{"id":4223,"date":"2022-01-10T21:37:11","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T21:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bpslaw.com\/staging-site\/?p=4223"},"modified":"2022-01-21T17:06:00","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T17:06:00","slug":"what-to-know-about-new-yorks-green-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bpslaw.com\/staging-site\/what-to-know-about-new-yorks-green-amendment\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Know About New York\u2019s Green Amendment\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

On November 2, 2021, New York residents voted to amend the State\u2019s constitution to enshrine into law each person\u2019s \u201cright to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.\u201d N.Y. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 19. With the adoption of this amendment, New York becomes the third state in the nation to include environmental rights in its Bill of Rights, following Pennsylvania (1971) and Montana (1972. Four other states \u2013 Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts and Rhode Island \u2013 have constitutional provisions regarding environmental protections, although not in their Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n

Key Takeaways:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The amendment creates a new avenue for environmental litigation, but whether private citizens have standing to sue to enforce this new constitutional right remains unclear.<\/li>\n
  2. Given the breadth of this new constitutional guarantee, the State could grant fewer exemptions from environmental impact reviews under threat of litigation.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The new environmental law leaves much to interpretation. In theory, the amendment gives New Yorkers the ability to both advocate against projects on the premise they infringe upon the newly codified right to a healthful environment, and sue for environmental damages if a public or private entity fails to comply with emissions and other pollution standards. Nevertheless, it remains unclear who precisely could bring such a lawsuit. Though the amendment asserts \u201ceach\u201d person\u2019s right to clean air and water, General Assembly members maintain the law does not provide citizens the right to privately sue for environmental damages.<\/p>\n

    It remains the State\u2019s responsibility to regulate emissions in accordance with state and federal standards, as well as oversee environmental reviews for publicly-funded projects. It is unclear whether the new amendment \u2013 establishing a right to \u201cclean\u201d air and water and a \u201chealthful\u201d environment \u2013 will define these terms differently than existing statutes and regulations. The courts will likely look to precedents in other states, where similar constitutional provisions have been adopted, to determine the amendment\u2019s application. Due to the possibility of litigation against the State under the new amendment, however, the State may grant fewer exemptions from environmental reviews.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    On November 2, 2021, New York residents voted to amend the State\u2019s constitution to enshrine into law each person\u2019s \u201cright to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.\u201d N.Y. Const., Art. 1, Sec. 19. With the adoption of this amendment, New York becomes the third state in the nation to include environmental rights in its Bill of Rights, following Pennsylvania (1971) and Montana (1972. Four other states \u2013 Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts and Rhode Island \u2013 have constitutional provisions regarding environmental protections, although not in their Bill of Rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat to Know About New York\u2019s Green Amendment\u00a0\u00a0 | Bleakley Platt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On November 2, 2021, New York residents voted to amend the State\u2019s constitution to enshrine into law each person\u2019s \u201cright to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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