The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals found “numerous” violations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in the Surface Transportation Board’s review of the proposed construction and operation of an 80-mile rail line in Utah for which the predominant purpose would be transporting waxy crude oil produced in the Uinta Basin. The violations included failure to disclose reasonably foreseeable upstream and downstream effects of increased oil drilling and refining, including greenhouse gas emissions from combustion. The court was not persuaded, however, that any mischaracterization of the upstream environmental and downstream climate change impacts of the project as “cumulative” instead of “indirect” impacts had any prejudicial effect. The court also found violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (ICCT Act), but not the National Historic Preservation Act. With respect to the ICCT Act, the D.C. Circuit found that the Board’s order exempting the project from the full application requirements was arbitrary and capricious because the Board failed to weigh certain environmental effects, including climate effects of the combustion of fuel resulting from a major expansion of oil drilling. The court said “the ICCT Act necessitated a more fulsome explanation for the Board’s conclusion that the Railway’s transportation benefits outweighed the project’s environmental impacts.” The court vacated the exemption order, as well as the environmental impact statement and biological opinion.

Challenge to a Surface Transportation Board decision approving construction and operation of an 85-mile rail line in Utah.

Eagle County v. Surface Transportation Board

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D.C. Circuit Said Surface Transportation Board Gave Insufficient Consideration to Environmental Effects of Utah Rail Line

Filed

United States of America

District of Columbia

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Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

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D.C. Circuit Said Surface Transportation Board Gave Insufficient Consideration to Environmental Effects of Utah Rail Line

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance