Beveridge & Diamond’s Pacific Northwest presence continues to expand with the additions of Of Counsel Allyn Stern, former Regional Counsel at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Region 10 office, and Associate Megan Withroder, former in-house counsel at Rocky Mountain Power, to our Seattle office.

“We are delighted to welcome Allyn and Megan to our growing Seattle office," said Seattle Managing Principal Dave Weber. “Allyn’s decades of experience at EPA will be invaluable to clients as they address challenges arising from environmental compliance requirements and enforcement actions.  Megan’s in-house counsel experience at a major utility enhances the complexity and depth of the environmental law and litigation services we offer clients on the West Coast and nationwide.”

Allyn guides clients through environmental issues arising in business operations, real estate development and permitting, or litigation. The scope of her authority as EPA Region 10 Regional Counsel covered all federal environmental laws, particularly the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA); the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); and the Clean Water Act (CWA).

Allyn draws on her breadth and depth of expertise to provide regulatory compliance solutions under an array of environmental statutes and regulations applicable to clients’ businesses, including CWA and RCRA permit approvals, risk management under the Clean Air Act 112(r), civil and criminal enforcement, Superfund cleanup and redevelopment, and pollution prevention strategies. Her in-depth knowledge of EPA policies and Department of Justice protocols enables her to capably advise clients on their interactions with these agencies.

At EPA, Allyn established a thriving West Coast practice. As Regional Counsel, she was the senior executive covering litigation strategy and counseling for all matters in the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska. She also spent over 20 years as an EPA line attorney, then as a managing attorney in EPA’s San Francisco office, covering California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the territorial islands. She provided legal advice and strategy on hundreds of EPA decisions including tribal treaty rights and consultation, CWA permits, water quality standards, Total Maximum Daily Load allocations, Superfund removal and remedial actions, and many enforcement cases. Her career also included a focus on incident response and she was selected to be part of the investigation team following the Gold King Mine release. In San Francisco, she also served as Deputy Director for the regional air program.

Megan offers clients insights gained as primary environmental counsel for generation fleet support at Rocky Mountain Power, working with coal supply contracts, operations and management agreements, and retirement and decommissioning agreements. She assists clients with CWA applicability and litigation, Title V air pollution litigation, and National Environmental Policy Act matters as well as helps clients track developments in state and federal environmental regulations, case law, and agency guidance and prepares administrative comments on applicable state and federal rulemakings. 

Megan also has experience working with state and federal regulatory authorities on alternative compliance plans for regional haze requirements as well as advising on regional haze compliance planning, SIPs, administrative processes, and litigation. She guides clients on Coal Combustion Residuals Rule compliance, risk management, and beneficial use contracting, as well as on New Source Review compliance and risk management.

At the utility, Megan supported the real estate practice and gained experience drafting easements, licensing, real estate purchases and sale contracts, and more, and provided counsel on the acquisition of a municipal electric system and on pole attachment agreements for telecommunications companies.