Lee Breckenridge, J.D.
Professor of Law, Northeastern University, Affiliate Professor of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs | Faculty Affiliate, Global Resilience Institute
Boston, MA, UNITED STATES
Professor Breckenridge specializes in environmental and natural resources law.
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Biography
Professor Breckenridge specializes in environmental and natural resources law. She began her career as an attorney with the Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, DC, where she worked on important regulatory efforts to control water pollution and protect safe drinking water. Professor Breckenridge continued her environmental work as an assistant attorney general with the state of Tennessee and the commonwealth of Massachusetts. She served as a law clerk for Judge Gilbert S. Merritt on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Before joining the faculty of the School of Law, Professor Breckenridge was chief of the Environmental Protection Division for the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, where she engaged in a wide range of litigation to enforce requirements of federal and state air and water pollution statutes, hazardous waste management requirements, and wetlands and tidelands protection laws.
At Northeastern, Professor Breckenridge teaches courses in environmental law, natural resources law, land use and administrative law. She works with students on independent study projects focusing on related topics, such as climate change mitigation and adaptation, urban environmental justice, affordable housing, agriculture and food systems, forest management, land trusts and conservation easements. In her research and advocacy work, she has a particular interest in aquatic ecosystems and in the evolution of property and regulatory systems to coordinate resolution of conflicts over natural resources. As a member of the board of advisors and former director of the Charles River Watershed Association and a participant in government task forces, she has advocated for new policies and regulations to manage urban infrastructure and land uses in order to preserve environmental quality and maintain instream water flows in rivers and streams.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Socio-Ecological Systems
Land use
Environmental and Natural Resources Law
Water
Land Use Zoning and Planning
Education (2)
Harvard University: JD 1976
Yale University: BA 1973
Affiliations (3)
- College Research Initiatives
- Critical Infrastructure Sustainability and Security
- School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
Links (3)
Media Appearances (1)
3QS: Why Court Ruling on Emission Reductions Is ‘Important and Influential’
News @ Northeastern online
2016-06-06
The Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court ruled recently that the commonwealth must set specific limits on greenhouse gas sources and adhere to state mandates that call for significant emission reductions by 2020.
Articles (5)
Water Management for Smart Cities: Implications of Advances in Real-Time Sensing, Information Processing, and Algorithmic Controls
George Washington Journal of Energy & Environmental Law
Lee P. Breckenridge
2016 New sensing and monitoring technologies, and new methods for analyzing and routinizing responses to ecological information, have opened new possibilities for efectively coordinating diverse human endeavors with dynamic environmental conditions. Te possibilities for innovation, in gathering and transmitting information, and in designing regulatory requirements and compliance procedures, are especially conspicuous in the multiple and fragmented legal regimes governing water, wastewater, and stormwater management in urbanized areas.
Green infrastructure in cities: Expanding mandates under federal law
Trends: ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources Newsletter
Lee P. Breckenridge
2014 “Green infrastructure”—systems that use or mimic natural landscape processes to manage wastewater and stormwater—is having a heyday. A 2013 Nature Conservancy survey of interest in green infrastructure, measured by the frequency of Google searches for the term, showed an abrupt spike beginning in about 2007. http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/06/26/nature-invest-green-infrastructure/. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental advocacy organizations endorse the benefits of green infrastructure. State government strategies often refer to green infrastructure as an important tool in meeting pressing public needs. Many cities now incorporate the concept in land use and building requirements. Landscape architects and urban engineering consultants offer expertise in green infrastructure design while landowners and developers promote the green infrastructure aspects of local projects.
Special Challenges of Transboundary Coordination in Restoring Freshwater Ecosystems
Pacific McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal
Lee Breckenridge
2006
Can Fish Own Water: Envisioning Nonhuman Property in Ecosystems
Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law
Lee Breckenridge
2005
Maintaining Instream Flow and Protecting Aquatic Habitat: Promise and Perils on the Path to Regulated Riparianism
West Virginia Law Review
Lee Breckenridge
2004