Kerry Shapiro is the chair of the Firm’s Natural Resources and Mining Group and co-chairs its Construction and Building Materials Group. He also leads the Firm’s Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department in the San Francisco office. He has represented the mining, construction and building materials industries on mineral extraction and land development projects for over 25 years, providing legal services on government, land use, environment, and natural resources matters, at federal, state, and local levels. Kerry has extensive experience working with SMARA, CEQA, the Mining Law of 1872, NEPA, FLPMA, the Mineral Materials Act, Endangered Species Acts, and the Clean Water Act, in relation to various entitlements processes, public land transactions, administrative appeals, and related litigation.
Kerry's experience has included securing entitlements for the largest federally-approved sand and gravel project in the United States, obtaining the first vested rights confirmation from the State Mining and Geology Board for the largest aggregate deposit in California, and successfully representing mining companies before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and state courts of appeals on mining, CEQA and federal endangered species matters.
Kerry currently serves as General Counsel to the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA), and chairs the Association's Legal Action Committee. He received CalCIMA's 2011 Spirit of the Industry Award, for participation in negotiations on California SB 108 legislation relating to idle mines. He has given presentations to numerous industry, government and professional groups including U.S. Department of the Interior, and American Association of Professional Landmen.
Career Highlights- Yuba Goldfields Mining Project, Yuba County; vested rights confirmed by State Mining and Geology Board in April 2010; largest aggregate deposit in California
- Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project, LA County, CUP/RecPlan approved in 2006; BLM Record of Decision, approved in August 2000; largest federally-approved mineral material contracts for construction aggregates in the United States
J.D., University of California Hastings College of the Law, 1987
B.A., Oberlin College, 1982
Phi Beta Kappa
General Counsel, California Construction and Materials Association (CalCIMA), 2013-2014
Member, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, American Bar Association
Member, Environmental Law Section, State Bar of California
Member, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation
Chair, CalCIMA Legal Committee, 2010-2014
Chair, CalCIMA Associates Subcommittee, 2009-2011
- Recipient of CalCIMA's 2011 Spirit of the Industry Award, for participation in negotiations on California SB 108 relating to idle mines.
- Recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer, 2016-2019
- CEQA Bill to Protect Native American Cultural Resources Creates New Challenges and Opportunities for Project Applicants On September 25, 2014, Governor Brown signed Assembly Bill 52 ("AB 52"), which modifies the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA") to add new
- New Law Allows Mining Operators to Remedy Compliance Issues and Retain AB 3098 List Status by Kerry Shapiro This article was first published in The Conveyor, a publication of the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association.
- 2019 Legal Update for the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association An Overview of CalCIMA's Current Judicial, Legislative, and Regulatory Activities by Kerry Shapiro, General Counsel to CalCIMA and Chair of JMBM's
- Why Multinational Mining Companies Need to Perform Effective Legal Diagnoses for their Latin American Operations (and how to go about it) A multinational mining company with operations in one or more Latin American countries – countries with diverse cultures and widely different