Top Court Strikes Down City's Lead Paint Law

Facts: The City of New York enacted Local Law 38 of 1999 after City Council review and public hearings. Local Law 38 replaced Local Law 1 of 1982 and changed landlords' obligations in relation to lead paint abatement in residential buildings. Unlike Local Law 1, Local Law 38 didn't include lead dust in its definition of hazards. And Local Law 38 protected children under 6 years of age, while the prior law protected children under age 7. A nonprofit group representing tenants sued the city and claimed that the city didn't prepare a proper environmental impact statement under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). The court ruled for tenants, and the city appealed. The appeals court ruled for the city and upheld the law. Tenants then appealed to the state's highest court. Court: Tenants win. The city didn't comply with SEQRA. The city didn't explain its decision to omit lead dust from the list of lead paint hazards, even though it admitted that lead dust is a potentially significant health hazard related to lead paint hazard abatement. The city also didn't explain why it lowered the age range of children protected under the law to under 6. Simply relying on federal and state law provisions that did so wasn't enough. Local Law 38 was revoked, and the case sent back to the lower court for directions to the city for further environmental review.

New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning, Inc. v. Vallone: NYLJ, 7/2/03, p. 19, col. 2 (Ct. App. NY; Graffeo, J, Kaye, Smith, Ciparick, Rosenblatt, Read, JJ)