Keep the Lake a Lake NOT a Wetlands Court Ruling

 

CLP Legal Challenge – NYS Supreme Court Ruling annuls Part 664

We are pleased with the recent ruling and we credit our CLP case as having demonstrated the strongest legal standing for the basis of the ruling.  But – this is tempered by the recognition that this is not necessarily a permanent victory and that the DEC is our partner – not our enemy – and this outcome will unfortunately result in some amount of chaos for them.  CLP is also still assessing the impacts to Chautauqua Lake stakeholders.

Key points of concern:

1) The law is still on the books, but the rules for it’s implementation have been thrown out.  The implications of this are unclear at the moment for both the DEC in terms of how they operate now, and for the regulated community.  For example, the positive jurisdictional determinations already made in and around our lake.

2) The Court also included a footnote in the ruling that states that because the regulations were thrown out on SEQRA grounds, “the Court need not reach petitioners’ other challenges to Part 664.”  This leaves the door open for further challenges depending on the DEC’s next steps and legal response.

We are working to develop short term clarity on the implications of the ruling, and we are hopeful that this ruling will encourage the DEC to assert less regulatory overreach going forward.

Details of the legal ruling:

NYS Supreme Court Judge Richard Platkin announced a ruling annulling the new Part 664 wetlands regulations because DEC did not complete a sufficient environmental review under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

Platkin said the DEC’s completion of a short-form Environmental Assessment Form indicated there would be no impact, or a small impact, across 11 different dimensions that included whether the new regulations would result in a change in the use or intensity of the use of land. DEC officials had said the new Part 664 regulation would increase the amount of regulated wetlands that would lead to a reduction in adverse impacts on the wetlands as more projects were required to avoid, minimize or mitigate impacts on wetlands. Platkin said the DEC received public comments identifying specific areas of potential environmental concern with the new part 664 regulations in the Freshwater Wetlands Act update, including the
prospect of urban sprawl and other growth-inducing impacts; impact to aquatic ecosystems, algae blooms and invasive species; effects on urban communities that included sprawl; and growth- inducing impacts.

“Part 664 affects millions of acres of freshwater wetlands, and DEC’s discretionary regulatory choices – including the blanket Class II designation for urban wetlands, the categorical 100-foot buffer zones and extended adjacent wetlands of variable size – have the potential to work significant changes through alteration of development patterns, land-use intensity and/or the capacity of affected lands to support existing uses,” Platkin wrote. “Nothing in the Short EAF indicates that DEC identified any of these potential environmental concerns as relevant areas warranting a hard look. The Short EAF’s analysis rests entirely on the narrow premise that expanded wetland protection is inherently beneficial to wetlands, and there is no indication that DEC considered anything other than that objective when it determined that Part 664 had no potential for adverse impacts.”

Regulations Annulled- CLPOA, CLP Win Freshwater Wetlands Act Lawsuits _ News, Sp

Consolidated Decision, Order & Judgement_04-08-2026

 

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