As a real estate purchaser, developer, or seller, you may wonder: "Do I really need a Phase I environmental site assessments (ESA) before purchasing property?" The answer is simple: yes! As we explain on this page, a Phase I ESA looks into the history of a property....
Year: 2018
NYC Digs Up New Solutions to Polluted Soil
Clean Soil: A Poem A fist of soil, by any other name would still be dirt. But dirty soil can be, might be clean soil, if given a chance to do so. First the obvious: we all know that soil is inherently dirty (it is dirt after all!). But not all soil is created equal....
New York Supreme Court Requires At A Minimum Some Explanation From Lead Agency For SEQRA Determination
What is one of the easiest ways for a court overturn a lead agency's determination under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)? One way to fall short is when the lead agency provides limited or no reasoning for its decision-making. The Town of Hempstead...
Animal Feeding Operations to Face Updated Stormwater Permitting Requirements
When it comes to stormwater discharges from agricultural operations, every so often New York State (NYS) has to ask: where's the beef? As a result of that inquiry and after careful review of existing guidelines, the New York State (NYS) Department of Environmental...
U.S. Climate Alliance 2018 Initiatives
President Trump pulled out of the Paris Agreement back in 2017, but that doesn't mean that individual states are waiting on climate action. This past June marked the first anniversary of the U.S. Climate Alliance, and we are seeing our climate leaders take on new...
What’s the Big Deal with PFAs?
New kids on the block are getting serious attention. No, not the 90's boy band, but "emerging" contaminants known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs). Think about the water coming out of your tap for a second. If your drinking water is provided by a public...
DEC Finalizes Major Changes to State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) Regulations
What's a New York developer to do about the seemingly interminable environmental review of proposed projects and the costs these reviews add to affected projects?Hope that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) hears your prayers. And it...
New York & Connecticut to EPA: Curb Smog Pollution from Other States ASAP
When the federal government's failure to regulate air pollution on time (as required by Congress) leads to environmental exposure of a state's residents, what remedies are there to protect the populace? Answer: the affected states can sue. That's exactly what happened...
DEC Proposes Stormwater Permitting Rule for Wineries, Breweries, and Hard Cideries in New York
The New York State (NYS) Department of Environmental Conservation (the "DEC" or "Department") is brewing up new stormwater regulations that will directly affect licensed wineries, breweries, and hard cideries in New York State. The DEC's proposal requires issuance of...
New York Supreme Court Reverses Lead Agencies in SEQRA Case, Determined They Arbitrarily Misclassified Project That Will Disturb More Than 150 Acres of Land
"If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck." This simple idiom can be helpful in even the most complex circumstances. In a recent CPLR Article 78 case challenging a State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA)...
