Litigation
NY Court Annuls DEC Freshwater Wetlands Regulations
On April 8, 2026, Judge Richard M. Platkin of the New York State Supreme Court, Albany County, entirely annulled the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC’s) revised Part 664 freshwater wetlands regulations for noncompliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The revised regulations went into effect in January 2025, and their…
Army Corps Reissues and Modifies Nationwide Permits, Adding One New Permit
March 15, 2026 marked the start of a new five-year cycle for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permits (NWPs). Pursuant to a final rule published on January 8, 2026, the Corps has reissued and modified 56 existing NWPs and created one new NWP. This blog post highlights key changes in the 2026 NWPs,…
SEQRA Reform Remains Under Deliberation in the FY27 New York State Budget
Although the New York State Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget was due on April 1, 2026, the government is continuing to evaluate numerous components, including potential reforms to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) intended to fast-track environmental review for housing development. Governor Hochul’s Executive Budget and the Senate’s budget bill reflect different visions…
Recent Developments in U.S. Offshore Wind
On February 2, 2026, Sunrise Wind became the fifth and final U.S. offshore wind project affected by the Department of the Interior’s (DOI’s) December 22 leasing pause to secure a federal court order allowing construction to resume. All five court orders – which have been issued in the last four weeks – included preliminary injunctions…
NY Public Service Commission Adopts Interconnection Queue Management Framework in Light of New ITC Deadlines
With new deadlines imposed by the federal government on renewable energy projects’ eligibility for certain federal investment tax credits (ITC), the State of New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has adopted new rules requiring utilities to prioritize the interconnection of tax credit-eligible distributed energy resource projects in the State through management of interconnection queues and…
New NYC Regulation Allows Building Owners to Contest Certain Lead-Based Paint Violations
Pursuant to a new regulation effective February 2, 2026, building owners and managers subject to New York City’s lead-based paint (LBP) requirements can now use paint chip samples to challenge certain violations issued by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The regulation amends Title 28, Chapter 11 of the Rules of the…
Thank You For Following SPR’s Blog In 2025!
This has been a year of significant change for environmental law at the federal, state, and local level—from NYSDEC’s revised freshwater wetlands regulations and associated legal challenges, changes to NEPA review, and updates to PFAS regulation, to shifts in electric vehicle incentives, climate litigation in New York, NYCDOB’s new energy storage system rules, and more. This year, we were also thrilled to share the launch of SPR’s new podcast, SPRingBoard, where we’ve gotten to explore an array of…
Federal Agencies Propose New Regulations Defining “Waters of the United States”
On November 20, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of the Army (Agencies) published a proposed rule, “Updated Definition of Waters of the United States” (Proposed Rule). If finalized, the rule would implement the Supreme Court’s decision in Sackett v. EPA, discussed in a prior SPR blog post. The Agencies note that the…
NYSDEC Proposes Expanded Green and Sustainable Remediation Policy, Adds New Hurdles to Renewable Energy Development on Remediation Sites
On October 15, 2025, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Division of Environmental Remediation (DER) proposed revisions to DER-31, a policy guidance document that outlines the requirements and procedures for Green and Sustainable Remediation under all DER remedial programs. The purpose of Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR) is to “consider all environmental…
Round Up of New York Climate Litigation in 2025
As we approach the close of 2025, one key takeaway is that this year has been an especially active one for climate litigation in New York. On October 24, 2025, the New York Supreme Court granted the petition in Citizen Action of New York et al. v. New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation (No….