A New York appeals court has ruled to dismiss a case to shutter the state’s second-largest landfill. The much-anticipated decision could shape other ongoing environmental legal fights.
The case was brought by an environmental group, Fresh Air for the Eastside, over concerns about odors and emissions from the High Acres Landfill outside of Rochester. The case hinges on New York’s new constitutional environmental rights amendment, the so-called “Green Amendment”, which enshrines the right to clean air, water and a “healthful environment” in the state’s Bill of Rights.
The amendment was adopted in 2021, but its scope has yet to be fully defined by the courts. Fresh Air for the Eastside’s case has resulted in the first relevant rulings, with potential implications for several other environmental cases statewide.
The group alleged emissions from the High Acres Landfill violate their environmental rights and claims the state is at fault for its role regulating the landfill. It also alleged Waste Management, which operates the landfill, and New York City, which supplies the majority of its waste, violated their rights as well.
Fresh Air for the Eastside asked the court to require the state to immediately close the landfill, or to direct the state and Waste Management to take immediate steps to reduce emissions.
A previous judge ruled in 2022 to dismiss the claims against New York City and Waste Management, but stated the group’s claims against the state could move forward.
An appeals court overturned that landmark decision last month, ruling to dismiss the group’s claims. The court said that New Yorkers cannot use the Green Amendment to ask courts to direct state agencies to take specific enforcement actions. Instead, legal precedent says agencies maintain enforcement discretion.
The court also affirmed that Green Amendment claims cannot be made against private parties, like Waste Management, because constitutional rights only regulate government action. Though Fresh Air for the Eastside argued that the amendment should apply because the government is intertwined with the landfill’s operations through oversight, the court dismissed that claim.
“We were disappointed by the decision,” said attorney Alan Knauf, who represents Fresh Air For the Eastside, in an email Tuesday. He said the group plans to appeal the decision, which would send the case to the state’s highest court.
Legal scholars say the ruling still leaves many open questions about when and how the Green Amendment can apply.
“It's a very narrow decision,” said Rebecca Bratspies, a professor at the City University of New York’s law school. The court’s reasoning was somewhat expected and therefore doesn’t necessarily weaken the amendment, she added.
There are several other open cases involving Green Amendment claims currently playing out in court, including one over the Seneca Meadows landfill in the Finger Lakes region — the state’s largest landfill.
In that case, a local environmental group, Seneca Lake Guardian, has alleged Seneca Meadows’ operations and the state’s regulation of the site have led to emissions that violate the group’s right to clean air and a healthy environment.
Seneca Lake Guardian’s lawsuit seeks to prevent the Department of Environmental Conservation from issuing a permit for the landfill to grow — a key difference from the case against High Acres, said attorney Philip Gitlen, who represents the group.
“We chose not to ask the court to close the landfill,” said Gitlen. “Instead, we asked the court not to allow it to expand.”
Assemblymember Anna Kelles, who represents Tompkins County, has supported the group’s Green Amendment claims against Seneca Meadows and the state.
“It goes hand in hand with us committing to being the solution to climate change,” said Kelles. “The whole point is we need to make mechanisms to hold ourselves accountable. If you’re going to start somewhere, at least start with the government holding itself accountable.”