2026 SEQRA Amendments

The Full Environmental Assessment Form (FEAF) now includes questions regarding a project’s proximity to a disadvantaged community, consistency with community climate change plans, air emissions, and potential climate- and weather-related hazards. A lead agency must evaluate an applicant’s responses in Part 1 when completing Part 2 of the FEAF, which now includes additional questions addressing these new considerations.

For example, proposed air pollutant emissions or new sources of solid waste generation may trigger additional environmental review. Type I actions, which require a FEAF review and may require an Environmental Impact Statement, also require consideration of future physical climate risks. These include a project’s vulnerability to a projected 100-year flood and whether the project could increase the vulnerability of human or ecological communities to future climate or weather hazards.

The Short Environmental Assessment Form (SEAF) has likewise been updated to include questions regarding disadvantaged communities. As with the FEAF, the lead agency must evaluate the applicant’s responses in Part 1 when completing Part 2.

The SEQRA regulations also establish new Type II classifications, which do not require a FEAF or SEAF review, for certain residential construction projects, including:

• Multi-family dwellings consisting of three-family residences
• Certain residential buildings with four or more dwelling units under 10,000 square feet that satisfy specified criteria, including the availability of existing on-site utilities and compliance with applicable zoning requirements
• Construction and rehabilitation of accessory structures, including sidewalks, parking areas, playgrounds, and landscaping

“Let Them Build” Amendments to SEQRA

In 2026, following an active legislative session, additional statutory amendments were enacted as part of Governor Hochul’s “Let Them Build” agenda to streamline the SEQR process.

These statutory changes create several new, narrowly tailored SEQRA exemptions, including exemptions for certain multi-family housing, parkland and trail, green infrastructure, and water and wastewater infrastructure projects, as well as public school facilities connected to existing water and sewer systems in New York City.

One of the changes is a statutory definition of “previously disturbed” parcels, which applies to several of the new exemptions listed above. This new statutory definition includes parcels that have been substantially altered by prior development. Parcels recently used for agricultural purposes or parcels located in certain flood or coastal zone hazard areas are excluded from this definition. Of note, specific criteria apply based on the size of the municipality.

Applicants can seek judicial relief if an application for a permit or authorization is not determined to be exempt from SEQR within 120 days of receipt by the reviewing agency (subject to extensions in specific circumstances). Once a lead agency is established, the lead agency only has one year to determine if a project will require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). For projects involving an application for a permit or authorization, a lead agency has two years to complete the EIS after the date the draft EIS is determined to be required (subject to extensions in specific circumstances).

Finally, these statutory changes revise the statute of limitations governing judicial challenges to SEQRA determinations by clarifying when the limitations period begins to run after the lead agency’s determination becomes final and binding on the applicant.

Successful project planning will continue to require proactive environmental review, early due diligence, and coordination with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and qualified environmental consultants who can help navigate these evolving requirements in New York State.