Today the Supreme Court decided Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, which challenged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's capacious understanding of agency obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act. The justices unanimously rejected the D.C. Circuit's approach, but split 5-3 over what the D.C. Circuit did wrong. Justice Kavanaugh wrote for the Court, joined by the Chief Justice and the Court's conservative justices (other than Justice Gorsuch, who was recused). Justice Sotomayor wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson.
At first read, the biggest significance of this opinion is that it clarifies that NEPA does not require Environmental Impact Statements to consider upstream and downstream effects of projects that are caused by third-parties. This is particularly significant for infrastructure projects, such as pipelines or transmission lines, and should help reduce NEPA's burdens (at least at the margins). The opinion will also likely hamper any future efforts, perhaps by Democratic administrations, to expand or restore more fulsome (and burdensome) NEPA requirements.
Justice Kavanaugh's introduction does a nice job of laying out the issues and the Court's conclusions. Here it is:
