New York AG Successfully Defended Department of Environmental Conservation’s Denial of Permit to Revive Dormant Danskammer Power Plant

JUNE 8, 2022

The New York Attorney General’s Office successfully defended a decision by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) to deny an air permit to the Danskammer power plant in Hudson Valley. The company applied to build a new natural gas-fired plant on the site of a power plant that had previously been dormant for two years. After DEC denied the permit under the New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), Danskammer challeneged DEC’s decision in court. The New York Supreme Court ruled that DEC had authority under CLCPA to deny the permit, reasoning that the decision was consistent with the legislature’s intent: to reduce GHG emissions in order to protect the “economic well-being, public health, natural resources, and the environment of New York.”