Beckman directs the Coastal Water Quality Project in NRDC's Los Angeles office, where his work focuses on Clean Water Act enforcement, groundwater quality protection, and environmental justice matters. In recent years, Mr. Beckman and the Project have successfully brought major impact litigation to force the adoption of more stringent water pollution standards throughout Southern California and the clean up of major "factory farms" in the Chino Basin, home to the largest concentration of dairy cows in the United States. Mr. Beckman's work led to passage of the Comprehensive Groundwater Quality Monitoring Act of 2001. Mr. Beckman practiced for three years at the law firm of Heller Ehrman White and McAuliffe in San Francisco prior to joining NRDC in 1995. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1991.