Litigation
Vineyard Wind 1 Comes Online; Still Faces Lawsuits
On January 2, 2024, the Vineyard Wind 1 project started producing power for the United States grid, becoming the second commercial-scale offshore wind project to do so after South Fork Wind came online in December 2023. This significant milestone comes as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit considers appeals in several lawsuits…
Challenge to Rye City Planning Commission Approval of Wainwright House’s Special Permit Dismissed
On November 9, 2023, Acting Justice Robert J. Prisco of the New York State Supreme Court, Westchester County, dismissed an Article 78 petition brought by neighbors of the Wainwright House in Rye, New York. The petitioners had sought to annul the special permit renewal issued by the City of Rye Planning Commission (CPC) in 2021,…
Challenge to Landmarks Preservation Commission Approval of Brooklyn Development Dismissed
On January 12, 2023, Justice Ingrid Joseph, New York State Supreme Court, Kings County, dismissed a petition seeking to halt a residential development in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. In Sterling Place BK-NY Block Association Inc., et al. v. City of New York, et al. (Kings County Index No. 510458/2022), petitioners—neighbors of the development—challenged the New York…
SCOTUS Invokes Major Questions Doctrine to Restrict EPA Regulation of Greenhouse Gases
On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court restricted the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its 6-3 decision for West Virginia v. EPA. The majority for the Court held that EPA’s “generation shifting” objectives found in the Obama Administration’s Clean Power Plan fell outside the meaning of the “best…
Zoning and SEQRA Challenges to Large Scale Development Project Dismissed for Lack of Standing
On November 4, 2021, Justice St. George of the New York State Supreme Court issued two identical decisions denying standing to the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, the Group for the East End, a NYS Assembly member, and various property owners who had collectively commenced a pair of proceedings challenging the approval of a residential…
Court Dismisses Challenge to ORES Regulations for Large-Scale Renewables
On October 7, 2021, the Supreme Court, Albany County, dismissed a challenge that sought to vacate the final regulations promulgated in March 2021 by the Office of Renewable Energy Siting (ORES) pursuant to Executive Law § 94-c. The regulations create new streamlined procedures for the siting of large-scale renewable energy projects in New York. The…