Chris Saporita
Executive Board
Realizing the potential for channeling the energy and curiosity of idealistic new attorneys with a passion for environmental protection (like himself), Chris created and built NYCELLI, and served as its first Director, from 2005 to 2013.
Since 2007, Chris has served the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, as an Assistant Regional Counsel in the Water and General Law Branch, where his practice focuses on Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement, permitting and state program oversight.
Before law school, Chris worked, at turns, as a teacher, organizer and administrator, to expand civil rights and services for people with disabilities, to win fairness for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people, and to promote sustainable and humane agriculture. Chris attended law school, at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, to take his work for the public good further. As President of the school’s Environmental Law Society, he expanded the Society’s pro bono program and organized support for the creation of a new environmental law clinic – a goal that was realized shortly after he graduated.
After graduating from law school in 2003, Chris worked with New York Lawyers for the Public Interest to promote greater equity in New York City’s waste management infrastructure and then as a Senior Court Attorney for the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department, where he advised the court on all manner of appeals, with an emphasis on environmental and land use cases.