Megan J. Houdeshel
PEOPLE

Megan J. Houdeshel

Partner
houdeshel.megan@dorsey.com

Overview

MEGAN COUNSELS CLIENTS THROUGH ALL ASPECTS OF MAJOR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND ADVISES CLIENTS ON ENVIRONMENTAL REQUIREMENTS INCLUDING PERMITTING, COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT.

Megan has a breadth of experience assisting clients through complex environmental permitting matters under the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and community right to know laws. This experience allows her to guide clients through project development beginning with lands or mineral rights acquisition to full operation and continued compliance. Megan actively represents mining, petroleum, chemical, energy, real estate development, and public utility interests throughout the western United States and Canada. As part of her regulatory compliance practice, Megan also assists clients with environmental aspects of real property and mining transactions including brownfields redevelopment and public lands leasing transactions.

Megan leads Dorsey’s Regulatory Affairs Group and previously served as co-chair of Dorsey's Energy & Natural Resources Industry Group and co-chair of Dorsey’s Salt Lake City office. She has been recognized by Chambers USA as one of “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” in Environment, Natural Resources & Regulated Industries and is consistently listed in Best Lawyers in America, Mountain States Super Lawyers, and Utah Legal Elite for Environmental Law and Litigation. Megan serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Utah Open Lands and as an adjunct faculty member at the S.J. Quinney College of Law.

Education & Admissions

University of Utah (J.D., 2009), Editor-In-Chief; Journal of Land Resources and Environmental Law, William H. Leary Scholar

University of Utah (B.A., Political Science; B.A., Anthropology, 2002), magna cum laude

Admissions

  • Utah
  • Wyoming
  • U.S. District Court of Utah
  • Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals

Clerkships

  • Utah Supreme Court, Justice Jill N. Parrish, 2009-2010

Experience

Representative Work

Environmental Permitting

  • Assisted in all aspects of project development for major new trona mine in Wyoming
  • Advised  multiple oil & gas, mining, and industrial clients through Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act permitting
  • Advise electric generation co-op on Clean Air Act compliance and enforcement matters
  • Advise renewable energy developer on NEPA and environmental permitting
  • Worked with coalition of industrial companies to revise state administrative adjudication regulations
  • Drafted comments on EPA’s ozone NAAQs rulemaking
  • Advised manufacturing client through stormwater and pretreatment permitting process

Enforcement/Litigation

  • Successfully defended Clean Air Act permit at the Utah Supreme Court
  • Represented refinery in defense of consent decree enforcement and permitting enforcement
  • Represented mining company in successful settlement of royalty litigation
  • Defended chemical manufacturing company through RCRA enforcement
  • Defended multiple industrial clients in clean air act enforcement matters and advised on compliance with the Clean Air Act
  • Represented wood treatment facility in successful settlement of Clean Water Act litigation citizen suit
  • Defended manufacturing client through stormwater NOV and withdrawal of same
  • Defended mining client in successful settlement of Clean Water Act citizen suit for alleged illegal discharges

Transactions

  • Negotiated private trona mining leases in Wyoming
  • Successfully advised client through BLM trona leasing process
  • Provide contract drafting advise to energy and mining companies for large project development
  • Assisted developers with Enforceable Written Assurance and Bona Fide Prospective Purchaser protections
  • Advised purchaser of chemical manufacturing facility on environmental aspects transaction
  • Advised seller of metal products manufacturing company regarding environmental aspects of transaction
  • Advised financier of renewable hydro project regarding environmental and Endangered Species Act issues

News & Resources

Articles

How California’s Sweeping New Climate Laws May Impact Your Business
Supreme Court Limits the Clean Water Act’s Reach
Tribal Nations Summit Update
Six Interview Tips for First-Year Law Students
Power Plants May Not Get Certainty in SCOTUS EPA Authority Case
U.S. EPA Proposes New Emissions Guidelines to Reduce Methane from the Oil and Gas Industry
On the Record Review: Efficiency for Environmental Permit Appeals in Utah and Other Recent Developments at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality Utah Bar Journal Volume 26 No. 3, 18-23. Co-authored by James A. Holtkamp, Steven J. Christiansen, and Megan J. Houdeshel.

