Municipal Law
Court Dismisses Article 78 Proceeding Against the Village of Tuckahoe
The New York State Supreme Court (Westchester County) has dismissed an Article 78 proceeding that challenged the Village of Tuckahoe Planning Board’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) determination and Site Plan Approval, as well as the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (“NYSDEC’s”) selected New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program (“BCP”) remedy for…
U.S. Supreme Court Establishes Multi-Factor Test to Define “Denominator” in Regulatory Takings Cases
On June 23, 2017, the United States Supreme Court in Murr v. Wisconsin announced a new test for defining the proper unit of property whose value is to be measured in determining whether a governmental regulation has gone “too far” and caused a regulatory taking. The majority rejected opposing bright-line tests advocated by the parties…
NY State Legislature Passes Bill to Regulate Petroleum-Carrying Vessels on the Hudson River
By: Zachary Berliner On June 21, the New York State Senate passed by a 61-to-1 vote a bill allowing state authorities to consider environmental impacts in reviewing permit applications for the operation of petroleum-bearing vessels on the Hudson River. It now awaits Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signature after being passed by a similar bipartisan margin in…
EPA and the Corps Launch Effort to Rescind and Replace the 2015 “Clean Water Rule”
Also by: Zachary Berliner On June 27, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”) released a joint proposal to rescind and ultimately replace the Obama administration’s 2015 “Clean Water Rule” (the “Rule”). The Rule defines the extent of federal jurisdiction over “waters of the United States” under…
New York State Department of Health Updates Soil Vapor Intrusion Guidance
The N.Y. Department of Health (“NYSDOH”) recently revised its guidance on soil vapor intrusion, tightening guidelines on certain volatile chemicals and loosening guidelines on others. The revisions consist of an updated set of Soil Vapor/Indoor Air Decision Matrices, which prescribe recommended actions based on the concentrations of a specified chemical vapor inside a building and…
Suniva Petition for Tariff on Solar Cell and Panel Imports Threatens Progress of U.S. Solar Development
Although much attention has been focused on the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Accord, the greatest current threat to solar development in the U.S. is a petition for an import tariff filed earlier this year by Suniva, a solar cell and panel manufacturer in the state of Georgia. Suniva’s petition was filed with the U.S….
Maggie Macdonald Speaking at Perrin Environmental Risk & Litigation Conference
SPR associate Maggie Macdonald will be speaking at the Perrin Environmental Risk & Litigation Conference on Tuesday, June 20,2017, on a panel concerning recent insurance coverage litigation. The conference will be held at the Westin New York at Times Square. More information on the conference topics and registration is available here. Registration for in-house counsel…
New York State Unveils Methane Reduction Plan
Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration released its Methane Reduction Plan (the “Plan”), setting forth 25 priority actions to reduce methane emissions as part of New York State’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, as compared to 1990 levels. While the State continues its efforts…
New York Supreme Court Denies Motion to Preliminarily Enjoin a Brownfield Remediation and Hotel Development in the Village of Tuckahoe
In one of the few cases examining the intersection between the State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) and the State Brownfield Cleanup Program (“BCP”), the New York State Supreme Court (Westchester County), on May 26, 2017, denied a motion to preliminarily enjoin a BCP cleanup and hotel development on a former quarry site in the…
Sive, Paget & Riesel awarded top ranking for New York environmental law firms by Chambers & Partners
SPR has again been recognized as a top-ranked (Band 1) environmental law practice in New York in the 2017 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. The 2017 edition of Chambers USA notes that SPR “boasts a deep bench of environmental experts [and] offers high-quality environmental regulatory advice as well as expertise in…