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Meg
Holden

Associate

Meg
Holden

Associate

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 and Beacon Wind 1. 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

“High Performance Leases: A Solution for Reducing Carbon Emissions in Commercial Buildings,” Co-Author

For: Environmental Law in New York (co-authored with Audi Banny, Stuart Kaplan & Stephanie Margolis)

June 2021

“State and Federal Site Contamination Law,” Presenter

For: HalfMoon Education Seminars

December 2020

“Environmental Law: Developments in the Law of SEQRA”

For: 71 Syracuse L. Rev. 329

2020

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

For: Webinar Hosted by Roux Associates (panelist)

October 2020

“Sackett v. EPA”

For: Harvard Environmental Law Review

2013

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, ...

Public Service Commission Issues Two Orders in Furtherance of Renewable Energy Growth

On May 14, 2020 the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) issued two orders designed to further State goals of rapidly expanding renewable energy development.  One, issued in Case No. 20-E-0197, is a preliminary ...

Harvard Law School, J.D., 2014

Yale University, B.A., 2009, cum laude

New York, 2015

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Hon. Roy W. McLeese III, District of Columbia Court of Appeals (2014-2015)

New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Member

New York City Bar Association, Member

New York City Environmental Law and Leadership Institute, Graduate