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Experience
Sarah is counsel in Pierce Atwood’s Environmental Practice Group, which she joined in 2004. Prior to her association with Pierce Atwood, Sarah was a Senior Consultant at Long View Associates for seven years and from 1986 to 1997 she was a Senior Attorney at Central Maine Power Company.
Sarah has devoted her legal practice to matters related to hydropower, water, wetland, and natural resource licensing, compliance, counseling, rulemaking, auditing, and enforcement. She has represented clients in hydropower licensing proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on dozens of hydropower projects in New England, the Southeast, and the Pacific Northwest.
As senior counsel at Central Maine Power Company, she was responsible for all regulatory and legal matters associated with the company's thirty hydropower projects, including the relicensing of fifteen projects, the redevelopment of four projects, and several jurisdictional determinations. As a senior consultant at Long View Associates, Sarah assisted Alcoa Power Generating, Inc. with the relicensing of their hydropower developments in North Carolina and Tennessee, implemented a program to manage shoreline development on four impoundments, and facilitated and negotiated a comprehensive settlement agreement involving lands of the National Park Service, the U.S. Forest Service, and Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.
Her hydropower experience also includes representation of clients on matters arising under the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Endangered Species Act, and most recently, the Domenici Energy Policy Act of 2005. She has successfully negotiated and facilitated numerous complex settlement agreements involving project owners, state and federal agencies, and national and regional non-governmental organizations, and she assists clients with due diligence investigations and acquisition of projects.
Education
Sarah earned her B.A. from Columbia University in 1978 and her J.D. cum laude from Suffolk University Law School in 1984. In law school, Sarah served as an articles editor of the Transnational Law Journal.
Professional Activities
Sarah has been a member of the board of directors of the National Hydropower Association since 2004 and was its vice-president in 2006-2007. Since the early 1990s, she has been an active member of the NHA Regulatory Affairs Committee. In 2002-2003, she served on NHA’s Working Group on Low Impact Hydropower Issues and on its Drafting Committee for a FERC hydropower rulemaking. In 2005, she co-authored on behalf of NHA "Barriers to the Development of Small Hydroelectric Projects and New and Emerging Technologies". She regularly speaks on hydropower issues at industry events. Sarah also is a member of the Maine State Bar Association.
Civic Activities
Sarah has served on the Town of Freeport, Maine Planning Board and the board of trustees of the Maine State Music Theater. She currently serves on the board of trustees of PCA Great Performances.
Publications
Implementing the Integrated Licensing Process: What Can We Learn from the Pioneers?, Hydro Review Magazine, April 2005
FERC and Dam Decommissioning, Natural Resources and Environment Journal, Winter 2005
Water Quality Certification and Relicensing: Sharing Legal Strategies, Hydro Review Magazine, April 2006
Bar Admissions
Sarah is admitted to practice in Maine; the U.S. District Court, District of Maine and the U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit.
Practice Areas
Energy
Environmental & Land Use
Related Practice Areas
Hydropower
Past Events and Engagements
9/7/2006 - Environmental Law in Maine 2006 Update Seminar | 