On August 22, 2016, the Draft Scope of Work for the Greater East Midtown Rezoning’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was released as a part of the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR). For a refresher on what the CEQR process is, reference our guide here. Though the media interpreted the draft scope as an update on the intentions of the rezoning plan, the purpose of this document was to fulfill the City’s obligation to conduct an environmental review of the Greater East Midtown Rezoning proposal.
BACKGROUND
As a part of the required CEQR process, the Department of City Planning (DCP) completed the City’s short Environmental Assessment Statement and found that the Greater East Midtown Rezoning has the potential to create significant environmental impacts. The City’s next step is to use the recently released Draft Scope of Work to conduct a more in-depth environmental review and produce a lengthy Environmental Impact Statement.
OVERVIEW OF THE DRAFT SCOPE OF WORK
The Draft Scope of Work explains why the rezoning is necessary and how the rezoning will meet NYC’s goals for East Midtown. It also explains the impacts of the Reasonable Worst-Case Development Scenario (RWCDS), which is essentially the worst situation that could reasonably arise from implementing the rezoning plan. The RWCDS study evaluates how the rezoning could impact a variety of categories, such as open space, shadows, energy, transportation, and sewer infrastructure.
NEXT STEPS
The public scoping meeting will be held on Thursday, September 22 at 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM at the Manhattan Municipal Building located at 1 Centre Street. Written comments on the rezoning plan will be accepted until Tuesday, October 4. Visit here for more information on the meeting.
After public comments are taken into account, a more formal environmental review will take place to determine if the proposed rezoning will have harmful environmental impacts. This is all part of the environmental review process that is required before the proposed rezoning can be implemented.
