National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Erie Unit 2262 v. Federal Highway Administration

The federal district court for the Western District of Pennsylvania upheld the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) approval of a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) categorical exclusion for a roadway project in the City of Erie. The court rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that the FHWA had failed to examine significant impacts to and from climate change. First, the court said the argument that NEPA’s regulations required consideration of foreseeable indirect impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions from an increased number of vehicles on the road, was “misplaced” because the regulations applied only where an EIS was required. The court also agreed with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) that no regulation or federal standard established that the lack of a greenhouse gas emissions analysis under NEPA rendered an agency decision arbitrary and capricious. Second, the court found that based on PennDOT’s determination that the project was located entirely outside the 100-year floodplain, “it was reasonable to conclude that increased flooding resulting from climate change will not pose a significant risk.”

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