Permitting and Litigation for Private Commercial Developments
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…
SPR Defeats Appeal of Superfund Liability Claims Based on Veil-Piercing, Lease/Sublease of Contaminated Property
By: Ed Roggenkamp SPR attorneys successfully defended the appeal of their summary judgment victories for the defendants in Next Millennium Realty, LLC v. Adchem Corp. (16-1260-cv) in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The May 11, 2017 order dismissing the appeal upheld three successive summary judgment decisions by the District Court. These decisions…
New York City Council Passes Bills to Identify and Address Environmental Justice Areas
By: Heewon Kim Recently, the New York City Council passed two bills to help address environmental justice (“EJ”) issues in the city. Low-income populations and communities of color, including those in New York, often face disproportionate environmental burdens of human activity, such as air pollution and its accompanying health effects. New York City agencies have…
New York Budget Legislation Establishes New Regulations for Solid Waste Sites
By: Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz The budget legislation signed by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last month contains several high profile environmental provisions, including more than $1.5 billion in grants for drinking water infrastructure improvements; the creation of a new Drinking Water Council to develop a plan for addressing “emerging” contaminants such as perfluorooctane sulfonate (“PFOS”) and…
DEC Proposes Amended Guidance on Brownfield Cleanup Program
By: Heewon Kim DEC recently released a draft revision of its Brownfield Cleanup Program (“BCP”) guidance document, DER-32/Brownfield Cleanup Program Applications and Agreements. This document provides guidance on the BCP application process, as well as the content of and process for executing, amending and terminating a Brownfield Cleanup Agreement (“BCA”). The revisions are intended to…