When it comes to developing property in New York state ”“ whether it be for residential or commercial purposes ”“ the one word that strikes terror into the hearts of developers, builders and construction consultants is SEQRA.
It is an acronym for hell.
Untold ventures have been buried by its misuse. And yes, some proposals that deserved to be buried were in fact interred by the law.
The State Environmental Quality Review Act appears innocuous when spelled out. But left in the hands of NIMBYists and other anti-development groups, SEQRA becomes the sole law of the land.
In addressing attendees at a conference in which SEQRA was put under the microscope, state DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis acknowledged “Environmental quality and economic progress are inextricably linked.” With that in mind, he said the law would be reviewed by a group to be headed by Pattern for Progress President Jonathan Drapkin and DEC”™s Region 3 Director Willie Janeway. Grannis”™ hope was not to change it, but to improve it. The group won”™t have much time for study, as Grannis said the recommendations are due to him by the end of the year ”“ less than 90 days.
At the conference held at SUNY New Paltz, Drapkin, whose own group espouses “balanced growth,” said SEQRA has caused delays “measured in years.”
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It seems like 100 years ago, but back in May 2003, then-Gov. George Pataki announced that Yukiguni Maitake Manufacturing Corporation of America would build a mushroom plant in the town of Mamakating and create 250 jobs. The plant “will provide an important addition to the economic stability and growth of Sullivan County,” Pataki said.
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Apparently the Japanese corporation didn”™t know about SEQRA.
Growing jobs and expanding the tax base took a back seat. The project is still under review.
At the conference, attorney Larry Wolinsky said SEQRA “is simply not an economically sustainable process.”
We think that a big problem with SEQRA is not the law itself, but the way it is interpreted by the “lead agencies,” often planning or town boards, which themselves are made up of individuals not entirely versed in the specifics of the law.
The DEC states on its web site: “While the Department of Environmental Conservation is charged with issuing regulations regarding the SEQR process, DEC has no authority to review the implementation of SEQR by other agencies. In other words, there are no ”˜SEQR Police.”™”
Therein, lies a problem.
Leaving the law to be interpreted by hundreds of municipal boards statewide might be among the recommendations that will be addressed by Drapkin and Janeway”™s group.
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Maybe not so smart
At a time when the state might be attempting to reform some regulations, such as SEQRA, why is there currently a piece of legislation that would add more work to the Department of Environmental Conservation and possibly hurt future development?
We are speaking of Senate Bill 0845, whose counterpart A6363, passed the Assembly in May. The legislation would increase the DEC”™s jurisdiction to include freshwater wetlands of 1 acre in size. Under current law, the DEC regulates wetlands 12.4 acres or larger.
Now we are by no means in favor of blacktopping or building on wetlands, but this piece of legislation appears to be duplicative of the work done by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The corps protects wetlands ”“ large and small ”“ under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.
The bill also calls for mapping of all of these freshwater wetlands. To offer some perspective, in the Adirondack Park alone there are some 900,000 acres of freshwater wetlands.
As the state cuts its work force, including the DEC, it doesn”™t make sense to saddle the agency with more work.
