Your Guide to Emerging Issues in Environmental Regulation and Litigation.
A year has passed since New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced her intention of building a zero-emission nuclear power plant and making the state a nuclear powerhouse (covered by ELM here). Since then, energy-monopolizing data centers have proliferated throughout the United States (covered by ELM here) to the extent that Hochul recently declared a moratorium …
On July 14, New York became the first state to implement a statewide moratorium on building new hyperscale data centers. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order banning lawmakers from approving environmental permits for the construction of new data centers 50 megawatts or larger for a period that Hochul expects to last one year – …
To effectively regulate and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, gathering clear, accurate, and verified corporate emissions reporting data is essential. New York’s Senate Bill S9072A, known as the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (CCDAA), aims to do just that. In February 2026, the bill passed the Senate and moved to the Assembly for consideration. If …
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) recently announced a comprehensive set of actions and resources aimed to address PFAS contamination in the state. The DEC’s “A Decade of Progress on PFAS: Summarizing DEC’s Continued Response” contains a progress report detailing New York’s leadership regarding PFAS policy over the last 10 years, along with …
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s recently enacted budget bill for 2025-2026 includes several important changes to the New York State Superfund program. The Superfund was created to help enforce state hazardous waste regulations and to investigate and remediate contaminated sites. Overall, the amendments clarify the program and strengthen the state’s ability to enforce hazardous waste laws. Separately, …
Despite boasting the largest population in the United States and being one of the most sought-after places to the live on earth, over the last couple of decades New York City has increasingly struggled with a shortage of housing. Restrictive zoning regulations and New Yorkers leery of the prospect of skyscrapers popping up in their …
Gov. Kathy Hochul recently announced two grant opportunities totaling $26 million for projects aimed at addressing the impact of climate change and protecting water quality across New York State. Twenty-four million of these funds will be made available through the Climate Resilient Farming Grant Program (CRF), and the remaining $2 million will be provided through …
On July 25, the District Court for the Northern District of New York in Mulhern Gas Co. v. Mosely ruled that New York has the power to enact the All-Electric Building Act (AEBA). The decision clears the way for the AEBA to take effect in 2026, making New York the first state to require (most) …
Last month, the New York State Assembly demurred from taking up a vote for the second time on the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (“PRRIA”). The PRRIA was designed to cause a restructuring of the life cycle of packaging within the state by fundamentally shifting the burden of handling packaging waste from municipalities and …
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced June 25 that she is directing New York Power Authority to add at least one gigawatt of new nuclear power generation by building a zero-emission nuclear power plant somewhere in upstate New York. This announcement, four years after the 2021 closure of the Indian Point nuclear plant due to …