A judge on Wednesday struck down a controversial regulation issued by the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation that was the subject of multiple lawsuits over what a “freshwater wetland” is.
The now invalidated rule would have expanded the definition of a “freshwater wetland” and required state permits for certain activities on more public and privately-owned land.
The DEC’s regulation defined freshwater wetlands as lands and submerged lands, like marshes, swamps and bogs that support aquatic or semi-aquatic vegetation, critical to the health of the state’s natural environment. It’s a modernization of New York’s Freshwater Wetlands Act, first enacted in 1975.
Business groups and landowners argued the rules would make it much harder to get new development projects off the ground like housing.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Richard Platkin ruled the DEC did not follow the proper procedure when making the regulation.
A spokesman for the DEC said the department is reviewing the decision.