President signs new chemical security legislation 
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Karen Aldridge Crawford is a partner in Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough's Columbia and Washington, D.C., offices, where she leads a team of attorneys and practices in the areas of environmental law and litigation, toxic torts, and product liability. In 1997, the Institute of Professional Environmental Practice certified Ms. Crawford as a Qualified Environmental Professional, a distinction awarded after 15 years experience and examination on a specific technical environmental project. She also was an invited member and currently serves on the Board of Regents of The American College of Environmental Lawyers, a professional association of distinguished private sector lawyers who practice in the field of environmental law. In 2009, she was selected to membership into the Litigation Counsel of America, a distinction afforded to less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers.

A member of the South Carolina Bar, the Pennsylvania Bar and the District of Columbia Bar, Ms. Crawford's professional career in environmental work began in 1975, and she has extensive experience in counseling clients on environmental audits and compliance; assisting clients in disaster/catastrophic release response; representing clients in administrative hearings and negotiations with federal and state environmental agencies; defending environmental litigation; and monitoring and commenting on state and federal regulatory activities. She has extensive experience in CERCLA cost recovery and contribution cases, Solid Waste and RCRA permitting, administrative appeals and enforcement actions, Clean Water Act permitting citizen suit and enforcement defense, Toxic Substance Control Act, FIFRA, and Clean Air Act permitting and enforcement defense.

Ms. Crawford has led the environmental permitting efforts for several new manufacturing facilities, as well as major expansions. She also has provided counseling on occupational health and safety and Homeland Security regulatory compliance matters. Recently, Ms. Crawford has advised clients on product labeling compliance involving products regulated by CPSC, FDA, DOT, FIFRA, Buy America/Buy American, and other federal regulatory programs that can result in false labeling and false claims enforcement or litigation. Prior to entering the private practice of law in 1985, Ms. Crawford was employed by a leading U.S. corporation where she held professional positions in engineering, technical supervision and environmental management.

Ms. Crawford is a member of the American Bar Association and its Environment, Energy and Resources section. She serves on the RCRA and CERCLA committee of the ABA's Environmental Litigation Committee and was past program chair. Additionally, Ms. Crawford is a member of the American Bar Association's Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice section, and she holds membership in the Pennsylvania Bar Association (Environmental, Mineral and Natural Resources, and the Labor and Employment Law sections) and the Richland County Bar Association. Ms. Crawford is a charter member and former member of the Executive Committee of the American Bar Association's Women Rainmakers. In 2010, she was selected by her peers as a South Carolina "Super Lawyer" for her environmental practice. She also appears in The Best Lawyers in America and was named the Best Lawyers' 2012 Columbia, S.C., Litigation – Environmental Lawyer of the Year. In 2011, she was selected by her peers for inclusion in the Greater Columbia Business Monthly’s "Legal Elite" for her environmental practice.

Ms. Crawford is a member of the Air and Waste Management Association; the Carolinas Air Pollution Control Association (former president); the Defense Research Institute; the Environmental Law Institute; the National Association of Women Lawyers; North Carolina Citizens for Business and Industry; the Palmetto Economic Development Association; the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce Technical Committee; the South Carolina Economic Development Association; the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association; and the Water Pollution Control Federation. She was recently chosen to serve on the Board of the South Carolina chapter of the American Indoor Air Quality Council. She is a frequent speaker on environmental issues.

Active in community service, Ms. Crawford has served on several commissions for the City of Columbia and serves on the board of directors of Junior Achievement of Central South Carolina.

Ms. Crawford earned a Juris Doctor from the Delaware Law School after having attended the University of San Francisco School of Law. She earned a Master of Science in Engineering Management and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management with an emphasis in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri at Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology).