J. Wayne Cropp

Of Counsel

Chattanooga
T: 423.209.4158
F: 423.752.9562

J. Wayne Cropp is a member of the Business Department at Baker Donelson with a focus on environmental law, public policy, and economic development.

Professional Biography

Mr. Cropp is a recognized author and lecturer on air quality, climate change, Superfund, and brownfield redevelopment. He is a former chairman of the Tennessee Bar Association's Environmental Law Committee. He also has deep political experience and relationships and brings unique experience on emerging environmental policies and advanced manufacturing initiatives including electric vehicles, emerging contaminants, and clean energy projects.

Mr. Cropp focuses on a full range of environmental law, with extensive experience in new source permitting, air quality, brownfield redevelopment and hazardous waste issues. He has been responsible for obtaining permits for several multi-billion dollar manufacturing projects, including in the electric vehicle space. Mr. Cropp is a recognized author and lecturer on Clean Air Act issues. During his government tenure as Executive Director of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau (1979 – 1990), he developed the implementation strategies that brought worldwide recognition to Chattanooga's environmental initiatives.

Included among his many activities are service on the national level as president of the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials (ALAPCO) (1983 – 1984), now known as the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA), and participation in the development of the National Air Toxics Strategy, as codified in the 1990 Clean Air Act, through his tenure as chairman of ALAPCO's Air Toxics Committee (1983 – 1990). He also served as project manager for an International Environmental Research Symposium for the World Health Organization in 1986, and chairman of the Chattanooga Summit in 1996. Mr. Cropp is the former chairman of the Environment Committee for the Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Association, a position he held for 15 years.

Mr. Cropp is also a member of the Air and Waste Management Association; Section of Environmental, Energy, and Resources Committee of the American Bar Association; and Environmental Law Section of the Tennessee Bar Association (chairman, 2004 – 2005). He received the Air Conservationist of the Year Award from the Tennessee Conservation League in 1986.

AV^® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell (more than 20 years)
Listed in The Best Lawyers in America^® for Environmental Law (since 2018)
Recipient – Corridor Champion Award, Tennessee Valley Corridor (2016)
Attorney (1978 – 1979) and Executive Director (1979 – 1990) – Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Bureau
President – Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials (ALAPCO) (1983 – 1984)
Chair – ALAPCO's Air Toxics Committee (1983 – 1990)
Chair, Environment Committee – Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Association (1990 – 2005)
Member – Air and Waste Management Association (1980 – 2023)
Chair – Environmental Law Section of the Tennessee Bar Association (2004 – 2005)
Member – American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources; subcommittees: Nuclear Law Committee and Renewable, Alternative, and Distributed Energy Committee
President – Tennessee Junior Chamber of Commerce (1984 – 1985)
Legal Counsel – U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce (1985 – 1986)
Air Conservationist of the Year Award, Tennessee Conservation League (1986)
Member – Association of Vapor Intrusion Professionals (2022)

"Supreme Court Invokes Major Questions Doctrine to Curb EPA's Ability to Regulate Carbon Emissions" (July 2022)
"EPA Plans New Air Toxics Strategy with a Focus on Environmental Justice" (July 2021)
"President Biden Pushes Hard Reset Button on OSHA COVID-19 Initiatives" (February 2021)
"EPA Issues New Air Guidance on Plantwide Applicability Limits" (October 2020)
"New Toxic Release Inventory Requirements Apply for Many PFAS Chemicals – Prepare Now" (May 2020)
"EPA and CDC Guidance on Cleaning and Disinfecting Public Spaces, Workplaces, Businesses and Schools" (May 5, 2020)
"TDEC Develops New Model Brownfield Agreement, Further Regulatory Developments Planned" (January 2020)
Featured – "Moments in Memory: How Chattanooga Cleaned Up its Act After Being Named the Dirtiest City in America," Times Free Press (March 2019)

"Regulatory Analysis and Green Building Trends," Association of Vapor Intrusion Professionals Conference, Nashville, Tennessee (October 2022)
"Environmental Stewardship in the Biden Administration," Southern Section, Air and Waste Management Association Annual Meeting (September 2022)
"Environmental Stewardship in the Biden Era," Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers Association (November 2021)
"Environmental Phoenix: The Chattanooga Story," Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Environmental Show of the South (May 2017)
"Is the Past Prologue: Environmental Regulation in the New Trump Administration," 84th Annual American Foundry Society's (AFS) Southeastern Regional Conference, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (March 2017)
"Implications of EPA's 'Waters of the U.S.' Regulations," Tennessee Association of Manufacturers 2015 Environment, Health & Safety Summit (November 2015)
"Recent Developments in Environmental Issues Related to Real Estate Transactions: Environmental Due Diligence and Vapor Intrusion," Chattanooga Bar Association (October 2015)
"From Gritty City to Green – Manufacturing Hub," Society of Environmental Journalists 23rd Annual Conference, Chattanooga, Tennessee (October 2013)
"Chattanooga: The Gig City – How Chattanooga Because the First City in the Western Hemisphere to Use 1 Gigabit-per-Second Fiber Internet Service to Grow its Economy," University Economic Development Association Summit (October 2012)
Keynote Speaker – U.S. Department of Energy Asset Revitalization Workshop (June 2012)
Moderator – "Creating a National Model for Energy Innovation and Independence," Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit (May 2011)

Baker Donelson Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® 2024 Listing (August 17, 2023)
Baker Donelson Attorneys Earn Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America® 2023 Listing (August 18, 2022)
Baker Donelson Attorneys Earn Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America® 2022 Listing (August 19, 2021)
Baker Donelson Top-Listed in the Nation in Six Practice Areas in The Best Lawyers in America^® 2021 Listing (August 20, 2020)
284 Baker Donelson Attorneys Included in The Best Lawyers in America^® 2020 Listing (August 15, 2019)

Times Free Press Highlights Wayne Cropp for His Role in Chattanooga Becoming A National Model for Clean Air (March 3, 2019)

Practices

Industries

Education

Cumberland School of Law, Samford University, J.D., 1977
Bryan College, B.S., 1974

Admissions

Tennessee, 1978
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, 1980

Featured Media

Baker Donelson Attorneys Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® 2024 Listing

Press Release / August 17, 2023

Baker Donelson Attorneys Earn Recognition in The Best Lawyers in America® 2023 Listing

Press Release / August 18, 2022

Supreme Court Invokes Major Questions Doctrine to Curb EPA's Ability to Regulate Carbon Emissions

Publication / July 12, 2022

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