Herschel Vinyard Featured on Season 5 Premiere of Water for Fighting Podcast

Adams & Reese Partner in Charge Herschel Vinyard was featured on the season 5 premiere of the Water for Fighting podcast. Hosted by Brett Cyphers, the podcast explores the past, present, and future of water in Florida. Vinyard and Cyphers talk about their longstanding professional relationship, and discuss Herschel’s wide-ranging career in environmental law, maritime industry leadership, and public service.

Vinyard shares how his upbringing in Texas and Louisiana shaped his path to Florida, where he built his career and his life. Before entering public service, he served as a business executive at BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards in Jacksonville, where he was responsible for strategic planning, business development, and regulatory and government affairs.

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on Vinyard's tenure as Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection from 2011 to 2014, a period he describes as one of the most challenging economic times in Florida's history. Vinyard reflects on his efforts to improve regulatory efficiency without sacrificing environmental protections, including his work on Everglades restoration and the adoption of new water quality criteria. He also discussed how he worked with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, environmental interests, agricultural stakeholders, and businesses to resolve disputes over ecosystem restoration projects, effectively ending federal litigation.

Their conversation turns to several pressing environmental issues facing Florida today, including wastewater infrastructure, septic systems, population growth, and the relationship between state and federal environmental regulation. Vinyard and Cyphers examine the ongoing challenges surrounding wetlands permitting, federal environmental regulations, and Florida's assumption of Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting authority.

Today, Vinyard leads the Adams & Reese Jacksonville office and is a member of the firm's Intersection of Business and Government Practice Group, where he represents clients on government affairs, environmental regulations, and permitting matters. He brings a unique perspective as someone who has served as an environmental attorney, business executive, regulator, and agency head.

The episode is sponsored by Sea & Shoreline, the Southeast's leading innovator in protecting coastal communities and restoring ecosystems, and by Resource Environmental Solutions (RES), the nation's leader in ecological restoration.

Listen to the full episode here: Home - Water For Fighting