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Conrad Bolston
Conrad Bolston
Counsel — Environmental & Natural Resources
E: cbolston@velaw.com T: +1.202.639.6624
VCard BIO PDF
Counsel — Environmental & Natural Resources

Conrad Bolston

Conrad Bolston
Washington, D.C.
T: +1.202.639.6624
F: +1.202.879.8834

2200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Suite 500 West
Washington, D.C. 20037

E: cbolston@velaw.com
VCard BIO PDF
Conrad Bolston

Conrad leverages his experience in both government and private practice to help clients navigate complex regulatory landscapes, strengthen compliance programs, and manage legal and operational risks. His practice focuses on environmental and energy regulatory issues, including compliance with federal and state laws, enforcement defense, internal investigations, and environmental due diligence for mergers and acquisitions.

Conrad has advised domestic and international companies across the energy, chemical, and industrial sectors on regulatory investigations and enforcement actions. His work spans cross-border compliance challenges involving waste management, legacy contamination, air emissions, water quality, and criminal statutes. He has experience navigating a wide range of environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act (CAA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and related state laws.

While serving as senior counsel in the Office of General Counsel at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Conrad was responsible for reviewing environmental analyses, assisting in the review and revision of Commission orders and legal briefs, and contributing to the drafting and implementation of regulations concerning energy infrastructure projects. He supervised a team of attorneys and led cross-office initiatives to enhance project application reviews. These efforts included enhancing processes for stakeholder engagement, consultation, and training.

Experience Highlights

  • Assisted domestic and international clients in responding to corporate monitorships and debarment proceedings

  • Assisted in the defense of companies and personnel under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice and other federal and state enforcement entities

  • Assisted companies in preparing for, complying with, and successfully concluding corporate monitorships

  • Negotiated with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Grants and Debarment on behalf of clients

  • Performed internal investigations for major U.S. and international companies, evaluated compliance with, and financial risks from, the Clean Air Act and analogous state and international emissions laws 

  • Prepared voluntary disclosures to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and analogous state environmental agencies

  • Performed internal audit for a major U.S. company, prepared voluntary audit reports, evaluated compliance with federal and state air, water, and waste environmental statutes and regulations

  • Collaborated with client EHS teams to develop compliance training programs and permitting strategies for environmental regulations

  • Conducted due diligence for several acquisitions involving legal and business risks arising from environmental compliance, sustainability initiatives, third-party certifications, and toxic torts litigation

  • Litigated complex environmental and commercial matters, including disputes involving air emissions, site remediation, toxic torts, property-related torts, and commercial contracts

Credentials

  • Georgetown University Law Center, 2013, J.D. (Executive Editor of the Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, Georgetown Law Journal; Vice President, Environmental Law Society; Academic Chair, Black Law Student Association)
  • University of Maryland, B.S., Environmental Science and Policy, 2009
  • Senior Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of General Counsel, 2023–2024
  • Judicial clerk to The Honorable James R. Spencer, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, 2013–2014
  • Summer Law Clerk, U.S. Department of Justice, Environment and Natural Resources Division, Environmental Defense Section, 2011
  • Legal 500 U.S., Environment: Litigation, 2021 and 2022
  • National Black Lawyers Top 100 Black Lawyers, 2022
  • The Best Lawyers in America© (BL Rankings, LLC), “Ones to Watch,” Litigation−Environmental (Washington), 2022 and 2023
  • The National Law Journal, Rising Star, 2022
  • ABA SEER, Conference Planning Committee, Spring 2024, Fall 2025
  • ABA SEER Leadership Development Program 2022
  • ABA SEER Co-Chair Environmental Enforcement and Crimes Committee (2022–2023)
  • Leadership Council on Legal Diversity – Fellow (Class of 2022)
  • District of Columbia
  • Maryland
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado

News & Insights

Press Release
FERC Senior Environmental Counsel Conrad Bolston Returns to Vinson & Elkins
January 27, 2025
Insight
Environmental Justice 2022 Year-End Review
Environmental
February 1, 2023
Insight
EPA Issues Guidance on Environmental Justice in Air Permitting
Environmental
January 18, 2023
Insight
Elevating EJ: How EPA’s New Environmental Justice Office Raises the Stakes for EJ Enforcement and IRA Funding Opportunities
Environmental
October 5, 2022