Spano adds that he and justice Francis Nicolai, theadministrative judge for the Ninth Judicial District, have beenworking together for several months to establish a special court tohear environmental disputes. The "dedicated part" is similar toseveral created in recent years to handle matrimonial, commercialand domestic violence cases.

As envisioned by Spano and Nicolai, the court would not dealwith local zoning issues, but would be expert in environmental lawrelating to environmental conservation, the State EnvironmentalQuality Review Act and navigation law.

Spano says, "The key word here is expertise. We want the judgeand his or her staff to be immersed in environmental law. This willboth expedite cases and help ensure that justice is carried out."Nicolai says that, "Dedicated parts have proved effective. Adding apart for environmental issues will enhance the quality of justice."Spano and Nicolai say they will appoint a committee in the nextseveral weeks to further define the appropriate cases that thiscourt might handle. The goal is to have the court in operation byJanuary.