Prof. James Coleman Quoted by Reuters About U.S. Supreme Court Relaxing Environmental Oversight

Professor James Coleman was quoted by Reuters about the U.S. Supreme Court delivering setbacks to environmental interests in a series of recent rulings which included further restricting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority and relaxing requirements for environmental impact studies for proposed projects. One of the biggest environmental decisions was one that involved a proposed Utah railway intended to transport crude oil. The 8-0 ruling allows federal agencies to scale back their environmental reviews of projects they regulate. The ruling narrowed the scope of environmental obligations for federal agencies under a 1970 federal law called the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, passed by Congress with the intention of preventing environmental harms that might result from major projects. Prof. Coleman said the ruling could mark a turning point after lower courts for 50 years have used the National Environmental Policy Act “to raise higher and higher hurdles to new infrastructure.” The ruling, Coleman added, signaled to lower courts that they must defer to agencies when these agencies exercise discretion given to them by Congress. He said, “The court demanded a ‘course correction’ from lower courts, highlighting how courts’ failure to defer to environmental reviews conducted by agencies is holding up crucial infrastructure projects. It remains to be seen whether the lower courts will accept this course correction.”