People v. Norlite, LLC

Summary

The Appellate Division, Third Department, affirmed dismissal of environmental intervenors' cross-claim against the Department of Environmental Conservation. The court held that the New York Constitution's Green Amendment did not authorize the intervenors to compel DEC to take particular enforcement action against Norlite, LLC, because permit enforcement decisions involve agency discretion rather than a ministerial duty enforceable through mandamus. The court also concluded that the claim was essentially a CPLR article 78 proceeding and was duplicative in the context of declaratory relief.

Holdings

1. The Green Amendment does not create a private cause of action that permits intervenors to compel DEC to take enforcement action when alternative remedies exist, including state tort claims and a CPLR article 78 proceeding.
2. The intervenors' ostensibly declaratory claim was essentially a CPLR article 78 proceeding in the nature of mandamus because it sought to compel the State to take enforcement action against a private entity.
3. DEC did not have a mandatory ministerial duty to take the particular enforcement action sought by intervenors because the governing statutes and regulations vest the agency with discretionary enforcement authority.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the Green Amendment to the New York Constitution creates an enforceable private substantive right or cause of action allowing intervenors to compel DEC to take enforcement action against Norlite.
2. Whether the intervenors' claim, although styled as declaratory relief, was in substance a CPLR article 78 mandamus proceeding.
3. Whether DEC had a mandatory ministerial duty, rather than discretionary enforcement authority, to revoke, suspend, or modify Norlite's permits in response to fugitive-dust violations.

Disposition

affirmed