John L. Parker

John Louis Parker is a Partner with Sahn Ward Braff Coschignano PLLC where he leads the Environmental, Energy, and Resources Practice Group. John has been an environmental attorney for over two decades. He brings a wealth of experience and specialized environmental expertise in matters involving the Environmental Conservation Law, Clean Water Act enforcement, and the Navigation Law, including contaminated site remediation, Superfund litigation, and brownfield redevelopment. He represents clients in environmental litigation matters in State and Federal court, and in administrative law and permitting proceedings. He also represents clients in SEQRA reviews and in Article 78 proceedings.

Mr. Parker is the Chair of the Legislation Committee for the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the New York State Bar Association where he also serves as a member of its Executive Committee. He leads the Annual Legislative Forum each Spring in Albany. He received the Section Council award in 2017.

He also serves as the Vice-Chair of the Environment Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. He was selected to the New York Metro Super Lawyers list in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Mr. Parker served as the Regional Attorney at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for the Lower Hudson Valley - Catskill Region. His role as general counsel and chief legal representative was expansive, leading enforcement and compliance efforts in numerous regulatory programs, such as clean water, clean air, solid waste, petroleum, pesticides, and the superfund and brownfields remedial programs. He also worked extensively on many environmental permitting matters and on significant SEQRA reviews.

He began his legal career as Counsel to the Chairman of the State Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee. There, he worked on complex investigations including a review of the efforts to clean the Hudson River under the Superfund program and he developed policy and legislative proposals on a variety of environmental topics. These efforts led to the drafting and negotiating of the first comprehensive brownfields legislation in New York State.

Mr. Parker has taken leadership roles in significant environmental initiatives in the region involving clean water and climate change. He has also served as Director of Legal Programs at Riverkeeper.

Mr. Parker has written articles for The New York Environmental Lawyer where he also published a regular quarterly column on NYSDEC. His publications in professional journals, law reviews, including the Environmental Law Practice Series, have focused on emerging contaminants, climate change challenges, energy law, and environmental governance in New York.

Mr. Parker is the author of numerous professional articles including the following:

• Legislative Forum 2023 - Meeting the Challenges of New York’s Energy Future: A Discussion with Key Sectors of the New Energy Economy, Vol. 43, No. 2, October 26, 2023
• SEQRA: Avoiding the Downfalls of Segmenting An Environmental Review, Nassau County Bar Association: Environmental Law, Municipal Law and Land Use Law, Government Relations Committees, October 25, 2023
• Meeting The Challenges of Battery Storage for the Renewable Energy Needs of Long Island Communities, Nassau County Bar Association: Environmental Law Committee, February 1, 2023
• New York State Climate Leadership in a Time of International Tragedy, War and Energy Crisis, The New York Environmental Lawyer, New York State Bar Association, Vol. 42, No. 2, Fall 2022.
• Author, Environmental Law and Regulation in New York, 2d, New York Practice Series, Volume 9A, 2022, 2023-2024 Supplement (Thomson Reuters).
• Uncertainty of the Administrative State after West Virginia v. EPA, Nassau Lawyer, September 2022.
• Lessons from the New York Waterfront – Addressing the Risks of Drinking Water Contamination from Unregulated Contaminants, Environmental Claims Journal, Vol. 29, No. 3, 242-252, July 28, 2017.
• Implementing Environmental Law, Chapter 2, Assessing Environmental Governance of the Hudson River Valley: Application of an IPPEP Model, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Academy of Environmental Law, 2015.
• Assessing Environmental Governance of the Hudson River Valley: Application of an IPPEP, 31 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. Article 1, March 2014.
• The New York Environmental Selfie: To Audit or Not to Audit, The New York Environmental Lawyer, New York State Bar Association, Vol. 34, No. 1, Spring 2014.
• Extreme Weather and Its Consequences: Adaptation and Resilience Are Needed to Address a Changing World. 24 Envtl. Law in N.Y. Vol. 24, No. 8, August 2013.
• Extreme Weather and Its Consequences: Adaptation and Resilience Are Needed to Address a Changing World, Part 2. 24 Envtl. Law in N.Y. Vol. 24, No. 9, September 2013.
• Department of Environmental Conservation: Update. The New York Environmental Lawyer, New York State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, Quarterly 2009 – October 2012.
• Interim Report on the Evacuation Plan for the Indian Point Nuclear Generating Facility. New York State Assembly Committees on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, February 20, 2002.
• Missed Opportunities: California Energy Fears, New York Energy Policy and the New York Power Authority’s New York City Turbine Project. Pace Environmental Law Review, Vol. 20 No. 1, 2002, Symposium Ed.
• Enhance Environmental Remediation in New York by Strengthening the Superfund Program and Expanding the Brownfields Program. Environmental Law Journal, Fordham University School of Law, Symposium Ed., Fall 2000.
• The Role of Eco-labeling in Sustainable Forest Management, Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, University of Oregon School of Law, Vol. 11(1), Spring 1996.

Mr. Parker professional engagements include the following:

• Steering Committee Member, Environmental Crimes Detection Conference, Judicial Institute, Pace Law School and the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center, September 2010 - October 2011.
• Legal Work Group Member, New York Sea Level Rise Task Force: Report to the Legislature, Draft, November 2010.

Mr. Parker’s lectures include the following:

• Planning for Climate Change: A Discussion for Rockland County on the Climate Smart Communities Program, Rockland Municipal Planning Federation, October 2010.
• Update on New York Climate Change Law, Lecturer at CLE Program for Pace University School of Law, Fall 2009.
• Introduction to Environmental Law, Lecturer at CLE Program for the Environmental Law Section, New York State Bar Association, Fall 2007.

Mr. Parker is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court; United States District Court for the Southern District of New York; and New York and Connecticut State Courts.

Mr. Parker received a Bachelor of Science from Rutgers University (Cook College) and his Juris Doctor degree from Pace Law School, where he focused on environmental law and international law.