News & Press Mentions

201 Dorsey Lawyers Recognized in 2025 Best Lawyers in America, Lawyers of the Year, and Ones to Watch
Chambers USA 2024 Recognizes Dorsey Lawyers and Practices
Megan Houdeshel and Kayla Race Contribute to Power Magazine Article on California's Sweeping New Climate Disclosure Laws
200 Dorsey Lawyers Selected for Inclusion in 2024 Best Lawyers in America, Lawyers of the Year, and Ones to Watch
21 Dorsey Attorneys and Four Practices Recognized in 2023 Utah Legal Elite
Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes 23 Dorsey Lawyers and Four Practices in Salt Lake City
Chambers USA 2023 Recognizes Dorsey Lawyers and Practices
Utah 2023 Legal Elite
Dorsey Partner Megan Houdeshel Discusses the EPA's Proposed New Greenhouse Gas Emissions Standards
Chambers USA 2022 Recognizes Dorsey Lawyers and Practices
Seventeen Dorsey Attorneys Named to Utah ‘Legal Elite’
Megan Houdeshel Remarks on Supreme Court's Review of EPA Authority
Megan Houdeshel Comments on EPA's Authority Over GHG Emissions
Super Lawyers Recognizes 16 Dorsey Attorneys in Salt Lake City
Dorsey Partner Megan Houdeshel Comments on Reversing Clean Power Plan
Dorsey Partner Megan Houdeshel Comments on GHG Threshold Rule
Dorsey Partner Megan Houdeshel Comments on Appointment of Environmental Advisers
Dorsey Partner Megan Houdeshel Remarks on Climate Policy Shifts
Dorsey Partner Megan Houdeshel Remarks on Elimination of Methane Rules
Dorsey Partner Megan Houschel Comments on Keeping EPA Limits
Super Lawyers Recognizes 21 Dorsey Attorneys in Salt Lake City
Dorsey Partner Megan Houdeshel Discusses MATS Rule
Chambers USA 2019 Recognizes Dorsey Lawyers and Practices
Environmental and Natural Resources Attorney Megan Houdeshel Joins Dorsey in Salt Lake City

Select Presentations

  • Economic Impact of Climate Policies, Conservative Climate Summit (October 2022)
  • Can Green Stormwater Infrastructure Coexist in the Western Legal Landscape of Prior Appropriation Law? World Environmental and Water Resources Congress (May 2011)
  • Condemnation of Conservation Easements Land Trust Alliance National Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, (September 2008)
  • Condemnation of Conservation Easements Land of Trust Alliance National Conference, Park City, UT, (May 2008)
  • In Perpetuity: The Future of Conservation Easements Utah State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section Continuing Legal Education (April 2008)

Industries & Practices

  • Canada Cross-Border Transactions
  • Capital Markets
  • Development & Infrastructure
  • Energy & Natural Resources
  • Environmental
  • Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG)
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Mining
  • Real Estate & Land Use

Professional & Civic

Professional Achievements

  • American Bar Association
  • Utah Bar Association - ENREL section
  • Environmental Section Chair, Utah Energy and Natural Resources and Environmental Law Section, Utah State Bar

Accolades

Chambers USA 2024 Dorsey LogoChambers USA 2023Chambers 2022Chambers USA 2021  Ranked in Chambers USA 2020  Ranked in Chambers USA 2019 Leading Individual

  • Named a Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year, Environmental Law, 2023
  • Listed in Best Lawyers in America©, 2017-2025
  • Named one of “America’s Leading Business Lawyers” by Chambers USA (Environment, Natural Resources & Regulated Industries), 2019-2024
  • Listed as a Mountain States Super Lawyer, 2020-2021
  • Listed in Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and Utah Legal Elite for Environmental Law and litigation
Contributed 50+ Pro Bono Hours in 2020
  • Contributed more than 50 Challenge pro bono hours, 2020
Megan J. Houdeshel