Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Environmental Review

Does the State Senate’s MTA Plan Pass Environmental Muster?

By Ben Fried | Apr 22, 2009 | 3 Comments

Where’s the Assembly’s eco-warrior when you need him? The Municipal Art Society came out with a report yesterday urging New York State to start analyzing greenhouse gas emissions in its environmental review process (SEQRA). MAS argues that the policy could be adopted without changing existing laws, which raises an interesting question to ponder on this […]

Senate Requires Environmental Approval For Stimulus Projects

By Damien Newton | Feb 9, 2009 | 7 Comments

NEPA oversight should prevent the Garden State Parkway from being widened using stimulus funds. The final draft of the Senate’s economic recovery bill will require all projects funded by the stimulus to have approval under the National Environmental Protection Act, or NEPA. Sponsored by Barbara Boxer, the NEPA amendment (full text after the jump) was […]

The Original Sin of Environmental Review

By Ben Fried | Dec 8, 2008 | 10 Comments

No EIS necessary. Photo: tlindenbaum/Flickr In the past few months we’ve reported on opponents of bike lanes, car-free parks, and congestion pricing using the pretext of environmental review to stymie initiatives that would reduce vehicle emissions. Norman Oder at the Atlantic Yards Report points us to another unintended consequence of the National Environmental Protection Act, […]

SF Responds to Bike Injunction With 1,353 Page Enviro Review

By Matthew Roth | Nov 28, 2008 | 20 Comments

Two-and-a-half years after a judge issued an injunction preventing the city from adding any new bicycle infrastructure to its streets, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) and the San Francisco Planning Department have released a 1353-page Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on the San Francisco Bicycle Plan. At a cost of more than $1 million, the city has attempted to demonstrate in excruciating detail what would seem to be obvious: better bicycle amenities contribute to increased cycling and an improved environment.

Jim Brennan: “Objective Assessment” Must Precede Prospect Park Trial

By Brad Aaron | Oct 9, 2008 | 5 Comments

Following up on other car-free parks news, last week Assembly Member Jim Brennan joined the chairs of Brooklyn Community Boards 7 and 14 in calling for an Environmental Impact Statement before any trial program to remove car traffic from Prospect Park. In this tipster-submitted constituent letter, Brennan rationalizes his position. Nothing says "fact-based public process" […]

Budnick v. Anderson on “Talk of the Nation” This Afternoon

By Aaron Naparstek | Aug 26, 2008 | 22 Comments

Transportation Alternatives’ Noah Budnick will be on NPR’s "Talk of the Nation" this afternoon at 3 p.m. EST. He’ll be debating Rob Anderson, the one-man wrecking crew who filed the 2006 environmental impact law suit that stopped San Francisco from building out its citywide bicycle network. I don’t think "Talk of the Nation" is available […]