Bill Seith has served as Of Counsel to Bryce Downey & Lenkov since 2005 assisting clients with a wide variety of environmental issues. Bill has handled every type of environmental enforcement case that has been brought under federal, state and local agencies including toxic air pollution, oil spills, hazardous waste, land use violations, and waste water treatment cases among others. Bill has prosecuted environmental cases for the EPA, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Public Health and the Department of Nuclear Safety. He also has experience on the defense side representing municipalities, villages, and corporations in the private sector responding to enforcement actions brought by any of the aforementioned agencies.
Bill founded Total Environmental Solutions (TES), a firm that provided clients with a full range of environmental services including legal representation, engineering, lab testing and consulting from 2003-2011. Prior to starting TES, Bill served as Deputy Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, managing over fifty attorneys in the Division of Legal Counsel as well as overseeing the offices of Community Relations, Pollution Prevention Environmental Education and Emergency Response. He assisted attorneys and their clients with compliance and case resolution both prior to and after referral to the Attorney General, developed compliance alternatives, implemented incentives for pollution prevention and environmental management systems, and co-led negotiation of the state’s annual contract with USEPA for the funding of programs.
Bill also served as the Environmental Bureau Chief under then-Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan and as Deputy Chief of the Environmental Control Division for then-Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. As Deputy Chief he negotiated several complex settlements resulting in some of the largest penalties ever obtained by the state.
Licensure
Illinois Supreme Court
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Education
J.D., Washington University School of Law, St. Louis, MO, 1984
B.A., Philosophy, Knox College, Galesburg, IL. 1981
Professional Memberships & Associations
Air & Waste Management Association - Lake Michigan States Section – Treasurer
Chemical Industry Council of Illinois
Chicago Bar Association
City Club of Chicago
Illinois State Bar Association – Environmental Law Section Council
West Suburban Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Legislative Affairs Committee Chair
Hinsdale Chamber of Commerce
Illinois Manufacturers' Association
Offices
Commissioner, Lyons Township Mental Health Commission 2010 - present
Seminars and Presentations
· “Peotone Airport: Where We’ve Been and Where We’re Going!” and “Environmental Risks and Eminent Domain — Minimizing Real Estate Risks,” AECRE Regional Program, September 20, 2006
· “Environmental Law & Policy; Good Business vs. Good Policy,” Illinois Benedictine University 2003-2005
· “Environmental Considerations in Real Estate Transactions,” IICLE Annual Real Estate Short Course 2008
· “Legislative & Regulatory Developments – The Illinois Political Climate Change,” CICI Greenhouse Gas Seminar 2007
· “Ethics, Morality and the Law” – Knox College 1986-2005
· Panelist, Illinois State Bar Association annual Environmental Law Conference 2004-2008