Jayni Foley Hein to serve as senior director for NEPA and counsel in the White House Council on Environmental Quality

Jayni Hein
Jayni Foley Hein ​​​​​

Jayni Foley Hein, natural resources director at NYU Law’s Institute for Policy Integrity, will serve in the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Biden White House as senior director for NEPA and counsel. Created by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council advises the president, develops environmental policy, and coordinates federal environmental initiatives.

Hein will be responsible for overseeing the CEQ’s NEPA policy and implementation efforts, advising Council leadership on NEPA-related policy matters, and providing counsel on policy and legal issues. She will be on leave from NYU Law during the term of her appointment.

“Her exceptional policy skills and scholarship have been enormously important to the success of Policy Integrity’s work, and we look forward to seeing her continue this critically significant work at the CEQ,” said Dean Trevor Morrison in an email announcement.

At Policy Integrity, Hein has authored numerous reports and academic articles on natural resources and climate change topics, and is a co-author of Environmental Law and Policy with Policy Integrity Director and Dean Emeritus Richard Revesz. At the Law School, Hein has served as an adjunct professor of law, teaching Natural Resources Law & Policy. From 2011 to 2014, she was executive director of UC Berkeley School of Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment. Previously, she worked as an attorney at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco, where her practice focused on environmental and regulatory law.

Hein has testified before the US Congress on federal mineral leasing, and before the California legislature on environmental and transportation regulation. Her writing and commentary has appeared in diverse media outlets including The Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

Posted February 9, 2021