SEQRA: effective weapon, if used directed.

INTRODUCTION

After a quarter of a century, the State Environmental Quality Review Act (1) (SEQRA) is firmly in place as an integral part of New York's governmental landscape. It has furnished an absolutely vital fulcrum from which the public can participate in--and if necessary challenge--decisions inflicting environmental impacts on local communities. This statute has bolted the door forever on the notorious era when state and local governments could make land-use decisions in the proverbial smoke-filled room, injuring communities with impunity, exemplified by the oft-quoted line of that consummate builder, Robert Moses, that "[o]nce you sink that first stake, ... they'll never make you pull it up." (2)

SEQRA has halted---or significantly reduced the impact of--numerous actions of New York State and local government agencies, including shopping mall rezonings, highways, sports stadiums, and large-scale residential subdivisions. (3) The litigated decisions are but the tip of the iceberg; many more agency determinations have been modified to mitigate their environmental impacts without--or in...

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