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July 31, 2006
Community Commentary: Law prof disputes Daily News
Native Brooklynite David Reiss — Assistant Professor of Law, Brooklyn Law School and Community Board 6 member (Chairperson, Budget/Community Development Committee) — responds to the Daily News Editorial Board's assertion that community groups and critics of Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards project are "barking up the wrong legal tree," by explaining that these groups, according to the NY State legislature, are actually fulfilling their responsibility.
The editorial board of the Daily News took the members of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn to task last week because they were “scouring” the Atlantic Yards Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), required by New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), for flaws.
The problem with that position is that that is exactly what SEQRA contemplates what members of the public are to do with a DEIS.
When enacting SEQRA, the New York legislature found that, “Every citizen has a responsibility to contribute to the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the environment.” One of the ways that SEQRA contemplates that citizens were to contribute to the protection of the environment was by participating in the environmental review process.
SEQRA provides two important ways that members of the public can participate: by commenting on the DEIS and then by commencing litigation if they believe that SEQRA has not been complied with. It is important to note that the community has an uphill battle in any SEQRA litigation: less than 15% of SEQRA challenges to Environmental Impact Statements are successful. But – and it is an important “But” -- where a court finds that the government has failed to take a hard look at areas of serious environmental concern, it may, indeed, rule in the favor of the challengers.
Given that in New York, citizens have very few ways of making themselves heard through official channels (particularly when New York City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure has been suspended by the Empire State Development Corporation), it seems uncharitable for the editorial board of the Daily News to begrudge members of the public this one official outlet for their concerns, even if it disagrees with their position on the merits of the project.
Posted by lumi at July 31, 2006 8:24 AM