Marissa Grenon Gutierrez

Marissa joined Anderson & Kreiger in 2022 after graduating from Northeastern University School of Law and Yale School of the Environment. During law school, she was a member of the Northeastern Environmental Law Society and Associate editor of the Northeastern University Law Review, and during her time at Yale she focused on biological oceanography, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems. Marissa has interned with the U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental and Natural Resources Division, where she worked on Clean Water Act enforcement matters; at Boston Harbor Now, where she worked on climate resilience strategies for East Boston’s industrial waterfront; and at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 1 Office of Regional Counsel, where she assisted with Superfund and Oil Pollution Act enforcement and cost recovery.

Marissa offers clients counsel and advocacy in matters involving environmental, energy, land use, airport, and administrative law. She specializes in regulatory compliance and has experience in federal and state permitting for a variety of water, energy infrastructure, and solar-related matters, as well as legislative drafting and advocacy. Marissa frequently applies her expertise in wetland, coastal, and marine ecology to the practical challenges of wetlands and waterfront permitting and the protection of conservation lands and waters.

• Environmental

Education

Northeastern University School of Law, J.D., 2022

Yale School of the Environment, Master of Environmental Management,  2022

Harvard University, B.A., 2014, magna cum laude

Admissions

Massachusetts

District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Court of International Trade

Languages

Spanish

Marissa was named a Public Interest Law Scholar by Northeastern University School of Law and chosen as a Berkley Conservation Scholar by Yale School of the Environment.

• Editorial Board member for Natural Resources & Environment, a quarterly publication of ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (“SEER”)
• Management Committee Member, Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Partnership (“MassBays”)
• At-Large Vice Chair, ABA SEER Oceans & Coasts Committee

• Negotiated a wetland-protection agreement on behalf of a municipal client.
• Served as lead subject-matter counsel in pro bono litigation on behalf of conservation groups enforcing federal statutory requirements for marine mammal bycatch prevention in international fisheries.
• Counseled a coastal municipal client regarding compliance with the National Shellfish Sanitation Program, a joint state and federal regulatory framework administered by the state Division of Marine Fisheries under Food and Drug Administration oversight.
• Served as translator and pro bono attorney for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status cases in collaboration with Kids in Need of Defense (“KIND”), an international nonprofit organization.
• Advised several national hub airports regarding electric ground support equipment and PFAS.
• Represented battery energy storage facility developer in Land Court litigation concerning state solar zoning protections.
• Advised consortium of over a dozen regional utilities on compliance with the Endangered Species Act during infrastructure maintenance activities.
• Counseled corporate client on its rights under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain technical information concerning PCB non-cancer health risk.
• Drafted state legislation on behalf of major utility client to streamline local and state permitting frameworks for energy decarbonization infrastructure.
• On behalf of major utility client, drafted comment letters to federal and state agencies to advocate for utility-specific considerations in regulatory frameworks.
• Assisted municipal client in obtaining federal reimbursement monies for clean energy infrastructure pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 Elective Pay Program.
• Drafted Board of Health regulations, including hotel and motel licensing and private well regulations, for several municipal clients.
• Advised national airport client on public outreach and engagement requirements under National Environmental Policy Act.
• On behalf of Cambridge Bicycle Safety, filed amicus brief cited favorably by court during dispute over Cambridge’s installation of bike lanes.
• Assisted MassHousing in obtaining State Energy Financing Institution status to qualify for Title 17 Clean Energy Financing Program federal funds.

