Worldwide: Construction & Planning

On May 26, 2026, the state of New York adopted an amendment to the Environmental Conservation Law establishing a new exemption from the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) for housing and certain public works projects.

For hundreds of years, the world’s sovereign nations refused to allow any other foreign sovereign to be sued in their courts without the sovereign’s consent. The guiding principle was “absolute sovereign immunity,” an outgrowth of the ancient legal precept rex non potest peccare, understood to mean “the king can do no wrong.” The principle also was recognized as wise foreign policy because it extended "grace and comity" to other sovereigns.

California's coastal development landscape is undergoing significant transformation as the California Coastal Commission faces new legislative and regulatory pressures to ease housing production barriers. Meanwhile, local governments across the state are implementing major zoning reforms, from Los Angeles County's affordable housing overhaul to San Francisco's transit corridor upzoning exemptions, as cities navigate the complex intersection of state housing mandates and local control.