A Court in Madison County has annulled a local law passed in 2019 by the Town of Lenox, New York as illegal “spot zoning.” Lewis Point Neighborhood Association, Inc. v. Town of Lenox, et al, Madison County Index No. EF2019-2130 (Sup. Ct. Madison Co. July 17, 2020). The law, which was drafted to permit “campgrounds”…
On July 6, 2020, a federal judge for the District of Columbia ordered that the Dakota Access Pipeline be emptied pending a court–ordered environmental review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). This decision comes three years after the pipeline first began carrying oil in 2017. The movement against the pipeline won an initial…
New York’s new renewable energy siting process requires renewable energy project developers provide a “host community benefit” to a municipality where a project is proposed to be sited. That benefit may be: (1) “a discount or credit on the utility bills of the utility’s customers in a renewable host community, or a compensatory or environmental…
In County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund (“Maui”), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) requires a permit “when there is a direct discharge from a point source into navigable waters or when there is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge.” Put differently, a permit is required “when a…
On April 2nd, 2020, the Restore Mother Nature Bond Act was passed as part of the NYS 2020-2021 Budget. The $3 billion legislation is the largest environmental bond act in state history and is part of a broader 5-year plan to invest $33 billion to fight climate change. The goal of the Act is to…
