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The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) is a stipulation enacted by the state of New York that all local and state government agencies must uniformly reflect the environmental impacts when considering taking social and/or economic factors into action. [1]
In 1975, the state of New York passed the State Environmental Quality Review Act to better establish a process when looking to add new developments on a site. From 1976 to 2005 there have been alterations to the Changes or Applications and Amendments categories. [2]
This applies to any group that is deciding to approve a funded sponsored action through private or public financials. These groups include the following; [2]
A Type I action is any class of actions that unavoidably is going to have significant impacts on the environment. [3]
Type II actions are classified as the project not having any significant impacts on the surrounding environment, or actions that have been exempted from SEQRA reviews. [4]
Any project or action classified under Type I has to follow SEQRA requirements.
There is no one agency that has the power to enforce SEQRA. The formation of the legislation enables it to be self-enforcing. The agencies responsible for an action that falls under SEQRA requirements must under its own power meet these regulations. The regulations that are issued are provided through the Department of Environmental Conservation. [5]
If the project is listed under the statewide and agency SEQRA regulations are listed under the Type II list then it is determined not to have a large impact on the surrounding environment.
When going forward to satisfying the SEQRA requirements there is an 11 step process that you need to follow.
Step 1 Is the action being taken subject to SEQRA? If yes then it needs to be classified as a type II Action or Type I Action. [6]
Step 2 The correct environmental assessment form needs to be completed and reviewed. [7]
Step 3 A coordinated review is set up by all agencies involved in Type 1 Actions. [8]
Step 4 This is the step where the agency that is taking the lead will make its determination on the significance. [9]
Step 5 The preparation of the draft EIS is started by the lead agency or the applicant can. [10]
Step 6 The lead agency that received the draft EIS has 45 days to review and see if it is the draft is adequate for public review. [11]
Step 7 The publishing notice that the EIS has been accepted for the public review. [12]
Step 8 After the notice of complete of the EIS a public comment period then begins. [13]
Step 9 A debate on whether a public hearing should be held. [14]
Step 10 This is where the lead agency is held accountable for checking the precision on the final EIS statement. This should be finalized 45 days after the final hearings or 60 days after the filing of the draft EIS. [15]
Step 11 The final step is involves each agency writing their own SEQRA findings statement for that project. This has to be completed after the final EIS statement and before the final decision the agency makes. Findings certify that the project has met requirements of Part 617. [16]
[17] These are specific geographical areas that local agencies can deem Critical Environmental Areas (CEA). To designate an area to this stand it must have one or more of the following characteristics ;
City Environmental Quality Review – New York City's implementation of the State Environmental Quality Review Act mandate.
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law designed to promote the enhancement of the environment. It created new laws requiring U.S. federal government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of their actions and decisions, and it established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in December 1969 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970. To date, more than 100 nations around the world have enacted national environmental policies modeled after NEPA.
An environmental impact statement (EIS), under United States environmental law, is a document required by the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An EIS is a tool for decision making. It describes the positive and negative environmental effects of a proposed action, and it usually also lists one or more alternative actions that may be chosen instead of the action described in the EIS. One of the primary authors of the act is Lynton K. Caldwell.
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the assessment of the environmental consequences of a plan, policy, program, or actual projects prior to the decision to move forward with the proposed action. In this context, the term "environmental impact assessment" is usually used when applied to actual projects by individuals or companies and the term "strategic environmental assessment" (SEA) applies to policies, plans and programmes most often proposed by organs of state. It is a tool of environmental management forming a part of project approval and decision-making. Environmental assessments may be governed by rules of administrative procedure regarding public participation and documentation of decision making, and may be subject to judicial review.
Sterling Forest State Park is a 22,180-acre (89.8 km2) state park located in the Ramapo Mountains in Orange County, New York. Established in 1998, it is among the larger additions to the New York state park system in the last 50 years.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is a department of New York state government. The department guides and regulates the conservation, improvement, and protection of New York's natural resources; manages Forest Preserve lands in the Adirondack and Catskill parks, state forest lands, and wildlife management areas; regulates sport fishing, hunting and trapping; and enforces the state's environmental laws and regulations. Its regulations are compiled in Title 6 of the New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. It was founded in 1970, replacing the Conservation Department, and is headed by Basil Seggos.
Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve is a state park on Lloyd Neck, a peninsula extending into the Long Island Sound, in the Village of Lloyd Harbor, New York, United States. It is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
The Connecticut Environmental Policy Act (CEPA) establishes environmental policy for the U.S. state of Connecticut. It requires an Environmental Impact Evaluation (EIE) for any state action which could potentially impact the natural environment. The lead agency is responsible for preparing the EIE, which is reviewed and approved by the Office of Policy and Management once it is completed.
Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation v. EPA, 540 U.S. 461 (2004), is a US Supreme Court case clarifying the scope of state environmental regulators and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In a 5–4 decision, the Supreme Court found the EPA has authority to overrule state agency decisions under the Clean Air Act that a company is using the "best available controlling technology" to prevent pollution.
Charles H. Eccleston is a former employee of the United States Energy Department (DOE), and later the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) who was convicted for attempting to breach protected computer systems. Eccleston, a U.S. citizen who had been living in Davao City in the Philippines since 2011, was terminated from his employment at the NRC in 2010. He was detained by Philippine authorities in Manila, Philippines, on March 27, 2015, and deported to the United States to face U.S. criminal charges. He initially came to the attention of the FBI in 2013 after he entered a foreign embassy in Manila and offered to sell a list of over 5,000 e-mail accounts of all officials, engineers and employees of a U.S. government energy agency. He said that he was able to retrieve this information because he was an employee of a U.S. government agency, held a top secret security clearance and had access to the agency's network. He asked for $18,800 for the accounts, stating they were “top secret.” When asked what he would do if that foreign country was not interested in obtaining the U.S. government information he was offering, he stated he would offer the information to China, Iran or Venezuela, as he believed these countries would be interested in the information. On February 2, 2016, he pled guilty to one count of "attempted unauthorized access and intentional damage to a protected computer". In his guilty plea, he admitted scheming to cause damage to the computer network of the DOE through e-mails that he believed would deliver a computer virus to particular employees. He was incarcerated as inmate number 68974-112 and was released on July 15, 2016.
The Responsibly And Professionally Invigorating Development Act of 2013 is a bill that would aim to expedite the review process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for construction projects that are partly or fully financed with federal funds or require permits or approvals from federal regulatory agencies. It was to do so by establishing specific deadlines for environmental reviews, which sometimes go on so long that they can delay a project for years.
Alder Lake is a body of water that is located in Hardenburgh, Ulster County in the lower Hudson Valley region of New York. It is located in the Balsam Lake State Forest Preserve, which is a part of the Catskill Forest Preserve. The lake was man made by the Coykendall family in the 1900s. It is most often used for recreational uses and family day trips.
Environmental issues in New York State include water, waste disposal, hydraulic fracturing, air quality, and invasive species.
East Caroga Lake is located in the Town of Caroga by Caroga Lake, New York. The lake provides excellent warm water fishing and rainbow trout fishing. The lake is connected to West Caroga Lake by a small channel. Origin of the name, "Caroga" is derived from the once nearby Indian Village known as "Caroga".
West Caroga Lake is located in the Town of Caroga by Caroga Lake, New York. The lake is known for excellent warm water fishing, but it also offers the only location to fish for splake in the county. The lake is connected to East Caroga Lake by a small channel. Origin of the name, "Caroga" is derived from the once nearby Indian Village known as "Caroga".
City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) is a process New York City agencies must undergo to determine if any discretionary action they approved has any deteriorating impact on the environment. Projects that have to be reviewed by CEQR are either in need of permits or approval from a city agency, need city funding, or are directly undertaken by a city agency.
Taylor Pond is a lake located in Clinton County, New York in the Adirondack Park. It is located within, and is the namesake of, the Taylor Pond Wild Forest. The lake has public access via a DEC campground, which includes a beach ramp boat launch. Taylor Pond is surrounded by public land, with no camps located on the lake.
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