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DanielleMettler-LaFeir

Partner

"I enjoy using my experience with the technical, political, and legal aspects of environmental laws to strategically develop solutions for clients to meet their goals."

Overview

Biography

A former environmental and safety staff member at Johnson & Johnson’s Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Danielle primarily concentrates her practice on environmental law. She advises energy utilities on complex state and federal environmental laws related to the development of energy resources and operations involving electrical generation. She also counsels businesses on project development and operations as well as applicable environmental laws. Danielle’s practice involves compliance, permitting, transactional, and litigation work under various environmental statutes, with a concentration on the Clean Air Act, climate change; the Clean Water Act, especially 316(a) and (b); and environmental remediation (CERCLA). The independent research company Chambers & Partners highlights Danielle’s deep knowledge of “Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permitting and compliance, alongside capabilities in wider environmental matters.”

Danielle has extensive experience handling Clean Air Act permitting and compliance at the state and federal levels, counseling clients that include energy and utility, gas-transmission and distribution, and manufacturing companies on Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act legal solutions to existing, new, and proposed regulations impacting these industries. She also assists clients with other environmental laws and regulations, including remediation issues pursuant to CERCLA and voluntary clean-up programs.

Danielle routinely represents clients in enforcement actions initiated by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation and the US Environmental Protection Agency, particularly with regards to the Clean Air Act, including New Source Review, hazardous air pollutants, and Title V and state facility permitting. She negotiates orders on consent, represents clients in administrative proceedings and mediations, and responds to intervening parties and state and federal agencies. Danielle has also been involved in private cost-recovery actions associated with the allocation and reimbursement of remedial costs, including litigation, mediation, and participation in potentially responsible party groups.

In addition to her own practice, Danielle serves as a member at large of the firm's Diversity Partner Committee.

Bar Associations

  • American Bar Association
  • Monroe County Bar Association
  • New York State Bar Association

Selected Memberships & Affiliations

  • Barclay Damon’s Women’s Forum
  • Air & Waste Management Association
  • YWCA of Rochester & Monroe County
Experience

Representative Experience

  • Counseled parties in federal pipeline proceedings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission related to required environmental approvals and conditions, including 401 Water Quality Certifications and Clean Air Act General Conformity.
  • Provided environmental counsel in Article 7 proceedings with the NYS Public Service Commission and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.
  • Counseled utilities and pipeline companies regarding environmental impact reviews with the NYS Public Service Commission pursuant to Article 7 and Article 10.
  • Represented utilities on issues associated with stationary air emissions, including New Source Review (NSR)/Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) Review, emission trading, general conformity, and hazardous air pollutants.
  • Represented electric generators in obtaining new, modified, and renewed Clean Air Act preconstruction and Title V operating permits.
  • Represented electric generators in the renewal of State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permits for electric-generating facilities. related to Best Technology Available (BTA) for cooling water intake structures required by 316(b) of the Clean Water Act and 6 NYCRR 704.5.
  • Counseled a client in preparing for obtaining an industrial hemp growing license, including citing, materials, and an agriculture application.
  • Successfully negotiated an industrial hemp agricultural forward agreement involving the purchase of over $1 million of NY-grown hemp biomass cultivated during the 2019 growing season.  
  • Represents an interstate-pipeline company proposing an approximate $1 billion expansion of its existing infrastructure in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.
  • Providing strategic advice to an energy storage projects developer on the replacement of more efficient and cleaner turbines at an existing generating facility, including securing the necessary permit modifications to enable the project to go forward and interfacing with NYSDEC and other state and local agencies to secure the necessary permits and approvals in a timely manner.
  • Represents an energy storage projects developer in handling all aspects of the projects, including counseling on all siting and permitting issues to ensure the most efficient and successful project development while preserving the in-service dates as well as interfacing with key regulators.

Prior Experience

  • Hiscock & Barclay, LLP, Associate
  • Vermont Office of the Defender General, Appellate Division, Law Clerk
  • Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Environmental and Safety Staff

Selected Honors

  • The Best Lawyers in America®: Energy Law, 2024–2025; Environmental Law, 2024–2025
  • Chambers USA, Upstate New York: Environment, 2023–2024
  • New York State Bar Association, Empire State Counsel Honoree, 2013 and 2018
  • Selected to Super Lawyers Upstate New York Rising Stars: Environmental, 2015-2017
  • The Daily Record, Excellence in Law Awards: Up & Coming Attorney, 2014
Knowledge

Selected Speaking Engagements

  • IOGANY Annual Meeting, “Aggregation of Air Emissions: What Does Adjacency Really Mean?”
  • Air & Waste Management Association and New York Water Environment Association Conference, “Green Is Good: The New Business Paradigm”
  • New York State Bar Association, “Clean Air & Climate Change Law & Policy” CLE
  • Business Counsel of New York Environment Conference, “Change is in the Air: Climate Change and the Clean Air Act”
  • International Environmental Management Leadership Symposium, “The Role of Environmental Ethics in Decision-Making”

Selected Media

Selected Alerts & Blog Posts

Featured Media

Alerts

Second Circuit Upholds New York State's Ivory Law, but Holds Display Restriction Unconstitutional

Alerts

$175 Million of Federal Funds Available for Electric Vehicle Chargers in New York State

Alerts

USFWS Issues Final Guidance on Northern Long-Eared Bat and Tricolored Bat

Alerts

IRS Guidance Excludes VA Service-Connected Disability Benefits From Certain Income Determinations for Qualified Residential Rental Projects

Alerts

Second Department: Objective Evidence Required to Establish Trivial Defect Defense

Alerts

NYS Department of Health Issues Consumer Protection Guidance on Payments for Health Care Services

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