AFTER THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (DEC) AND THE PERMIT APPLICANT CAME TO AN AGREEMENT, A REQUEST BY AFFECTED PROPERTY OWNERS FOR FURTHER ADJUDICATION OF ISSUES RELATING TO THE APPROVAL OF TWO DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN THE CATSKILLS WAS PROPERLY DENIED BY THE DEC COMMISSIONER (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Mulvey, addressing many substantive issues not summarized here, determined the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner’s rulings approving two development projects in the Catskills were proper. The DEC and the permit applicant were in agreement. Only the petitioners (apparently an alliance of affected property owners) were requesting further review, including a request for the adjudication of “substantive and significant” issues (which was denied). The court explained the criteria for further adjudication in this context:
Where, as here, there is no dispute between DEC staff and the permit applicant, adjudication is required only if the issue is “both substantive and significant” … . “An issue is substantive if there is sufficient doubt about the applicant’s ability to meet statutory or regulatory criteria applicable to the project, such that a reasonable person would require further inquiry” … . “An issue is significant if it has the potential to result in the denial of a permit, a major modification to the proposed project or the imposition of significant permit conditions in addition to those proposed in the draft permit” … . “The resolution of whether an issue is substantive and significant requiring an adjudicatory hearing is left to the Commissioner and will not be disturbed absent a showing that it is predicated upon an error of law, is arbitrary or capricious, or represents an abuse of discretion” … . Further, where “‘the judgment of the agency involves factual evaluations in the area of the agency’s expertise and is supported by the record, such judgment must be accorded great weight and judicial deference'” … . Matter of Catskill Heritage Alliance, Inc. v New York State Dept. of Envtl. Conservation, 2018 NY Slip Op 02516, Third Dept 4-12-18
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (AFTER THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (DEC) AND THE PERMIT APPLICANT CAME TO AN AGREEMENT, A REQUEST BY AFFECTED PROPERTY OWNERS FOR FURTHER ADJUDICATION OF ISSUES RELATING TO THE APPROVAL OF TWO DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN THE CATSKILLS WAS PROPERLY DENIED BY THE DEC COMMISSIONER (THIRD DEPT))/ADJUDICATION, REQUEST FOR (ENVIRONMENTAL LAW, AFTER THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (DEC) AND THE PERMIT APPLICANT CAME TO AN AGREEMENT, A REQUEST BY AFFECTED PROPERTY OWNERS FOR FURTHER ADJUDICATION OF ISSUES RELATING TO THE APPROVAL OF TWO DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN THE CATSKILLS WAS PROPERLY DENIED BY THE DEC COMMISSIONER (THIRD DEPT))/DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (DEC) (AFTER THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (DEC) AND THE PERMIT APPLICANT CAME TO AN AGREEMENT, A REQUEST BY AFFECTED PROPERTY OWNERS FOR FURTHER ADJUDICATION OF ISSUES RELATING TO THE APPROVAL OF TWO DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN THE CATSKILLS WAS PROPERLY DENIED BY THE DEC COMMISSIONER (THIRD DEPT))