Last week, the Supreme Court issued its eagerly awaited National Environmental Policy Act decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County. We were not disappointed. The Court held, 8-0,1 that the U.S. Surface Transportation Board reasonably explained in an environmental impact statement (“EIS”) that the agency did not need to consider the indirect environmental impacts of its decision to approve an 88-mile railroad spur that would connect Uinta Basin oil and gas resources to the national rail network. The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had set aside the STB’s decision on the basis that the STB did not consider the indirect environmental impacts that would result from upstream oil and gas drilling or from downstream petroleum refining. The Supreme Court reversed.

A

See Full Page