Pass the Environmental Access to Justice Act: Enacted in 1975, the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) provided fair and sensible rules to regulate environmental analysis when government entities undertake, approve or fund projects that may have a significant environmental impact.

However, since a 1991 Court of Appeals ruling (Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. v. County of Suffolk), the legislative intent of the act has been circumvented. Individuals must now demonstrate a special harm different from that suffered by the public at large to establish standing in SEQRA appeals, a burden which is nearly impossible to meet. This special harm test has resulted in numerous challenges of decisions being dismissed for lack of standing - resulting in an injustice for plaintiffs who raise legitimate claims.

This legislation would restore the original legislative intent and test for standing under SEQRA, a showing that the plaintiff has suffered an injury within the zone of interests covered by the act.

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