Prof. James Coleman Quoted by Washington Examiner About Supreme Court Considering the Scope of National Environmental Policy Act

Professor James Coleman was quoted by the Washington Examiner about the Supreme Court appearing poised to narrow the scope of law requiring research on “environmental impacts” before starting large development projects, a more than 50-year-old requirement under the National Environmental Policy Act that critics say has led to delays and increased costs for large-scale energy projects. During arguments on Tuesday, the justices considered a case involving an 88-mile rail line in Utah designed to transport crude oil to Gulf Coast refineries. Environmentalists and local governments have argued that regulators failed to assess the broader environmental consequences of the project, including Gulf Coast air pollution and the risk of rail problems along the route. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit previously sided with these challengers, requiring the Surface Transportation Board to evaluate the project’s “upstream and downstream” effects on the environment. However, the justices signaled skepticism toward such an expansive interpretation. Prof. Coleman said, “Throughout the argument, a majority of the Court seemed to signal that the D.C. Circuit under review had required the federal government to consider environmental impacts too far afield from the railroad project that was under review.”