Several months ago, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a decision in Matter of Save the Pine Bush Inc. v. Common Council of the City of Albany,1 which significantly widened the category of who has standing to challenge environmental regulatory decisions made by administrative agencies under the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). For nearly two decades, SEQRA cases involving standing issues had been decided under rules set down by the Court of Appeals in Society of Plastics Industry Inc. v. County of Suffolk.2 Now, under Pine Bush, a person who can prove that he or she uses and enjoys a natural resource more than most other members of the public, or an organization with members who do so, has SEQRA standing to challenge government actions that threaten that resource.
The Pine Bush ruling is likely to result in more individuals and organizations challenging agency conclusions under SEQRA in court than has happened in the past. Whether it will result in more successful challenges of SEQRA determinations is, of course, open for debate; indeed, in Pine Bush, after finding standing, the Court rejected the petitioners’ challenge to the SEQRA ruling at issue in that case. Certainly, however, Pine Bush is a setback to respondents who oftentimes rely upon the technical defense of “lack of standing” to successfully defend their SEQRA decisions, as can be seen from the recent decision by the Supreme Court, Suffolk County, in Matter of Peconic Baykeeper Inc. v. Board of Trustees of Freeholders & Commonalty of Tn. of Southhampton, discussed below.3
The Karner Blues
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