The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA),1 the statute that requires the preparation of environmental impact statements (EISs) for discretionary actions by state and local governments that may have a significant effect on the environment, has long been by far the most fertile source of environmental litigation in New York. That is still so, but the volume has declined, probably because much of such litigation grows out of disputes over proposed construction projects, and there are fewer of those in the recent recession.

During 2009 there were a total of 45 decisions under SEQRA in the state courts.2 (There were none in the federal courts.) That is the lowest number since I began this annual survey in 1990; the next lowest were 51 (in 1997) and 53 (in both 1993 and 2004). The average annual number has been 61.9.

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