top of page

Kristin B. Peer

Kristin has 15 years of legal and policy experience in the environmental field with particular expertise in water law and policy.  Most recently, prior to joining BKS, Kristin worked for the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA).  Kristin was appointed by Governor Newsom to the role of Deputy Secretary and Special Counsel for Water Policy, where she provided legal and policy advice to the Governor’s Office, CalEPA’s Secretary, and CalEPA Boards, Departments and Office, on California’s most pressing water challenges. In that role, Kristin regularly advised on issues related to water rights, water quality, drought response and planning, Sustainable Groundwater Management Act implementation, wildfire resilience and recovery and managed high-stakes litigation on behalf of the Agency.

​

Before her time as Deputy Secretary, Kristin was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to be the Assistant General Counsel at CalEPA, where Kristin served as a legal advisor to the Agency on water-related matters.  During that time, Kristin also advised CalEPA on personnel actions, responding to Public Records Act requests, Bagley-Keene issues, Administrative Procedures Act requirements, compliance with Fair Political Practices Act requirements and evaluated new and proposed legislation for applicability to CalEPA.

​

Kristin was also a litigator with the California Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General in the Natural Resources Law Section, where she defended and prosecuted complex environmental litigation matters for state agency clients.  Her clients included the State Water Resources Control Board, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, the California Natural Resources Agency, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the California Air Resources Board, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and others.  

​

Prior to her time as a state attorney, Kristin worked for a private law firm, Miller Starr Regalia, where her clients were real estate developers, insurance companies, landowners and public agencies.

​

Kristin received her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and bachelor’s degrees in business-economics and Spanish from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she graduated with honors and was awarded Phi Beta Kappa.

​

On June 21, 2022, Governor Newsom appointed Kristin to the Board of Directors of the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC), a non-profit organization formed by the historic Amended Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement. Overseen by the Board of Directors, the KRRC is charged with taking ownership of, then removing, four aging hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River.

​

Publications:

KRISTIN PEER AND STACY GILLESPIE, Safeguarding Water Quality in Federal Licensing Decisions: California’s Response to Recent Constraints on Clean Water Act Section 401 Certification Authority, 13 Golden Gate U. Envitl. L. J. 1 (2021)

​

You can reach Ms. Peer at:

Headshot Picture_Peer.jpg
bottom of page