On May 29, 2025, the United States Supreme Court issued an 8-0 opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, et al. v. Eagle County, Colorado, et al. that affirmed agency deference in review of environmental documents prepared under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).[1] This important decision will bring much-needed certainty for project developers and financing agencies that should reduce permitting obstacles resulting in greater time and cost savings to developers.
In approving an 88-mile railroad line in northeastern Utah, the Surface Transportation Board prepared a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) consisting of more than 3,600 pages and analyzing impacts to local wetlands, land use, and recreation. The EIS declined to analyze the potential effects of upstream oil and gas drilling or downstream oil refining as outside the Surface Transportation Board’s jurisdiction. On appeal, the D.C. Circuit vacated the approval of the railroad line, finding that the Surface Transportation Board failed to take the requisite “hard look” at all of the environmental impacts of the railway line as it impermissibly limited its analysis of upstream and downstream projects.[2]
The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the D.C. Circuit and held that the Surface Transportation Board appropriately reviewed the environmental effects of the proposed railroad line under NEPA. The Court affirmed a number of important aspects of judicial review under NEPA:
- NEPA is a procedural statute and simply prescribes the necessary process for an agency’s environmental review of...
