University of Wisconsin–Madison
Progressive Local Government
For the 21st Century

ProGov21 Policy Library

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Year
2010 Developments Under State Environmental Quality Review Act
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2011
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
The courts decided 37 cases under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) in 2010. This report analyzes these cases and finds that defendants were much more likely to win in cases where an environmental impact statement (EIS) had been prepared than when these was no EIS....
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'American Electric Power' Leaves Open Many Questions for Climate Litigation
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2011
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
This article explains this Supreme Court decision which ruled that federal common law nuisance claims could not proceed because the EPA possesses ultimate authority on the regulation of carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants. From this decision, the author describes various questions...
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New York Environmental Legislation and Regulations in 2013
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2014
Level State
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources, Energy
New laws were signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2013 regarding notice requirements in the Brownfield Cleanup Program, Bottle Bill enforcement, mercury thermostats, oversized lobsters, shark fins, and Eurasian boars, among other things. On the regulatory front, the state promulgated...
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Litigation Under SEQRA Declining, Exemption Use Is Rising
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2010
Level State
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), the statute that requires the preparation of environmental impact statements for discretionary actions by state and local governments, has long been the most generative source of environmental litigation in New York. The following...
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Increasing Energy Efficiency: Legal Techniques and Impediments
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2011
Level City or Town, County, National, State
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Energy, Environment & Natural Resources
Increasing energy efficiency is the most important action that can be taken to combat climate change. There are currently an abundance of legal techniques available at the federal, state and municipal levels that cumulatively could accomplish a great deal in cutting energy use, lowering...
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Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015: Trend or Oddity?
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2015
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Energy
On April 30, President Barack Obama signed into law the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015, a much pared-down version of a bill that Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and Sen. Rob Portman have been pushing for several years. Several other energy-efficiency bills just underwent hearings in...
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Coal-Fired Power Plants Dominate Climate Change Litigation
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2009
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
Litigation aiming to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases is coming to be dominated by battles over coal-fired power plants. Ten of the last 20 judicial or administrative decisions or case filings in matters aiming to reduce emissions of Greenhouse Gasses (GHGs) have concerned such...
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Reverse Environmental Impact Analysis: Effect of Climate Change on Projects
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2012
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States, New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
Environmental impact statements (EISs) examine the effect of proposed action- typically a construction project, but sometimes a government policy or other activity- on the environment. However, increasing attention is now devoted to looking in the other direction- at how changes in...
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Cash-for-Clunkers Program: Better for Industry Than Environment
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2009
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources, Transportation & Mobility
On June 24, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Act of 2009 which gave up to $4,500 to owners of vehicles with poor fuel economy who trade them in for more efficient new vehicles. This "cash-for-clunkers" program was touted as meeting...
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Greenhouse Gas Disclosure Requirements Are Proliferating
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2010
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
While climate change legislation was mired in Congress, several units in the Obama administration had used their existing statutory authority to adopt rules or guidance requiring extensive disclosure about greenhouse gases in a wide variety of contexts. Every registered public company,...
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New York's New Congestion Pricing Law
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level City or Town
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Transportation & Mobility
In the biggest change in local transportation policy in a generation, maybe two, "congestion pricing" will be instituted in Manhattan's Central Business District in early 2021. It is the first action in decades that could actually lower traffic congestion, and that could provide a...
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Model Green Building Ordinance For Municipalities Open for Comment
Type Ordinance or Resolution
Year 2010
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Energy, Housing
In 2009, the residential and commercial building sector was responsible for more than 50 percent of total annual U.S. energy consumption, 74 percent of total U.S. electricity consumption, and 39 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. There has been a growing movement to encourage...
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Annual Review of Developments Under SEQRA
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
The courts decided 46 cases under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) in 2018. However, the most important action under SEQRA was in the Legislature, followed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. This column analyzes these developments, specifically...
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New York Environmental Legislation and Regulations in 2010
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2014
Level State
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources, Energy
This annual survey describes new environmental laws that were signed into law in 2010 in New York, as well as two executive orders issued by Governor David A. Paterson and important new regulations from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation concerning endangered...
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Increasing Use of Renewable Energy: Legal Techniques and Impediments
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2011
Level National, State
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, Finance & Procurement
This report outlines legal techniques that have been developed to increase the use of renewable energy. States can adopt renewable portfolio standards; impose a price on burning fossil fuels; provide tax incentives for renewables; require electric utilities to purchase renewable energy;...
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Governmental and Private Liability for Flooding
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2011
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
In recent years the frequency and severity of heavy precipitation and floods in parts of the United States have been increasing to a statistically significant degree, and this trend is expected to worsen. This article summarizes some of the liability issues that result from floods,...
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Governor Cuomo Proposes $3 Billion 'Restore Mother Nature' Bond Act
Type Act or Session Law
Year 2020
Level State
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
In recent months, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has started a campaign to pass legislation that would give voters the chance to approve a $3 billion environmental bond act. The 'Restore Mother Nature Bond Act' is designed to complement New York's ambitious Climate Leadership and Community Protection...
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New York Environmental Legislation in 2018
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2019
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources, Energy, Health
In 2018, New York State enacted a Drug Take Back Act in response to environmental and public health concerns about improper disposal of unused drugs. Another enactment gave the Department of Health greater discretion in enforcement actions against landlords that do not take adequate...
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Debate Over Environmental Rights and State Constitutional Convention
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2017
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
During the election on November 7, the voters in New York state will be presented with the ballot question, "Shall there be a convention to revise the constitution and amend the same?" If the referendum passes, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention will be elected in November...
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New York's New Sea Level Rise Projections Will Affect Land Use, Infrastructure
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2017
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
As required by a 2014 state statute, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has issued official sea level rise projections effective February 22. They reflect a range of possible scenarios; at the high end, sea level in the New York City area could rise 75 inches...
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Greenhouse Gases: Emerging Standards for Impact Review
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2009
Level Other Boards and Agencies
State(s) California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New York, Washington
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources
Numerous federal and state judicial decisions have established that environmental impact statements under the National Environmental Policy Act and its state equivalents should examine the impact of proposed projects on emissions of greenhouse gases. Administrative agencies and court...
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New York's Revived Power Plant Siting Law Preempts Local Control
Type Act or Session Law
Year 2011
Level State
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Environment & Natural Resources, Energy
The New York State Legislature on June 22, 2011, overwhelmingly passed the Power NY Act of 2011. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it on Aug. 4. The new law revives Article X of the Public Service Law after a nearly nine-year hibernation. As before, the law creates a one-stop, state-led...
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State Authority to Preempt Local Laws Regulating Renewable Energy Projects
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2018
Level State
State(s) New York
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Energy
The New York State Energy Plan, announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015, calls for a doubling to 50 percent of the portion of the electricity used in the state that comes from renewable sources by 2030. This would lower greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, and reduce the use of fossil...
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State Public Utility Commissions' Powers to Advance Energy Efficiency
Type Policy Brief or Report
Year 2012
Level State
State(s) All States
Source New York Law Journal
Policy Areas Democracy & Governance, Energy
Improving energy efficiency is widely acknowledged as the most economical way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the other adverse environmental impacts of fossil use. The United States lacks a comprehensive regulatory program for energy efficiency, although often overlooked are...
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