Ulster County Community Action Committee, Inc. v. Koenig

No. 75 Civ. 3832 (HFW) (402 F. Supp. 986, 8 ERC 1554) (S.D.N.Y. October 17, 1975)

ELR Digest

Defendants have complied with the relevant requirements of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (HCDA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 5301 et seq. and NEPA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq. in applying for federal funding, in the form of a block grant, for a community development plan in Kingston, New York. Plaintiffs are mistaken in asserting that the department of Housing and Urban Development's regulations, 24 C.F.R. § 58.1(a)(2), which fail to require preparation of an environmental impact statement for an initial funding application under HCDA, do not comport with the requirements of NEPA. In § 104(h) of the HCDA, 42 U.S.C. § 5304(h), Congress specifically authorized the HUD Secretary to promulgate regulations to replace NEPA's environmental review requirements, and this case is thereby distinguished from situations like Greene County Planning Board v. FPC, 2 ELR 20017 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 849 (1972), in which a federal agency has abdicated its responsibilities in the face of Congress' directions as expressed in NEPA. Motion for preliminary injunction denied; complaint dismissed.

The full text of this opinion is available from ELR (7 pp. $1.00, ELR Order No. C-1018).

Counsel for Plaintiffs
John J. Kelly
2 Innis Avenue
Poughkeepsie NY 12601
(914) 452-6653

Counsel for Defendants
Aaron E. Klein
Ewig, Klein & Klein
65 John Street
Kingston NY 12401
(914) 331-0396

Werker, J.

[OPINION OMITTED BY PUBLISHER IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]