Rosewin Sweeney is an environmental lawyer who focuses her practice on water pollution litigation and the permitting and environmental aspects of land use planning.

Ms. Sweeney's civil litigation experience includes enforcement actions for water pollution, oil spills, wetlands violations and violations of radiation and solid waste laws; challenges to regulations; challenges to county water and sewerage and solid waste management plans; and water appropriations permit and discharge permit disputes. She has successfully defended against citizen suits brought under the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

She served nearly 18 years with the Maryland Department of the Environment prior to joining Venable. As Principal Counsel, she supervised 20 Assistant Attorneys General in advising and representing the agency in civil enforcement matters and in permit adjudications. She was personally responsible for significant civil litigation, including cases involving:

sanitary sewer overflows;
groundwater contamination;
water appropriation and supply disputes;
county water, sewer and solid waste management plans; and
oil spills and radioactive materials.


Ms. Sweeney has an extensive stormwater background, particularly in municipal and industrial stormwater permitting.