SALT LAKE CITY — The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court considered whether to rein in a major environmental law in a case involving 88-miles of a proposed railway being developed in eastern Utah.
On Tuesday, the nation's top court heard arguments in the case brought by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition in Utah against Eagle County, Colo., and a coalition of environmental groups who challenged the Uinta Basin Railway project.
"This is a very important moment for us for those of us that care about breathing clean air and drinking clean water," said Deeda Seed of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the legal challenge against the railroad project.
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The railway would be built in Utah southwest of Roosevelt and stretching toward Soldier Summit. It's designed to connect the Uintah Basin's oil fields to Gulf Coast states for processing. When completed, the railway is expected to lead to an expansion of eastern Utah's fossil fuel and energy development economy.
But Eagle County, Colo., and a coalition of environmental groups challenged the project and its impacts, taking the case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sided with them and ruled that not enough consideration was given by federal agencies to the impacts of communities and the environment down the line. The Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, which represents the Utah counties that want the rail line built, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court who agreed to hear the case.
"What we’re saying is that you need to look at all of the environmental harm and that frankly the harm to the Colorado River corridor needs to be included," Seed told FOX 13 News in an interview on Tuesday following the arguments. "And the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with us."
The case appears to be a vehicle for a challenge to the National Environmental Policy Act and how far it can go. Paul Clement, the attorney for the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, urged the Court to set limits.
"It is designed to inform government decision making, not paralyze it," he told the Court.
The justices peppered him with questions centered around where to draw the line. Justice Sonia Sotomayor bluntly told him: "You want absolute rules that make no sense."
"With respect, I guess you'll decide whether they make sense," Clement replied.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted various federal agencies involved and "so many different environmental checks are in place on land, air, water, pollution."
"What is NEPA adding to the substantive statutes, and how should that affect how we think about NEPA in terms of what the judicial role is with respect to enforcing NEPA?" he asked.
"As it's currently applied in the D.C. Circuit and the Ninth Circuit, NEPA is adding a juicy litigation target for project opponents," Clement answered.
Obviously, attorneys for Eagle County and the environmental groups disagreed.
"The impacts at issue here are reasonably foreseeable consequences of this $2 billion railway project whose entire rationale is to transport crude oil," said their attorney, William Jay, who urged the Court to consider the broader impacts beyond an 88-mile rail line project, including oil spills and wildfires.
Utah's Republican political leaders and the Ute Tribe are supporting the Uinta Basin Railway. The tribe has accused "Colorado elites" of threatening its economy and safety with the legal challenge.
Governor Spencer Cox "fully supports the construction of the Uinta Basin Railway, a critical infrastructure project that will help restore America’s energy independence while delivering significant economic benefits to rural Utah. Requiring agencies to engage in speculative analysis of distant downstream impacts, as the D.C. Circuit Court has done, sets a dangerous precedent that jeopardizes energy-related projects nationwide," his office said in a statement to FOX 13 News on Tuesday.
Utah has pushed for expansion of energy development statewide, including more oil and gas production.
"We’ll always fight for energy independence and stand up for rural jobs. We hope the Court makes the right decision," House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, said in a statement to FOX 13 News.
Seed said she was worried about the impact of the Court's decision on NEPA as well as the incoming Trump administration's push for deregulation on projects that carry environmental sensitivities.
"We’re worried because the National Environmental Policy Act is a bedrock environmental law that protects the public interest against a rampaging industry that wants to build whatever it wants wherever it wants without consequence," she said.
The justices are expected to issue a ruling in the case next year.
