LUKE H. LEGERE, Esq. is a Partner with McGregor Legere & Stevens, PC. He helps clients with a broad range of environmental, land use, and real estate issues including coastal and inland wetlands and waterways, zoning, subdivision, development agreements, conservation restrictions, state and local enforcement actions, stormwater, solid waste, hazardous waste, air pollution, site remediation, regulatory takings, affordable housing, and energy facility siting.
Mr. Legere routinely represents clients in permitting matters before conservation commissions, planning boards, zoning boards of appeals, boards of health, and other local environmental and land use boards and officials. He frequently represents clients in administrative enforcement proceedings and adjudicatory hearings before state agencies such as the Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”). He regularly handles litigation in state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels.
Mr. Legere often writes and speaks on topics such as the Wetlands Protection Act, Chapter 91, Watershed Protection Act, Article 97, water pollution control, non-zoning wetlands bylaws, zoning and land use, regulatory takings, and brownfields. He has had articles published in newsletters for the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (“MACC”), Real Estate Bar Association (“REBA”), and Association of Massachusetts Wetlands Scientists (“AMWS”). He is the author of the Water Pollution Control chapter of the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education’s (“MCLE”) treatise on Environmental Law.
Mr. Legere teaches a course on Legal Research and Writing at New England Law | Boston. He leads workshops for the Citizen Planner Training Collaborative (“CPTC”) offering guidance to members of local boards on the State Zoning Act, Special Permits and Variances, and Writing Reasonable and Defensible Decisions. He regularly serves as a panelist for MCLE’s “Practicing with Professionalism” program.
Mr. Legere has served as co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s Wetlands, Waterways, and Water Quality Committee. He served two terms on the Board of Directors for the Queechy Lake Club, a non-profit corporation dedicated to the preservation and protection of Queechy Lake in Canaan, NY.
Mr. Legere is a graduate of Colgate University and New England Law | Boston, cum laude.
Mr. Legere has enjoyed success in court and agency administrative proceedings, and is often able to achieve his clients’ desired result by finding creative solutions to negotiate settlement for seemingly intractable disputes.
In a recent decision with far-reaching implications for owners of contaminated property, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA, often referred to as the federal Superfund law) does not preclude claims under state laws for further cleanup of contaminated sites.
The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) does not require a permit for the discharge of pollutants to groundwater that is hydrologically connected to navigable waters of the United States. That is the upshot of the federal District Court’s recent ruling upholding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) interpretation of the CWA as conferring no authority to regulate discharges to groundwater, regardless whether pollutants therein reach navigable waters of the United States. Judge William G. Young determined this to be a “permissible construction” of the statute.
Luke Legere spoke on Article 97 protection for public lands at the 2018 Essex County Open Space Conference hosted by Essex County Greenbelt at the HC Media Studio in Haverhill on December 1, 2018. His co-presenter was Kathleen O'Donnell, who is expert on real estate aspects of ensuring protection for open space. Together they presented the latest on law, policy, politics, practical tips, and recent important court decisions. Law suits are prevalent between residents and municipalities challenging applicability of Article 97, which is important for land trusts, environmental organizations, and municipal officials and boards to know about. Download Mr. Legere's PowerPoint presentation title: Article 97 Protection After Smith v. City of Westfield, from our Slideshow/Powerpoint section in our Reading Room.
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