Following a denial of the Town’s request to the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to revoke a Mined Land Reclamation Permit that the agency had issued to a hauling company, the Town brought an Article 78 proceeding alleging that the State acted arbitrarily and capriciously in its denial of the Town’s request.  The State moved to dismiss on the grounds that the Town lacked authority and standing to sue the State agency absent explicit legislative authority to do so.

 

The appellate court disagreed with the State.  Pointing to the Mined Land Reclamation Law statute which provides, in part, that DEC is prohibited from considering an application for a permit where the proposed mining operation is inconsistent with local zoning laws, the Court said that, “Implicit in this recognition of the role of local land use law in this context, is the capacity of the municipality that enacted those laws to challenge DEC’s failure to comply with the statutory prohibition.” Similarly, a town has standing to challenge the Agency’s action “In light of the primacy given by the Legislature to the Town’s zoning laws in this context…” and that therefore the Town satisfies the requirement for standing.

 

Although the Court found that the Town had the capacity and standing to bring this action, it nevertheless upheld the trial court’s dismissal of the matter since the Town failed to file the lawsuit within the statute of limitations for a review of a discretionary action.  The Court noted that an action for mandamus is not appropriate where, as here, the determination to initiate proceedings leading to the revocation of a permit (the action the Town requested DEC to take) is a discretionary function pursuant to the applicable statute.

 

Town of Riverhead v. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 2008 WL 1126364 (N.Y.A.D. 2 Dept. 4/8/2008).

 

The opinion can be accessed at: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/ad2/calendar/webcal/decisions/2008/D18784.pdf