Salt Lake City Corp. v. Shepherd

The parties stipulated to the dismissal without prejudice of U.S. Forest Service defendants because those defendants had not adopted the final EIS or completed any final agency action related to the project.

In December 2023, Salt Lake City, Sandy City, and the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake and Sandy filed a lawsuit challenging the review and authorization of transportation improvements in Little Cottonwood Canyon. The plaintiffs alleged the improvements would increase overall summer and winter use throughout the canyon, include the Alta and Snowbird ski resorts, and cause an array of impacts. The improvements included a gondola to provide access to the ski resorts, as well as road widening and other physical improvements to a state road and enhanced bus service and tolling. The plaintiffs alleged that federal defendants violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Wilderness Act of 1964, Section 4(f) of the Transportation Act of 1966, and the Administrative Procedure Act. Their NEPA claims included that the defendants failed to adequately evaluate the project’s greenhouse gas emissions or to consider the effects of a changing climate on the need for and operation of the project.