For decades, Long Island's many layers of municipal governments have used the requirement of state environmental review before a project could be cleared for development as both a tool and a weapon.

When it works well, the State Environmental Quality Review Act, or SEQRA, allows government leaders to address legitimate concerns like traffic and water quality and, when appropriate, secure community benefits. The community plays a role, the developer listens and makes necessary changes, and the project, ultimately, is built.

Unfortunately, that's not how the SEQRA process, as it is known, often works in practice. Instead, local leaders will use environmental reviews as a delay tactic, stretching approvals for as long as a decade — or longer. In other instances, even when the review findings favor the development proceeding, elected officials will find a nugget within the extensive documentation to stop it........

© Newsday