A. State Environmental Quality Review Act

• Jurisdiction: New York

A. State Environmental Quality Review Act

Perhaps the most significant land use control in New York State today is SEQRA.⁶⁴⁵ This statute, enacted August 1, 1975, is modeled on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).⁶⁴⁶ On a national level, NEPA requires a federal agency vested with approval authority over an element of a project to conduct an environmental quality review to identify potential environmental impacts.⁶⁴⁷ The New York State Legislature, in enacting SEQRA, went one step further in requiring any agency (broadly defined to include municipal boards)⁶⁴⁸ seeking to undertake, fund or approve of an action (also broadly defined to include zoning approvals)⁶⁴⁹ not only to identify potential environmental impacts, but to certify that such potential impacts are mitigated to the greatest extent practicable.⁶⁵⁰ New York's environmental review process is broad in its reach, its application and the requirements it imposes upon municipal decision makers. This breadth allows a municipal board to apply subjective decision making on top of otherwise objective standards. Consequently, a project applicant can no longer be sure that compliance with the plain letter of the local zoning law will guarantee project approval.

PRACTICE GUIDE

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) maintains an electronic library of official SEQRA forms which can be accessed free of charge at www.dec.ny.gov/permits (including the Short Environmental Assessment Form, Full Environmental Assessment Form, Visual Assessment Form, Positive Declaration Form, Negative Declaration Form and other forms and documents, each of which can be completed and printed online). The NYS DEC website now includes an Environmental Assessment Form Mapper which automatically fills in many of the geographic and place-based questions of Part I of both the Short and Full Environmental Assessment Forms in response to answers entered regarding geographic location of the project. Sample resolutions and other documents are also included in the Forms section following this Part One: "Conditioned Negative Declaration," "Determination of Type II Action," "Determination that Proposed Activity Does Not Require Environmental Review," "Lead Agency Notice," and "Environmental Notice Bulletin Form." Legal counsel is responsible for verifying any local SEQRA procedures and/or forms, which may impose additional requirements and/or differ from the examples provided. Additional resolutions and...