Return to Virginia Business - December 2001

Environmental Law - Brian L. Buniva
McCandlish Kaine
Richmond

by Laura Bland

Ask Brian Buniva about his great accomplishments, his memorable cases practicing environmental and land use law and he starts to talk about balance. "I think it is unusual that one person has the entire answer or that one point of view is the only way," Buniva says. "What I really see my mission and skills combining around are…." He pauses. "I love to take on the tough cases, not for the purposes of beating the opposition into the ground, but seeing if both sides can be reasonably content with the outcome."

Photo by Joe Mahoney

The youthful-looking 51-year-old didn’t start out as a lawyer. He tested the waters of political advocacy when he went to work for the Washington, D.C.-based public interest group, Common Cause, following graduation from Georgetown University with a degree in government. In the early 1970s, he was transferred to Richmond to lobby before the General Assembly which, he says, "was a trip … people almost felt like you were insulting them when you suggested that public disclosure [of campaign finance activity] ought to be done, so that was kind of a rough thing."

At 28, he graduated from law school at the University of Richmond and took an internship, then later a job in the attorney general’s office dealing with the licensing of state health professions and representing the State Water Control Board. He litigated wetlands cases, water quality cases, enforcement actions. Before going into private practice, he tried the first hazardous waste enforcement case in the state.

While Buniva believes most people have a basic interest in environmental issues such as clean water and the proper disposal of garbage, he insists there must be a balance with jobs and the economy. "Is it more important than economic development, national security, the farm economy? Environmental issues are an important factor in all of our lives, but they’re not the most important factor," he says. "Where we can go off the deep end is when we become single issue in the body politic. If we get out of balance in any number of areas, including environmental advocacy, then we are not seeing the full picture."

Buniva’s friends say he is not only hard working but dedicated to a wide variety of interests beyond law. William Broaddus, a fellow attorney who has known Buniva for 25 years, says Buniva is "a top notch guy as well as being a really nice person. He is a joy to work with and is very diligent in his pursuit of a client’s interests, but he does this in a very forthright manner whether you are working on the same side of a case with him or in opposition."

One of his closest friends, Tom DeWeerd, director of secondary education for Goochland County schools, describes Buniva as a "reflective and spiritual person. He cares a great deal about the community, and I think those thoughts of community and spirituality are the motivators of the things he does and cares about." Buniva is past chairman of Lawyers Helping Lawyers, a group of volunteer attorneys who help other attorneys struggling with alcohol and drug abuse issues. He is clerk of the Midlothian Friends meeting and president of the athletic booster club at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, where both of his children are students. His wife, Susan, is a licensed clinical social worker.

Buniva has worked both sides of the street when it comes to environmental law. During the Republican administration of Gov. George Allen, a conservative who deregulated much of Virginia’s environmental regulatory system, Buniva pushed for an air pollution discharge permit he helped write when Virginia was competing with other states for Texas-based Chaparral Steel. It was a difficult permitting process, because Virginia is already home to some companies that don’t meet federal air quality standards, and some worried the steel maker would add to the state’s pollution woes. Ultimately, the company settled on a site in Dinwiddie County and agreed to spend money on its new manufacturing facility to make sure it met strict air discharge standards. "That made the difference to 500 jobs coming to Virginia," Buniva says. "There is a balance between economic development and environmental safety, and you have to be smart enough and committed enough to find that balance because you can’t do without either."