Our People

Mrs. Vélez-Vélez serves as Environmental, Land Use, and Energy Counsel at Reichard Escalera LLC, where she advises clients on complex environmental, regulatory, permitting, compliance, and land use matters before Puerto Rico and federal agencies. Her practice encompasses environmental enforcement, remediation, permitting, environmental due diligence, renewable energy development, and regulatory compliance under federal and local laws, including the Clean Water Act, CERCLA, RCRA, NEPA, and the Oil Pollution Act.

With extensive experience in the environmental aspects of commercial transactions, Mrs. Vélez-Vélez regularly counsels developers, property owners, lenders, and corporations in the acquisition, financing, development, and operation of hotels, resorts, industrial facilities, pharmaceutical operations, and infrastructure projects. She has also advised clients throughout the planning, permitting, and siting of renewable and conventional energy projects, including wind, solar, landfill gas-to-energy, and other large-scale energy developments.

Mrs. Vélez-Vélez previously served as President and Executive Director of the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (2013-2015), where she directed the agency’s regulatory and enforcement functions and led significant institutional reforms. Under her leadership, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency removed the agency’s High-Risk Grantee designation, which had been in place since 2001.

Prior to her government service, she practiced environmental, energy, and land use law at leading Puerto Rico law firms, including McConnell Valdés LLC and O’Neill & Borges LLC. She also served as Secretary of the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals and has taught Public Environmental Law as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law.

Mrs. Vélez-Vélez’s representative experience includes advising on major merger and acquisition transactions, resort and hospitality developments, public-private partnership projects, environmental litigation, government investigations, regulatory enforcement actions, and high-profile environmental response matters. Her unique combination of legal, regulatory, and technical expertise is further strengthened by her background in chemical engineering.