable Webinar: AB 685
• Buchalter Webinar: Effective Immediately! California's Emergency COVID-19 Workplace Regulations
• Industrial Association of Contra Costa & Council of Industries Webinar: AB 685 and Cal/OSHA Emergency Standards (COVID-19)
• Real Estate Shop Talk Podcast: California Re-Opening Guidance and Protocols for Commercial Office Buildings
• Real Estate Shop Talk Podcast: The Trouble With Garbage: Waste Management Compliance Essentials for California’s Commercial Real Estate Owners and Managers
• Deadlines from California Climate Change Bills on the Horizon
• Proposition 65 Warning Regulations Revised, Including Widely-Used Short-Form Warning
• Deadlines from California Climate Change Bills on the Horizon
• A Summer Surge in Proposition 65 Notices of Violation- Bisphenol S (BPS) in Receipts, UPC Stickers and Thermal Labels - Are Your Receipts Putting You at Risk?
• EPA Designates PFAS Substances as Hazardous Substances
• Prop 65 Alert: Brace Yourselves for the Latest Wave of CA Prop 65 Short-Form Warning Updates
• John Epperson, Speaker at Environmental Facilities Managers Roundtable
• Major Changes Coming to Prop 65 "Short-Form" Warnings