Decided May 29, 2025
The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies that are considering applications for their official approval of development projects to prepare and publish an Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) regarding the proposed project. 42 U.S.C. §4332(2)(C). In this case, the Court held 8-0 (Justice Gorsuch abstained) that the adequacy of an agency’s compliance with the EIS requirement is left largely up to the discretion of the agency itself, but the EIS requirement is nevertheless limited to the agency’s regulatory authority over the proposed project, so that the agency need not consider the environmental impact of work beyond the agency’s regulatory authority. The Court relied on and cited its earlier caselaw precedent construing the scope and intent of the EIS requirement at 42 U.S.C. §4332(2)(C).
Comment: The Court’s effort here, according to the Opinion of Justice Kavanaugh, Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Alito, Justice Barrett, and Justice Thomas, was to decrease the number of lawsuits filed to stop proposed development projects before they could begin, by challenging the adequacy of the agency’s Environmental Impact Statement. To the extent the majority’s effort is consistent with the intent and purpose of 42 U.S.C. §4332(2)(C), as determined from that statutory provision’s language and context, the Court’s effort was entirely appropriate. It was.
Dan D. Rhea
RECENT RULINGS 