Kenneth (Ken) Meade is a partner in the firm's Regulatory and Government Affairs Department, and a member of the Environmental, Public Policy and Strategy and Government Regulatory Litigation Practice Groups. He joined the firm in 1988. Mr. Meade was recognized as a leader in environmental law in the 2011 edition of Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business.
Mr. Meade’s practice focuses on counseling, enforcement and transactional issues encompassing all fields of environmental law, with particular emphasis on:
- Clean Air Act and climate change permitting, counseling and enforcement
- Counseling related to the development of natural resources
- Enforcement and counseling relating to federal and state environmental laws
- Transaction-related counseling
Mr. Meade has represented a variety of businesses, institutions and trade associations across the country on a wide range of Clean Air Act issues, including:
- Assisting energy, manufacturing and utility clients in the development of strategies to address climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, including advising clients on international, national and regional legislative and regulatory initiatives to regulate GHG emissions, identification and documentation of domestic and international GHG emission reduction projects, preparation of verification documents for purposes of preserving the ability to participate in GHG emission trading markets and preparation of corporate reports and disclosure documents relating to climate change
- Representing clients, including trade and business associations, in Clean Air Act legislative and administrative initiatives and rulemakings, and in challenges to Clean Air Act regulations in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
- Representing an ethanol organization in matters before the US Environmental Protection Agency regarding ethanol in gasoline
- Counseling clients regarding federal and state permitting requirements, including applicability of NSR/PSD permitting requirements, preparation of Title V operating permit applications for utility and industrial clients, negotiating permit terms and conditions with federal and state agencies and taking permit appeals at the state and federal level
- Representing companies in defending federal and state Clean Air Act enforcement actions in administrative and judicial proceedings
- Advising companies on strategies for participation in emission trading markets, negotiating contracts for the purchase and sale of emission credits and evaluating the marketability of emission credits generated internationally as well as domestically
Mr. Meade has been advised and counseled numerous clients on complex legal and federal policy issues relating to the development of energy and natural resources, including:
- Advising energy clients in the oil and natural gas industries regarding environmental and land use strategies for exploration, extraction and production of natural resources on public and private lands, both onshore and offshore
- Representing a natural gas trade association on environmental and energy issues in administrative and legislative forums
- Counseling clients in the development of strategies for addressing procedural and substantive challenges to the development of natural resources pursuant to federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act
- Assisting clients in the preparation of permitting strategies, and the development of related documents and studies supporting federal and state applications, to develop natural resources
Mr. Meade has been actively involved in enforcement, counseling and administrative issues and proceedings under various federal and state environmental statutes, including:
- Serving as counsel to the Corporate Environmental Enforcement Council (CEEC), an organization of 20 companies from a wide range of industrial sectors, that focuses exclusively on civil and criminal environmental enforcement public policy issues
- Representing clients subject to civil and criminal investigations of federal and state environmental laws, including advising clients regarding development, implementation and management of internal environmental audit programs and investigations
- Assisting clients in the development and implementation of environmental management systems and internal environmental auditing programs
Mr. Meade routinely counsels clients with respect to environmental issues arising from a variety of corporate transactions, representing both buyers and sellers in the United States and abroad, in deals ranging from a million to several billions of dollars, including:
- Assisting clients in transactional environmental due diligence
- Representing companies in negotiations in all types of acquisitions and dispositions, including mergers, asset and stock purchases, tender offers and auctions
- Counseling companies with respect to compliance with applicable property transfer requirements triggered by acquisitions and dispositions
- Counseling public companies with respect to SEC disclosure obligations for environmental issues
Mr. Meade is the co-author of The Clean Air Act Amendments: Strategies for the 1990s and The Clean Air Act Amendments: Updated Strategies. He frequently lectures on Clean Air Act, climate change and environmental enforcement topics across the country.
Mr. Meade is a member of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, the Air and Waste Management Association, the Environmental Law Institute and ASTM.
Mr. Meade received his JD degree, with honors, from the National Law Center at the George Washington University and his BA degree in political science from the University of Michigan.
Mr. Meade is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, the state of Maryland and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as before the Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
