Supreme Court Limits Environmental Review of Major Infrastructure Projects

In an 8-0 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed the authority of federal courts to second guess federal agencies’ environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and directed federal courts to defer to agency decisions about the scope and content of environmental impact statements for projects.

The Court also ruled that while those agency impact statements need to address the environmental effects of the project at hand, the statements do not have to consider the effects of separate projects. The decision reversed a D.C. Court of Appeals decision saying the U. S. Surface Transportation Board should have reviewed broader potential impacts from a Utah railroad project in the Uinta Basin, including potential dangers to the Colorado River and impacts on Gulf Coast communities from increased oil drilling upstream and increased oil refining downstream.