Welcome to OEC's updated Web site. As you browse our pages, you will learn more about the environmental issues that we address: City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) and Green Buildings.

On January 20, 2010, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued the Notice of Completion for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Flushing Commons Project marking the beginning of the public comment period.  A public hearing on the DEIS will be held in conjunction with the public hearing on the project's Uniform Land Use Procedure (ULURP) applications.  The date and place of this hearing will be announced at a later date.  Comments on the DEIS will be accepted through the tenth day following the close of the public hearing.

The Office of The Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, as lead agency, issued a Positive Declaration for the Flushing Commons project and directed that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) be prepared. The public Scoping Meeting was held on June 21, 2006 at 3:30 pm at the Flushing Branch of the Queens Public Library, 41-17 Main Street, Flushing, NY, to receive comments on the Draft Scope of Work for the DEIS. On December 4, 2009, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued the Final Scope of Work for the DEIS, which incorporated, as appropriate, comments received on the Draft Scope of Work and changes made to the project since the issuance of the Draft Scope.  The Final Scope, Draft Scope, Positive Declaration and Environmental Assessment Statement are available below in PDF format:

These revised guidelines will be included in the updated CEQR Technical Manual, which is due to be released in early 2010.  However, these revisions are being implemented in advance of the full CEQR Technical Manual update because the 2008 revision is now out of date and could result in inaccurate projections of the need for publicly subsidized child care. 

Key revisions include (i) a change to the number of eligible children that trigger a more detailed analysis (20 children under age 6); (ii) new multipliers for estimating the number of eligible children; and (iii) a revised study area of 1.5 miles from the project site.  These revisions supersede the  2001 CEQR Technical Manual Chapter 3C sections related to Day Care (now termed Child Care), as well as revised Table 3C-4 and its associated text published in November 2008.

The revised Table 3C-4 and relevant revised CEQR Technical Manual Chapter 3C sections can be found here. This guidance should be implemented immediately.

The Office of The Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, as lead agency, issued a Positive Declaration for the Willets Point Development Plan project and directed that a Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) be prepared. The public Scoping Meeting was held on May 1, 2007 at the Flushing Branch of the Queens Public Library to receive comments on the Draft Scope of Work for the DGEIS. On April 16, 2008, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued the Final Scope of Work for the DGEIS, which incorporated, as appropriate, comments received on the Draft Scope of Work. On April 18, 2008, the Notice of Completion for the DGEIS and the DGEIS were issued. The project was certified into the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) on April 21, 2008.  The public hearing on the Draft GEIS was held in conjunction with the public hearing on the ULURP applications for this project on Wednesday, August 13, 2008.  Comments on the DGEIS were accepted until 5:00 PM on Monday, August 25, 2008.

The environmental review documents for this project are available for download here:

Following the issuance of the Notice of Completion for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Coney Island Rezoning project, the City Planning Commission (CPC) adopted modifications to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) applications, the Special Coney Island District zoning text amendment and an administrative change to the form of the mapping application. Those modifications and administrative change were assessed in a Technical Memorandum (CEQR Number 08DME007K TM001) dated June 15, 2009. The New York City Council is now proposing additional modifications as a result of its review of the applications and comments made during the public review process.  The Council's proposed modifications, and whether they would result in any new or different adverse environmental impacts not previously disclosed in the FEIS, are described and examined in a second Technical Memorandum (CEQR Number 08DME007K TM002) dated July 22, 2009.  This Technical Memorandum concludes that the proposed modification would not result in any significant adverse environmental impacts not previously identified in the FEIS.  Copies of the second Technical Memorandum, along with all previous environmental review documents, are available below in PDF format.

On June 5, 2009, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued the Notice of Completion for the FEIS for the Coney Island Rezoning plan.

On January 9, 2009, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development released the Final Scope of Work for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and on January 16, 2009 the Notice of Completion for the DEIS was issued, which began the public review period.  A public hearing on the DEIS was held on May 6, 2009, concurrently with the public hearing on the ULURP applications for this project.  The comment period remained open until May 18, 2009.

On January 11, 2008, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, as lead agency, issued a Positive Declaration for the Coney Island Rezoning plan and released a Draft Scope of Work for the EIS and held a public meeting to receive comments on the Draft Scope of Work.  Subsequent to the initial scoping meeting, the City remained engaged in dialogue with all stakeholders, reviewed and considered comments received, and issued a revised Positive Declaration and revised Draft Scope of Work for the project. A second public meeting was held to receive comments on the revised Draft Scope and the comment period was extended to July 11, 2008.

On September 12, 2008, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued the Notice of Completion for the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Hunter's Point South Rezoning and Related Action Project.  Copies of the Notice of Completion and FEIS are available below.

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, as lead agency, issued a Positive Declaration for the Hunter's Point South Rezoning and Related Actions Project and directed that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) be prepared. The Public Scoping Meeting was held on November 15, 2007 to receive comments on the Draft Scope of Work for the DEIS. On March 28, 2008, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued the Final Scope of Work for the DEIS which incorporated, as appropriate, comments received on the Draft Scope of Work. On April 2, 2008, the Notice of Completion for the DEIS and the DEIS were issued. The project was certified into the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) on April 21, 2008.  The public hearing on the DEIS was held in conjunction with the public hearing on the ULURP applications for this project on Wednesday, August 13, 2008.  Comments on the DEIS were accepted until 5:00 PM on Monday, August 25, 2008.

The environmental review documents for this project are available for download here:

The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, as lead agency, issued a Positive Declaration for the East 125th Street Development Project and directed that a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) be prepared.  A public scoping meeting was held on July 19, 2007 to receive comments on the Draft Scope of Work for the DEIS.  On February 15, 2008, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development issued the Final Scope of Work for the DEIS.  On March 19, 2008, the Notice of Completion for the DEIS and the DEIS were issued. 

The public hearing on the DEIS was held in conjunction with the public hearing on the ULURP applications for this project on Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 10:00 AM at Spector Hall, 22 Reade Street, New York, NY 10007.  The comment period for the DEIS remained open until 5:00 PM on Monday, August 4, 2008.  On August 12, 2008, the Office of the Deputy Mayor issued the Notice of Completion for the FEIS and the FEIS.  It is anticipated that the City Planning Commission will consider the ULURP applications for this project on August 27, 2008.

The environmental review documents are available for download here:

On April 2, 2007, pursuant to executive order 97 of 2006, the Mayor's Office of Environmental Coordination published final rules to implement the City's Green Building Law, Local Law 86 of 2005.
The final rules are available here. These final rules are effective immediately pursuant to a Statement of Substantial Need for Earlier Implementation

The Director of the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Coordination has found that the NYC Green School Guide developed by the NYC School Construction Authority describes a green schools rating system that is not less stringent than the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® New Construction, version 2.2 for the achievement of a LEED® Certified rating.  This was published in the City Record on March 14, 2007 and is available here.  This finding was based on an independent review by the consulting firm Davis Langdon whose report can be viewed here. NYC Green Schools Guide can be viewed here.