Publications

• Knotweed Case Breaks New Ground, THE PUNCH LIST, November 1, 2023
• A Supreme Split over Breakfast: What National Pork Producers Could Mean as Massachusetts Law Moves Toward Implementation, PUBLIC LAW, August 9, 2023
• FAA Issues Plan for Transition to Fluorine-Free Firefighting Foam, ENVIRONMENTAL & LAND USE, May 16, 2023
• Marissa C. Grenon Gutierrez, A Change in the (Offshore) Winds? ABA SEER, Natural Resources & Environment 39:1 (Aug. 22, 2024), https://www.americanbar.org/groups/environment_energy_resources/resources/natural-resources-environment/2024-summer/change-offshore-winds/
• Marissa C. Grenon Gutierrez, Choppy Seas: Will Offshore Wind Course-Correct in 2024?, ABA SEER Oceans & Coasts Committee, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/environment_energy_resources/publications/mr/choppy-seas-will-offshore-wind-course-correct-in-2024/ (Dec. 18, 2023).
• Marissa C. Grenon, Fishing with a Porpoise: Economic Incentives and Human Dimensions of Conservation Must Align with Regulatory Efforts to Save the Vaquita, Northeastern U.L. Rev., Vol. 15(1). (2023)
• Marissa C. Grenon, An Ocean Planet: A tale of two sunscreen chemicals that illustrates the need for a paradigm shift in U.S. law to protect ocean ecosystem integrity, Environs: Envtl. L. & Pol’y J., Vol. 46(1). (2022)
• Marissa C. Grenon, Saving the ‘panda of the sea’: Aligning economic incentives with regulations to save the critically endangered vaquita, Yale Env. Rev., Autumn. 2022.
• Marissa C. Grenon, The Future of Antiquities: Challenges on the Horizon for National Monuments, TRENDS (May/June 2022).
• ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) 2021 Year in Review, Chapter N. Marine Resources, Part V. Offshore Wind Energy.
• Marissa C. Grenon, Drowned Out Part 2: How Can We Better Protect Marine Mammals from Vessel Noise?, ABA SEER Marine Resources Committee, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/environment_energy_resources/publications/mr/20220218-drowned-out-part-2/ (Feb. 18, 2022).
• Marissa C. Grenon, Drowned Out Part 1: Vessel Noise and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, ABA SEER Marine Resources Committee, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/environment_energy_resources/publications/mr/20220131-drowned-out-part-1/ (Jan. 31, 2022).
• Marissa C. Grenon, Are Marine National Monuments in Danger? Examining Chief Justice Roberts’s Statement Denying Certiorari for Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association, ABA SEER Marine Resources Committee, https://www.americanbar.org/groups/environment_energy_resources/publications/mr/20210812-are-marine-national-monuments-in-danger/ (Aug. 12, 2021).
• Emma V. Preston, Marissa Chan, Katerina Nozhenko, Andrea Bellavia, Marissa C. Grenon, David E. Cantonwine, Thomas F. McElrath & Tamarra James-Todd, Socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differences in use of endocrine-disrupting chemical associated personal care product categories among pregnant women, 198 Environ. Res. (May 3, 2021).
• Marissa C. Grenon, Changes in Ocean Currents and Temperatures Leave Cold-Stunned Turtles Stranded on Cape Cod, https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/news-events/changes-in-northwestern-atlantic-circulation-temperature-leave-cold-stunned-turtles-stranded-on-cape-cod/ Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (April 12, 2020).
• Marissa C. Grenon, Andrea Bellavia, David Cantonwine, Ellen Seely, Thomas McElrath, and Tamarra James-Todd, Racial/Ethnic Variations in Personal and Home Product Use in Pregnant Women, Abstract Presented at International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE) Annual Meeting (June 2018).

Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, ABA Oceans & Coasts Committee Community Conversation, A Change in the (Offshore) Winds?, Dec. 5, 2024.
• Guest Lecturer, College of the Holy Cross Environmental Law, Hierarchy of the Courts and Administrative Law, Sept. 9, 2024.
• Guest Lecturer, Yale School of the Environment Water Management Course, The Massachusetts Water Management Act, Oct. 26, 2023.
• Speaker, ABA Marine Resources Committee Coffee & Conversations, Shifting the Paradigm on Sunscreen Chemicals to Protect the Ocean, June 22, 2023.
• Speaker and Panelist, National Grid, Can We Say Gay Now, Please? Legislative Landscape of anti-LGBTQIA+ Laws, June 22, 2023.
• Speaker, ABA Marine Resources Committee Coffee & Conversations, Fishing with a Porpoise: Economic Incentives and Human Dimensions of Conservation Must Align with Regulatory Efforts to Save the Vaquita, March 30, 2023.
• Speaker, ABA Marine Resources Committee Coffee & Conversations, Drowned Out: How Vessel Noise Regulation Can Protect Marine Mammals, May 2, 2022.
• Guest Lecturer, Yale School of the Environment Water Management Course, Water Allocation: Testing the Boundaries of Modern State Water Law, Nov. 4, 2021.