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New York State Passes the Most Ambitious Climate Change Legislation in the Nation and Advances Offshore Wind Energy Development with Inaugural Procurement of Offshore Renewable Energy Credits
On July 18, 2019, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed into law the New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (“CLCPA”), the most ambitious climate change legislation in the country. The CLCPA, among other things, codifies the State’s goals of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, including an 85% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions by…
Read MoreWhere Can Dredge Spoil Find a Home? Connecticut Seeks Dismissal of New York Challenge to Designated Ocean Dumping Site.
By Michael S. Bogin and SPR Summer Associate Aaron Aber Connecticut and New York will file final briefs this summer in an ongoing dispute before the Eastern District of New York, regarding the legality of the U.S. EPA’s decision to designate a site in the Long Island Sound for disposal of navigational dredge material. The…
Read MoreClean Water Act Update: The Latest Twists and Turns on the Path to Defining the Statute’s Jurisdiction
Debates over the reach of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) have been ongoing for decades. At stake is whether a discharge of a pollutant from a point source to a “navigable water,” defined as “waters of the United States” (“WOTUS”), requires the discharger to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit. The first…
Read MoreNEPA Review of Pipeline Project Upheld by D.C. Circuit – With Asterisk
On June 4, the D.C. Circuit issued a decision in Birckhead, et al. v. FERC, in which the petitioners challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) environmental review of a natural gas pipeline project.[1] Although the court ultimately rejected the challenge, the court suggested in dicta that FERC should do more to obtain information on…
Read MoreEPA Issues New Management Standards for Hazardous Waste Pharmaceuticals
Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency promulgated new management standards for generators of hazardous waste pharmaceuticals pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). These new streamlined requirements for the accumulation, storage, and ultimate disposal of pharmaceuticals that are subject to RCRA, are meant to provide clarity and consistency regarding how generators…
Read MoreAppellate Division Confirms That Brooklyn Heights Library Redevelopment May Proceed
On May 8, 2019, the Appellate Division, Second Department unanimously affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing a petition challenging the sale and redevelopment of the Brooklyn Public Library’s (“BPL”) Brooklyn Heights Branch. This ruling clears the way for a proposal by the developer Cadman Associates LLC (an affiliate of The Hudson Companies) to construct a…
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