In 2011, founder and principal James Periconi was named a Superlawyer in Environmental Law for the second year in a row!________Super Lawyers is an independent rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have...
Year: 2011
DEC Did Not Act Outside of Its Authority in Promulgating Regulations that Required Cleanup of Contaminated Properties to “Pre-Disposal Conditions” under the State Inactive Hazardous Waste Disposal Site Act
The Court of Appeals of New York recently held that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") did not exceed its authority or act contrary to state law in enacting certain regulations with respect to remedial programs implemented to clean...
Generalized Community Knowledge Does Not Trump Expert Conclusions
The Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court, Third Department, upheld a lower court decision that it was improper for a local planning board to deny a special use permit based on "generalized community knowledge" in opposition to a development proposal,...
“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 4 – Summary of Federal Regulations
So far in our blog series on "Fracking NY," we've presented a general background of the issues, a summary of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's ("DEC") Draft Revised SGEIS on fracking, and a summary of the DEC's proposed regulations for...
“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Update – DEC Extends Public Comment Period
On December 1, 2011, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ("DEC") announced that it is extending the public comment period on its environmental impact study of high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."The public comment period...
Court Must Hear Citizen Suit Case to Force River Clean Up under Administrative Consent Order
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently held that the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey could not abstain from hearing a citizen suit case brought under both the federal Clean Water Act and the federal Resource Conservation and...
“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 3 – Summary of DEC’s 2011 Draft Regulations
In our first two posts (here and here) in the Fracking NY Blog Series, we considered the general background of fracking in the Marcellus Shale region of New York and the 2011 Revised Draft Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Study ("Revised Draft SGEIS")...
“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 2 – Summary of DEC’s 2011 Revised Draft SGEIS
As mentioned in our last NY Fracking Series post, hydraulic fracturing as a method of extracting natural gas is nothing new in New York State. But the type of high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," now being considered for the Marcellus Shale...
“Fracking NY” Blog Series: Part 5 – Delaware River Basin Commission Proposed Regulations
We've discussed proposals from the State and Federal governments for the regulation of high-volume horizontal hydraulic fracturing of shale for natural gas (i.e., "fracking"), but there is another level of authority that has something to say about fracking operations...
Bankruptcy Does Not Discharge All Liability to Cleanup a Contaminated Site: Part II
In our last post, "Bankruptcy Does Not Discharge All Liability to Cleanup a Contaminated Site: Part I," we discussed the background of In re Mark IV Industries, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110595 (S.D.N.Y., Sept. 28, 2011), describing the events that led up to the...
