On Thursday, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous 8-0 decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, which limits the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act and restricts federal agencies from considering indirect environmental effects, such as downstream greenhouse gas emissions, when evaluating infrastructure projects.
The decision could accelerate energy and transportation developments nationwide, with profound implications for Alaska, which has been targeted under Democrat administrations.
Alaska had joined 22 other states in an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to limit NEPA’s reach. Alaska argued that expansive interpretation hinder state sovereignty and economic development.
“The Supreme Court made the right call in this case. The courts should not create new law or policy. The courts should simply decide if something is constitutional or not,” said Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
The ruling says NEPA can only require agencies to assess the environmental impacts directly related to the project under their jurisdiction. For example, an agency that is weighing the permits for an industrial access road to a drilling pad does not need to evaluate the broader environmental consequences of the drilling itself, just the road.
The case was brought to the court after a lower court had blocked an 88-mile railway in Utah, which was being built to transport crude oil. The lower court demanded the consideration of environmental impacts of the oil itself.
- Justice Brett Kavanaugh, writing for the majority, said NEPA is a procedural statute meant to inform agency decisions, not to serve as a tool for courts to impose additional requirements.
