Utah's oil train gets U.S. Supreme Court blessing

Yahoo

29-05-2025

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a controversial Utah oil railway expansion that was initially denied in 2023 by the District of Columbia's U.S. Court of Appeals.
The decision was a unanimous 8-0, with Justice Neil Gorsuch recusing himself.
In 2021, the federal Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that regulates rail transportation, approved the northeastern Utah expansion brought by seven Utah counties that would span along the Colorado River to refineries on the Gulf Coast.
Environmentalists argued that the agency had not adequately considered the environmental impact that the 88-mile railway would create, and that it would have broad implications for National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews.
Following the Supreme Court's ruling, Wendy Park, a lawyer with the Center for Biological Diversity said it was a 'disastrous decision' and to 'undermine our nation's bedrock environmental law means our air and water will be more polluted, the climate and extinction crises will intensify and people will be less healthy,' per The New York Times.
However, the federal agency conducted a more than 3,600-page environmental impact assessment to address any potential environmental effects.
In the Supreme Court ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that the D.C. court's denial of construction was leveraging environmental impact statements mandated by a federal law from 1970 to ultimately control federal agencies.
'NEPA is a procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock. The goal of the law is to inform agency decisionmaking, not to paralyze it,' the opinion said, noting that the railway would grow the economy and create jobs on a national scale in the 'isolated Utah basin.'
When reviewing the D.C. Circuit's decision, Kavanaugh added that it did not allow the Transportation Board 'substantial judicial deference required in NEPA cases' and 'ordered the Board to address the environmental effects of projects separate in time or place from the construction and operation of the railroad line. But NEPA requires agencies to focus on the environmental effects of the project at issue.'
'Citizens may not enlist the federal courts, 'under the guise of judicial review' of agency compliance with NEPA, to delay or block agency projects based on the environmental effects of other projects separate from the project at hand,' the opinion concluded, ultimately rejecting the lower court's ruling."
In response to the Supreme Court's decision, Utah lawmakers welcomed the decision, including Sen. John Curtis, whose platform generally spans environmental issues.
'The Supreme Court's unanimous ruling poses a firm and a clear message: NEPA is a 'procedural cross-check, not a substantive roadblock.' For too long, litigious groups have weaponized environmental reviews to stall critical projects—oil, gas, wind, solar, nuclear, and more," Curtis posted on social media.
'If we're serious about unleashing American energy, we need to give the sector what it needs most: predictable rules and freedom from arbitrary delays.'
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox responded to Curtis' post that shared a news story by The Associated Press, finding humor in its headline.
'The Court didn't 'scale back' a key environmental law, the court unanimously stopped an insane idea that doesn't exist anywhere in the law,' he wrote. 'Extreme leftist groups have been destroying our ability to do anything in this country and weaponizing what was once simple and straight-forward. The court just read and applied the actual law here.'
Rep. Mike Kennedy, who serves Utah's 3rd Congressional District, said the Supreme Court ruling was a 'significant advancement' to the country's energy production and a boost to rural economies.
'Prior to this ruling, NEPA was used by agencies and interest groups to delay or block projects, hindering growth in rural communities. By affirming the project's approval, the Court has empowered local and state governments to pursue development opportunities that directly benefit Utah residents,' he said on X.
Utah Sen. Mike Lee shared similar sentiments, touting the ruling as a 'victory for Utah and American energy dominance!'