Environmentalists continue to bring National Environmental Policy Act challenges to federal permitting reviews despite a US Supreme Court decision reining in judicial scrutiny.
Litigators say there’s been a “chilling effect” on courts’ willingness to question the scope of those reviews since the justices decided Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County last May.
Lower courts largely have upheld environmental studies backing an assortment of permits—including logging projects, pipeline expansions, and even a makeshift migrant detention facility. Only three have vacated an agency action in the wake of the unanimous Supreme Court opinion chastising an “overly intrusive” interpretation of NEPA that …