Supreme Court Limits NEPA Review, Reinstates Utah Rail Approval

On May 29, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County that under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal agencies are not required to consider the environmental impacts of separate, upstream, or downstream projects when reviewing a specific project. The case centered on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board's approval of an 88-mile rail line in Utah’s Uinta Basin, which was challenged for allegedly failing to assess environmental effects related to increased oil drilling and refining activities connected to the rail project. The Court reversed the D.C. Circuit's decision that had vacated the approval, emphasizing that NEPA is a procedural statute meant to inform agency decisions without dictating outcomes and that courts should defer substantially to agency judgments on the scope of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS). The ruling highlighted that impacts too remote in time and geography, and beyond the agency’s regulatory authority, need not be included in the NEPA review. This decision is expected to reduce the scope of environmental reviews, limit judicial interference, and facilitate infrastructure development by reinforcing agency discretion. The Court criticized how NEPA had been used to impede projects, underscoring the importance of focusing reviews on impacts directly relevant to the agency’s decision.