George Rodenhausen

George Rodenhausen is a partner at Rapport Meyers law firm and concentrates his practice in land use, municipal and environmental law. A graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School, with a masters degree from NYU Law School, he has served as an attorney for the United States Environmental Protection Agency, vice president for environmental, health and safety affairs for a major multinational corporation, and land use, municipal and environmental attorney in private practice in New York and New Jersey.

In his land use practice, Mr. Rodenhausen has represented citizen groups, not-for-profit organizations, developers, towns, villages, counties, and the State of New York, served as counsel to many municipal planning and zoning boards, and assisted municipalities as both lawyer and planner in the drafting of local land use and environmental laws, comprehensive plans and environmental review documents. He most recently served as Town Attorney of the Town of Hyde Park.

Mr. Rodenhausen's litigation experience includes federal litigation concerning waste site cleanups and oil spills, including complex litigation involving a major New York Harbor explosion and oil spill with claims by the states of New York and New Jersey, the United States, and the City of New York. He and other members of the firm have litigated on numerous occasions both against and on the same side as the Department of Environmental Conservation with regard to compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act, designation of principal and primary aquifers, and wastewater and solid waste laws. In 2011, Mr. Rodenhausen argued the case of Cooperstown Holstein v. Middletown, establishing the rule that municipalities can exercise their zoning power to ban hydrocracking for natural gas.

Mr. Rodenhausen is a writer and speaker on land use and environmental law issues, having lectured for the New York Planning Federation, New York State Bar Association, Practicing Law Institute, the National Business Institute, Lorman Education Services, the New York City Bar Association, the Dutchess County Bar Association, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, the Water Environment Association, the New York State Association for Solid Waste Management, Pace Law School, the Hudson River Watershed Alliance and other organizations. He is a contributing author of West's Environmental Law and Regulation in New York.