Executive Summary:
Mark, a graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D. 1970, cum laude) and the State University of New York at Buffalo (A.B. 1967, magna cum laude), has been active in environmental and land use counseling, permitting, enforcement and litigation for more than twenty-five years. His experience spans a broad spectrum of substantive areas, including environmental impact statement and processing, wetland and water quality, transportation, air quality, hazardous substances, zoning, environmental compliance, coastal zone management and historic preservation. His clients have included state, regional and local governmental bodies, private industrial, commercial and financial entities and national environmental and civic organizations.
Mark has lectured and written extensively in the environmental and land use field and is an adjunct professor at the Cardozo Law School, where he teaches environmental litigation. He is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section and co-chair of its Committee on Environmental Impact Assessment.
Areas of Practice:
Environmental Law and Litigation
Development and Land Use
Affiliations:
Mr. Chertok has served as special environmental counsel to a number of governmental entities, including:
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
New York State Empire State Development Corporation
New York State Thruway Authority
New York State Department of Health
New York City School Construction Authority
New York City Economic Development Corporation
He has served as special environmental counsel to the municipalities of:
Cortlandt
New Square
Shelter Island
Eastchester
North Tarrytown
Smithtown
Freeport
Ossining
Southampton
Grand Island
Rye Brook
Tuckahoe
Hastings-on-Hudson
Scarsdale
Warwick
Mark has also served as special environmental counsel to numerous school districts, including the following:
Beacon
Edgemont
Pleasantville
Bedford
Katonah-Lewisboro
Rye
Chappaqua
Lakeland
Sullivan West
Dobbs Ferry
Ossining
Institutional Affiliations:
American Law Institute-American Bar Association ("ALI-ABA")
National Judicial College
Environmental Law Institute ("ELI")
New York State Bar Association
New York Water Pollution Control Association
Practicing Law Institute
Cambridge Institute
New York Land Use Institute
Westchester Municipal Planning Federation
Rockefeller Institute of Government.
Recent Conferences (Chaired or Co-Chaired):
October 2001 SEQRA 25th Anniversary Conference Symposium: A Quarter-Century of SEQRA.(co-chair and presenter)
March 2001 SEQRA 25th Anniversary Conference (co-organizer and presenter)
Spring 2000 and 2001 Practicing Law Institute ("PLI") Retail Property Development (co-chair and presenter)
Fall 1999 Joint Conference of the Environmental Municipal Law Sections of the New York State Bar Association ("NYSBA") (co-chair and presenter)
Published Works:
- Mr. Chertok has recently published:
- "Federal Jurisdiction Over Wetlands," to be included as a chapter in Federal Wetlands Regulation, to be published by the American Bar Association, Douglas R. Williams, ed. (co-author)
- Contributing Author: Environmental Impact Review in New York, Gerrard, Ruzow and Weinberg (1999-2002)
- "The Federal Regulation of Wetlands", Environmental Litigation, ALI-ABA (2002), to be reprinted in the EPA Administrative Reporter (co-author)
- "The New York State Voluntary Cleanup Program." The New York Environmental Lawyer. NYSBA, Vol. 22, No. 2, Spring 2002.
- U.S. Supreme Court Curtails the Federal Regulation of 'Isolated" Waters and Wetlands Under the Clean Water Act, Municipal Lawyer (January/February 2001) (co-author)
- State's Voluntary Cleanup Program, N.Y.L.J. December 18, 2000 (co-author)
- Wetland Permits Altered: Army Corps Puts Forth New License Scheme, N.Y.L.J. Oct. 25, 1999 (co-author)
Recent Lectures & Presentations:
- "The National Environmental Policy Act", Boot Camp Course on Environmental Law (ELI Boot Camp, 1996 through 2002)
- "Federal Regulation of Wetlands", Environmental Litigation (ALI-ABA, 1994 through 2002)
- "Little NEPAs", Environmental Litigation (ALI-ABA, 1994 through 2002)
- "Economic Impacts and Their Role in SEQRA", )Westchester Municipal Planning, 2002)
- "Short Course on Planning" (Westchester Municipal Planning Federation and the Michaelian Municipal Law Resources Center of Pace University, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2002).
- "Issues on Representing Developers", (NYSBA, 2001)
- "Advanced Environmental Law Workshop" (NYSBA and City of New York Bar Association, 2001)
- "Land Use and Environmental Issues", PLI "Retail Property Development" (1999-2001)
- "SEQRA" (Westchester Municipal Planning Federation and the Michaelian Municipal Law Resources Center of Pace University, 2000-2001)
- "Litigation Under the Clean Air Act", Environmental Litigation (ALI-ABA, 1994 through 2000)
- "Environmental Issues: Keeping the Deal Together", PLI "Negotiating the Sophisticated Real Estate Sale Transaction" (1999)
- "Brownfields", PLI "Retail Property Development" (1999)
- "The Attorney's Ethical Obligations in the Environmental Review Process" (NYSBA Environmental Law Section Annual Meeting, 1999)
- "Recent Developments in SEQRA and Land Use" (NYSBA Municipal Law Section Annual Meeting, 1999)
Education:
Harvard Law School (J.D. 1970, cum laude)
State University of New York at Buffalo (A.B. 1967, magna cum laude)
Clients:
Mr. Chertok served, or currently serves as principal counsel for project proponents in both governmental approval processes and litigation for a variety of developments, including the following:
Queens West Waterfront Development Project
Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Corridor Project
J.F.K. Airport Light Rail System
Newark International Airport Monorail Project
Essex County Resource Recovery Facility in Newark, New
Jersey
Selkirk (New York) GE Cogeneration Project
Proposed Goethals Bridge (Staten Island) crossing
Town of Smithtown (New York) Landfill Expansion Project
Avoca Natural Gas Storage Facility in upstate New York
Green Island (New York) Solid Waste Management Facility
New York Exchange's Headquarters Project in NYC
New schools in Chappaqua and Pleasantville (New York)
Lycee Francais private school in New York City
Niagara Resource Recovery Facility in Niagara Falls, New
York
Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center medical waste incinerator in New York City
The River Walk residential development in Detroit
The Celebration at Rainbow Bridge
Affordable residential housing development in Staten Island, New York.
He also represents a number of private clients in regard to the remediation and redevelopment of "Brownfield" sites, including the following:
Prince's Point development in Staten Island
Laurel Hill (Phelps Dodge) site in Maspeth (New York City)
General Motors Assembly Plant site in Tarrytown (New York)
Brooklyn Commons site in Queens (New York City)
Pelham Plaza site in Westchester County (New York) |