New York Adopts SEQRA Exemptions For Housing And Public Works Projects

On May 26, 2026, the state of New York adopted an amendment to the Environmental Conservation Law establishing a new exemption from the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) for housing and certain public works projects.

In New York City, actions facilitating the construction of housing are now exempt from SEQRA and the analogue City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) procedure if they meet the following conditions: 

• The project must connect to existing community or public water and sewer systems at the commencement of habitation. 
• The project must be located on a previously disturbed site, which in New York City means a site determined by a responsible agency to have been substantially altered by an occupied, formerly occupied or demolished building or other improvement or use at least two years prior to an action and that is not located in a “flood hazard area” as defined in the Building Code.