Meg Holden - Sive Paget Riesel

Meg’s practice focuses on environmental litigation, environmental review and permitting, environmental due diligence of development projects, and renewable energy development.

Meg has experience with matters arising under a variety of federal and state environmental laws, and has represented clients in litigation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). She frequently advises clients with respect to acquisition and remediation of contaminated properties, including under the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program, and negotiates environmental provisions of purchase and sale agreements. Meg also has experience advising clients on federal, state, and local permitting and environmental review for renewable energy and development projects, and represents Equinor Wind US in the permitting and development of Empire Wind. Most recently, Meg has counseled clients on compliance with New York City Local Law 97 of 2019, including negotiating lease terms.

Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Meg was an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Environmental Law Division of the New York City Law Department. She represented the City and its agencies in federal and state environmental litigation, and assisted City agencies with environmental regulatory compliance.  Before working for the City, Meg clerked on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Meg is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review and was a student attorney for the Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic. Before law school, Meg worked for an environmental nonprofit in New Delhi, India.

Best Lawyers®, “Ones To Watch” for Environmental Law

New York Metro Super Lawyers, Environmental Litigation, Rising Star

PFAS Multi-District Litigation

Location: New Jersey and New York

SPR represents the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as a defendant in a multidistrict litigation concerning pollution resulting from use of aqueous film forming foam containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for fire suppression purposes at various sites, including military bases and airports, throughout the country. The Port Authority is a defendant in multiple cases in the Multi-District Litigation based on its operation of Stewart International Airport.

Equinor Wind – Empire Wind Offshore Wind Projects

Location: Long Island, NY

SPR represents Equinor Wind US in the local and state permitting and development, and aspects of federal permitting, for the Empire Wind 1 and the Empire Wind 2 offshore wind projects that will supply New York State with over 2 gigawatts of renewable energy, power 1 million homes, and provide billions of dollars of economic benefits to the State. The projects also are expected to provide tens of millions of dollars in investments in long-term port facilities, related infrastructure, and new technologies. Together, these offshore wind projects will help the State meet the renewable energy and offshore wind capacity mandates set forth in NY’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, diversify NY’s energy portfolio, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. SPR assisted Equinor acquire various properties that will support its offshore wind projects, and helps navigate the remediation of those properties thorough the Brownfield Cleanup Program. The Firm also advises Equinor on parkland alienation and conversion issues, on the development of an offshore wind port in New York City that will service Equinor’s offshore wind projects and house the onshore substation for the Empire Wind 1 project, on other required local approvals and land rights, on contractor procurement, and on diligence for private finance relating to environmental permitting and litigation risk. SPR assisted Equinor on the development of the Beacon Wind 1 offshore wind project until early 2024, when Equinor transferred its interest in that project to another offshore wind developer.

Extra Space Storage

Location: Nationwide

SPR managed the environmental due diligence for a $12 Billion merger involving 1,300 facilities across the USA. Facilities were located in at least 37 jurisdictions, including: AL, AR, AZ, CO, CA, CT, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MS, MO, MN, NC, NH, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, VA, WI, and WA. SPR reviewed environmental due diligence documents including Phase I and Phase II site investigation reports, developed due diligence strategy, worked with Extra Space’s environmental consultants and local counsel to identify and manage risks across the portfolio, and supported SEC counsel with respect to environmental aspects of their 10b-5 opinion. The transaction closed on time.

“PFAS Regulation Under CERCLA: Unpacking New Environmental & Legal Implications”

July 2024 | Presented by Meg Holden and Kelly Coulon, PE (Roux)

“High Performance Leases: A Solution for Reducing Carbon Emissions in Commercial Buildings”

For: Environmental Law in New York

June 2021 | Written by Meg Holden, Jeffrey B. Gracer (and Audi Banny, Stuart Kaplan & Stephanie Margolis)

“Unpacking High-Performance Leases: Decarbonizing Commercial Office Spaces”

For: Columbia Law School

December 2021 | Presented by Meg Holden

“State and Federal Site Contamination Law”

For: HalfMoon Education Seminars

December 2020 | Presented by Meg Holden

“Environmental Law: Developments in the Law of SEQRA”

For: 71 Syracuse L. Rev. 329

2020 | Mark Chertok, Meg Holden (and Sahana Rao)

“Beyond PFAS 101: Understanding Technical Approaches in PFAS Liability Assessment”

For: Webinar Hosted by Roux Associates

October 2020 | Panelist Meg Holden

“Sackett v. EPA”

For: Harvard Environmental Law Review

2013

NEPA Phase II Final Rule Goes into Effect, Bringing Climate Change and Environmental Justice to the Forefront

On July 1, 2024, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ) final rule implementing the revised National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Phase II regulations came into effect. This rule represents the culmination of the Biden Administration’s efforts to update and revise the Trump Administration’s 2020 modifications to NEPA. The Phase II ...

Vineyard Wind 1 Comes Online; Still Faces Lawsuits

On January 2, 2024, the Vineyard Wind 1 project started producing power for the United States grid, becoming the second commercial-scale offshore wind project to do so after South Fork Wind came online in December 2023. This significant milestone comes as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit considers appeals in ...

Biden Administration Proposes “Phase 2” Revisions to NEPA Regulations

On July 31, 2023, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for its second phase of revisions to the 2020 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) amendments. As a brief primer, NEPA imposes procedural requirements on all federal ...

Army Corps Reissues Nationwide Permits, Dividing NWP 12 Into Three

On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) published a final rule reissuing and modifying twelve existing 2017 nationwide permits (“NWPs”) and creating four new NWPs. The rule goes into effect on March 15, 2021. Nationwide permits provide a streamlined process ...

Equinor Becomes Leading U.S. Offshore Wind Developer with 2,500 Megawatt Award from New York State

In his January 13, 2021 State of the State address, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that New York will contract with Equinor Wind US LLC (Equinor) for 2,490 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind energy, the largest combined procurement of offshore wind energy ...

Council on Environmental Quality’s New NEPA Regulations: An Analysis

On September 14, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (“CEQ”) Final Rule overhauling its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) became effective. The Final Rule represents the first comprehensive revision of the NEPA regulations since their initial issuance in 1978, and introduces process-based and substantive changes to the NEPA regulations, ...

Meg
Holden

Associate