Facts Nicholas Albano, lead plaintiff for 32 landowners, sued the federal Surface Transportation Board for issuing a Notice of Interim Trail Use or Abandonment to a non-profit under the Trail Act (the “Act”). Albano argued that the defendant’s conversion of a section of railway into a public recreational trail under the Act was outside the … Continued

Facts Under the Clean Air Act, which establishes a state-federal cooperative plan to improve air quality across the nation, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for issuing the standards for atmospheric pollutants, including ozone.1 Each state then creates a plan that satisfies the standards put forth by the EPA, and submits their plans to the … Continued

Facts Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in September of 2021, President Biden announced plans to require vaccinations more broadly across the United States, promising in part “that the Department of Labor would issue an emergency ruling requiring all employers with at least 100 employees ‘to ensure their workforces are fully vaccinated or show a negative test … Continued

Facts The forest in Cuddy Valley has become overcrowded with vegetation and has been labeled as at risk for two species of bark beetles and heightened wildfires.1 To combat the overcrowding issue, the United States Forest Service (USFS) proposed the Cuddy Valley Project (the “project”).2 The Project covers around 1,200 acres and would authorize tree and vegetation … Continued

Facts The Bush administration published Circular A-4 (A-4) to make sure that federal agencies used a standardized way of measuring and reporting the effects of federal regulatory actions, including their costs and benefits.1 As is relevant to this case, under Circular A-4, agencies must rely upon domestic (not global) costs and benefits, and must use both … Continued

Facts The Bureau of Land Management (the “Bureau”) oversees federal land and its resources.1 The Bureau, in 2010, created a policy called the Instruction Memorandum. This policy required the Bureau to “conduct additional planning and analysis before issuing leases on certain public lands, including those that contain fisheries and wildlife habitats.”2 Other policy decisions were made by … Continued

Facts In Brookhaven Baymen’s Assn., Inc. v. Town of Southampton, the Supreme Court of New York held that the defendants were not entitled to dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a cause of action based upon the ownership interests granted to the defendant trustees of the Freeholders and Commonalty of the Town of Southampton (the … Continued

Facts On Nov. 3, 2020, the Department of the Interior and the National Fish and Wildlife Service (the “Service”) published the Final Rule action “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Removing the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife” (the “Final Rule”).1 This action caps off a string of attempted re-classifications … Continued

Save the Pine Bush, Inc. v. Town of Guilderland, 2022 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2979 Facts In 2018, respondent Town of Guilderland (“Guilderland”) rezoned Crossgates Mall and lands in proximity to petitioner Albany Pine Bush Preserve (the “Preserve”) for commercial and residential development.1 Following the rezone, respondent Rapp Road Development, LLC (RRD) applied for subdivision and … Continued

This Outside the EPA Update covers U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) activities from approximately Feb. 15, 2022, through July 1, 2022. The article doesn’t cover every single action taken by EPA during this time but attempts to summarize the highlights with a focus on EPA activities affecting New York. Importantly, the article also discusses environmental justice … Continued