Mr. Mark A. Chertok

Mark Chertok has been active in environmental and land use counseling, permitting, enforcement and litigation for more than thirty years. His experience spans a broad spectrum of substantive areas, including environmental impact statement (EIS) counseling and litigation under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), wetlands and water quality permitting, particularly for waterfront projects, under the Clean Water Act and State counterparts, major transportation projects, air quality and climate change issues under the Clean Air Act, hazardous substances remediation and litigation under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund), remediation under the New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program, oil spill remediation under the New York State Navigation Law, compliance review of Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments, land use and zoning, coastal zone management and historic preservation. A testament to his wetlands experience, Mark served as an expert in freshwater wetland permitting in a condemnation trial in 2012.

Mark handles matters before numerous Federal, State and City agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of the Interior, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York State Department of State, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the New York City Department of City Planning. He has represented numerous government agencies, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the New York State Empire State Development, the New York State Thruway Authority, the New York State Department of Health, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, the New York City School Construction Authority, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. He has represented numerous municipalities with respect to development and SEQRA-related issues and has served as special environmental counsel to many school districts with regard to compliance with SEQRA for new schools or expansions. His clients have also included private industrial, commercial and financial entities and national environmental and civic organizations.

Mark has represented either the sponsoring or reviewing agencies, or private applicants, in major projects, including the Queens West Development Project, Columbia University’s expansion in northern Manhattan, the Bayonne Bridge Navigational Clearance program, the Willet’s Point (Queens, NY) development, the Goethals Bridge Replacement project, the Gateway at Bronx Terminal Market, the IAC Headquarters building, the Gowanus Green redevelopment project (Brooklyn, NY), the New NY (Tappan Zee) Bridge, the J.F.K. Airport Light Rail System, the Newark Liberty International Airport Monorail Project, the Essex County Resource Recovery Facility (Newark, NJ), the Selkirk (NY) GE Cogeneration Project, the Town of Smithtown (NY) Landfill Expansion Project, the Niagara Resource Recovery Facility (Niagara Falls, NY), the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center Medical Waste Incinerator (New York City), the River Walk residential development (Detroit), the Prince’s Point development (Staten Island, NY), the Laurel Hill (Phelps Dodge) site (Queens, NY) and the Brooklyn Commons redevelopment.

Recognition

Chambers USA, Band 1 Environmental Lawyer, 2007-2013

New York Metro Area Superlawyer, Environmental Law, 2006-2013

“Lawyer of the Year” in 2013, Best Lawyers for New York City environmental law

Best Lawyers for environmental law, environmental litigation and land use and zoning law

Who’s Who International 2012, Who’s Who Legal 2013

Community

Member, Board of directors of the New York City Environmental Law Leadership Institute