Joseph Zarif, Fordham University School of Law (Class of 2027), Environmental Law Review Staffer

In January of this year, New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s administration announced its “Let them Build” reform, a self-proclaimed “common sense” reform to help ease and speed up the construction of housing. These changes come with the state government’s broader mission of helping expedite projects that help communities build. The reforms are an attempt to address the fact that housing, energy, and manufacturing projects, according to Hochul, have taken up to 56% longer than in other states to move from conceptualization to the groundbreaking stage. 

The Governor’s agenda hones in on the 1975 New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), a major environmental statute in the state. SEQRA implements what many, including Hochul, recognize as an outdated, lengthy, and costly process that delays construction for years by forcing government agencies to assess the environmental impacts of new housing developments. Developers have complained for years about the obstacles that the regulatory framework puts in place, which do not provide environmental benefits in many cases. These hurdles increase the costs of building housing units–only worsening the housing crisis faced by the state. Developers’ concerns, combined with the undeniable NY state crisis of housing shortage, have ushered in the “Let them Build” agenda’s changes to one of NY state’s most important environmental statutes.

As mentioned, SEQRA has caught certain “critical projects” that have not actually been found to pose adverse environmental impacts in delays and red tape. Hochul’s SEQRA reforms keep intact various state regulatory and permit requirements on projects which govern air quality, environmental justice, protection of natural resources, water use, and local zoning and other permitting requirements. The recent series of reforms attempts to balance the interests of environmental protection policy with lowering costs and development to ease the city’s housing crisis. 

The SEQRA reform at hand here shows how states attempt to reconcile environmental protection with affordable housing development. This singular recent example of the conflict between balancing housing development efficiency with environmental law can have implications in other cases going forward balancing the two often conflicting interests.