Town of Babylon v. Federal Housing Finance Agency

A town commenced a lawsuit against the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and several other related government agencies, seeking a declaration that the defendants’ actions with respect to the town’s Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program on properties that had PACE liens violated several federal statutes, including NEPA. The town’s PACE program allowed residential building owners to take out a low-interest loan for energy efficiency upgrades and then repay these loans over time via an annual property tax assessment. Defendants moved to dismiss. The district court granted the motions, holding that it was without jurisdiction to review FHFA’s actions in its role as a conservator and that the town lacked Article III standing since it could not demonstrate redressability.

On appeal, the Second Circuit affirmed on identical grounds.