M. Trent Zivkovich, Attorney

Trent Zivkovich assists clients with issues in environmental, land use, natural resources, real estate and commercial law.   He frequently counsels clients on environmental compliance and permitting matters involving commercial and industrial operations, including waste-to-energy, petroleum terminal and other similar facilities.  Trent also assists clients in responding to government investigations and enforcement actions under CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act and equivalent state laws.  He has represented both buyers and sellers in substantial environmental due diligence efforts related to the purchase and sale of real property portfolios and related assets in local, national and international locations.  Trent also advises clients in land development compliance issues including local, state and federal stormwater, sediment and erosion control, wetlands and critical areas requirements.  He often assists clients with general corporate business matters including purchase and sale agreements and leases for real property and assets, commercial lending issues and corporate formation and structure issues.

Prior to joining Rich and Henderson, Trent spent more than ten years managing offices, personnel and projects for national environmental consulting firms and a regional commercial construction and land development firm.  Among those projects, Trent oversaw the investigation and remediation of dozens of properties occupied by a major oil company in Washington, D.C., directed the remediation of a chlorinated solvent release at a Superfund site in North Carolina and personally completed more than 150 Phase I/II Environmental Site Assessments for real estate transactions and corporate due diligence efforts throughout the United States.  Trent also served as Project Manager for one of the first commercial buildings constructed in Maryland to standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED certification program.

He is also actively involved in natural resources and fisheries management issues impacting the Chesapeake Bay, including oyster restoration efforts and the development of oyster aquaculture opportunities in Maryland.  He lobbies federal and state elected officials on these matters, has drafted related legislation introduced to the Maryland General Assembly and is engaged with stakeholder groups involved in the development of state law and regulations impacting the Bay and the use and enjoyment of its natural resources.

Trent received his B.S. in Natural Resources from The University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in 1995.  He received his J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 2006, where he served as Editor in Chief of the University of Baltimore Journal of Environmental Law.  He holds a Professional Geologist's license in the State of North Carolina.   

He serves as a co-instructor of Environmental Law for Engineers and Scientists for the Johns Hopkins University Engineering for Professionals Program and a frequent speaker to development professionals on legal issues involving stormwater management, wetlands and sediment and erosion control requirements.

Trent is the Vice President of the Environmental Law Section of the Maryland State Bar Association and is a member of the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources.  He is admitted to practice before the Maryland Bar and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.