According to a Fox News report, the Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision on Thursday, limiting the authority of judges to block infrastructure projects due to environmental concerns.
From Fox News:
The justices handed down the lone decision Thursday morning, slightly curbing judicial authority at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration is loudly complaining about alleged judicial overreach. The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, relates to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the requirement for environmental impact statements (EIS) in infrastructure projects supported by the federal government.
“NEPA does not allow 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,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in the opinion of the court.
“Courts should afford substantial deference and should not micromanage those agency choices so long as they fall within a broad zone of reasonableness,” the opinion continued.
Kavanaugh went on to state that agencies should not be expected to consider the environmental impact of any project aside from the one they are currently working on, “even if” the environmental impacts “might extend outside the geographical territory of the project or materialize later in time.”
“The fact that the project might foreseeably lead to the construction or increased use of a separate project does not mean the agency must consider that separate project’s environmental effects,” the court ruled.
Thursday’s ruling was 8-0, with Justice Neil Gorsuch not participating in the case. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion.
More over at Fox News:
BREAKING: Supreme Court limits judges' authority to block infrastructure projects over environmental concerns pic.twitter.com/Ls7lsOZlvh
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 29, 2025