The Supreme Court appeared open during oral arguments Tuesday to limiting the scope of environmental review from federal agencies, in a case about a dispute over the approval of an 88-mile stretch of railroad line in Utah.
Backers of the project as well as the Biden administration argued that the justices should overturn a lower court ruling that would force the agency to consider the broader environmental impacts of the new rail line, which would transport oil drilled in Utah for refinement elsewhere.
Opponents of the project have urged the justices to keep the ruling so that agencies wouldn’t be encouraged to ignore obvious environmental harms from a federally approved project.
