George Dana Bisbee
Shareholder

Biography

Dana Bisbee is the head of the firm's Environmental Practice Group, and also a member of the Land Use, Energy and Regulatory Affairs Practice Groups. He focuses his practice on environmental and land use law and government relations. On environmental matters, he provides advice and counseling on state, federal, and local permitting issues, enforcement, site remediation and transactional matters. His practice involves extensive negotiations with state and federal regulators, wastewater, wetlands, and hazardous waste permitting and enforcement matters, and administrative proceedings before quasi-judicial boards. His environmental includes representation of residential, commercial and resort developers, energy facilities and discrete permitting matters for municipal clients. His local land use board experience includes submission and site plan approvals and mixed use development. Dana is also a member of Devine Millimet's Government Relations Practice Group, representing clients on environmental issues in the state Legislature and on state agency rulemaking and policy initiatives.

Dana joined Devine Millimet in 2009, after 6 years as a partner in the Environmental and Land Use Practice Group at the Portsmouth, NH office of Pierce Atwood, LLP. Prior to that he served as Assistant Commissioner of the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES), a position he held for seven years. During his last 18 months with the agency he also served as its Acting Commissioner. He worked closely with stakeholders on water law and policy -- especially on large groundwater withdrawals, stream flow protection, and wetlands regulation. Dana was actively engaged in the resolution of complex permitting issues involving large industrial facilities, energy and transportation projects, and commercial development. He championed DES's development of a comprehensive compliance assurance policy, and dealt regularly with difficult enforcement matters.

Dana began his legal career in the New Hampshire Attorney General's office and served in that office for 14 years. In the last five years of his tenure there, he was the state's Deputy Attorney General. Before that, he spent eight years in the Environmental Protection Bureau, including two years as the Bureau Chief.

Education

• Georgetown University Law Center (1981), J.D., where he was a Law Fellow and instructor and co- director of legal research and writing and oral advocacy
• Dartmouth College (1974), A.B., magna cum laude, in French Literature

Professional Affiliations

Current:

• New Hampshire Bar Association, Member, Environmental and Natural Resources Section
• Environmental Council of the States Alumni Association
• American Bar Association, Member 

Former:

• New Hampshire BIA, Vice- chair, Environmental Affairs Committee
• New Hampshire Bar Association, Chair, Environmental and Natural Resources Section
• New Hampshire Bar Association, Legislative Ethics Committee
• Governor's Task Force on Rulemaking Reform
• New Hampshire Bar Association, Legislation Committee
• New Hampshire Bar Association, Committee on Cooperation with the Courts
• State-EPA Information Management Workgroup, Co-Chair 

Awards & Honors

• Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America®, Environmental Law and Land Use & Zoning Law, 2005-2013
• Recognized in Chambers USA, Environmental Law, 2010-2012
• Recognized as a New England Super Lawyer, Environmental Law, 2010
• BV exemplary rating by Martindale Hubbell.
• Named "Top Attorney," Environmental Law by Business NH Magazine, 2010.
• 2005 recipient of the New Hampshire Business and Industry Association's "Above and Beyond" award
• New Hampshire Magazine's list of NH's Top Lawyers for environmental law since 2005
• Honored by the 2005 Environmental Council of the States Founders Award for his work on environmental data management

Community Involvement

• Leadership NH, Chair, Board of Trustees
• New Hampshire Lakes Association, Member and past Chair of the Board of Directors
• NH Lawyers for Obama, 2008 and 20012
• Appointed by then Attorney General Kelly Ayotte in 2007 to the Legislative Commission to Study the Consolidation and Centralization of State Legal Services
• Governor's Save Our Shipyard Advisory Committee, Member, 2004
• 2004 graduate of Leadership NH
• Concord Community Chorus, 2001 - Present
• Returned Peace Corps Volunteer -- served in Gabon, Central Africa from 1974 to 1977

POLITICAL

• NH Lawyers for Obama, 2008 and 2012 

Publications

• "The Continuing Expansion of Stormwater Regulation," New Hampshire Business Review, September 10, 2010
• "Ask the Expert - Statute of Limitations on Environmental Penalties," BIA Report, Summer 2009 edition
• Law Lecture Series on "Water, Wetlands and the Role of Local Government," Co-author with former partner Mark Beliveau, New Hampshire Municipal Association, 2003
• "Environmental Performance: EPA and States Rely More and More On Measuring Environmental Results and Making Regulatory Innovation Work - Common Sense and Uncommon Initiative," New England's Environment Magazine, September/October, 2003 and January/February, 2004
• "Fundamentals of Water Law in New Hampshire: Protecting Water Rights, Use and Quality," contributing author, National Business Institute, Inc., June, 2004 and June, 2005
• "Water Rights, Allocation and Resource Management in Maine and New Hampshire," contributing author, Lorman Education Services, June, 2004

Bar Admissions

• New Hampshire
• U.S. District Court, District of New Hampshire
• U.S. Supreme Court