Environmental Impact Review
Biden Administration Proposes “Phase 2” Revisions to NEPA Regulations
On July 31, 2023, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for its second phase of revisions to the 2020 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) amendments. As a brief primer, NEPA imposes procedural requirements on all federal agencies to consider the effect of a project or action on the…
First Stage of Biden Administration’s NEPA Regulation Changes Goes Into Effect
On May 20, 2022, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (CEQ’s) first round of revisions to the Trump Administration’s 2020 NEPA regulations went into effect. These new regulations (the “Phase 1 rules”) represent the first phase of the Biden Administration’s two-step review and revision of the 2020 changes to the CEQ regulations and reverse some of…
Major Milestones Reached for Important Port Authority Projects
SPR has advised the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) with respect to the environmental impact review of two recently authorized major infrastructure projects. Both projects will play a critical part in the economic recovery and continued vitality of New York City. On May 28, 2021, the Federal Railroad Administration issued a long-awaited…
Appellate Division Dismisses SEQRA Challenge to Capital Region Multi-Use Development, Unanimously Reversing Lower Court
In a unanimous reversal of a decision that stalled a multi-family residential development and proposed Costco outlet in Guilderland, New York, on the border of Albany, the Appellate Division, Third Department reversed in all respects the Albany County Supreme Court’s holding that the Town of Guilderland Planning Board’s Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) was deficient. Peter…
Army Corps Reissues Nationwide Permits, Dividing NWP 12 Into Three
On January 13, 2021, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) published a final rule reissuing and modifying twelve existing 2017 nationwide permits (“NWPs”) and creating four new NWPs. The rule goes into effect on March 15, 2021. Nationwide permits provide a streamlined process for the Corps to authorize activities under Section 404 of the…
Council on Environmental Quality’s New NEPA Regulations: An Analysis
On September 14, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality’s (“CEQ”) Final Rule overhauling its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) became effective. The Final Rule represents the first comprehensive revision of the NEPA regulations since their initial issuance in 1978, and introduces process-based and substantive changes to the NEPA regulations, codifies existing case law and…