The Many Face of SEQRA: Municipal Compliance With SEQRA
June 25, 2008
The State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) was adopted by the Legislature with the intent, as expressed in SEQRA’s implementing regulations2, that “all agencies [state and local] conduct their affairs with an awareness that they are stewards of the air, water, land, and living resources, and that they have an obligation to protect the environment for the use and enjoyment of this and all future generations” (§617.1(b)) and that a “suitable balance of social, economic and environmental factors be incorporated into the planning and decision-making processes of state, regional and local agencies” (§617.1(d)). SEQRA also requires that the decision making process be open to the public and that the public be given certain opportunities to contribute directly to the process.
