75 municipal leaders urge Hochul to withdraw proposed SEQRA exemptions
Dozens of local officials across New York are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to withdraw a proposal they say would erode environmental oversight by fast-tracking certain housing projects. In a letter signed by 75 municipal leaders, including 25 officials from 13 municipalities in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, the group argues the plan prioritizes speed over local review and environmental protections.
The letter contends the proposed changes to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) would allow some large-scale and high-density developments to bypass essential environmental reviews and limit municipalities’ ability to evaluate complex projects.
“Substantial changes to a landmark law like SEQRA should occur through the regular legislative or regulatory process, allowing for public input and expert testimony,” the officials wrote. “Rushing these exemptions through the budget process risks permanent damage to New York’s natural resources.” The pushback comes as Hochul and the Legislature work to finalize the state budget.
Under the proposal, exemptions would apply to projects with fewer than 100 units — including market-rate and affordable housing — when built on previously disturbed land outside environmentally protected areas and flood-risk zones. Projects would still need to comply with local zoning rules.
Hochul’s office said the plan has support from key developers and government officials, including mayors in Westchester County from New Rochelle, Peekskill, Pelham, White Plains, Mount Vernon and Port Chester. Many signatories from the Lower Hudson Valley are town and village leaders from communities such as Ossining, Greenburgh, Yorktown, Tarrytown, Upper Nyack and Cold Spring.
They argue a sweeping statewide standard outside New York City fails to account for municipal differences in size and capacity. They also warn that broad terms like “previously disturbed sites” could be interpreted inconsistently and invite costly litigation.
Tracy Brown, president of Riverkeeper, the environmental group that organized the letter, said the organization supports expanding housing supply but wants any SEQRA changes to move through the regular legislative process with public input and greater transparency.
She noted that in many municipalities SEQRA is the only tool to review a project’s impacts on water and wildlife as well as cultural and historic assets, infrastructure and noise, and warned the proposal would remove a useful transparency tool for a wide range of projects.
Some state lawmakers have echoed the concerns, though they remain cautiously optimistic the reforms will be included in the budget, with details being negotiated behind closed doors. The spending plan is expected to be finalized this week, more than a month after the April 1 deadline.
Assemblymember Chris Burdick, a Democrat, said he agrees SEQRA reforms are needed but emphasized, “We also need to retain municipality authority to set their own standards to review development, especially projects proposed near water, wetlands and flood zones.” He added, “Realistically, this will be in the budget.
I think there’s no questions about that.”