The federal district court for the Western District of Wisconsin granted summary judgment to federal defendants and intervenor-defendant utilities in a challenge to a land exchange that granted the utilities fee ownership of land within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge to facilitate completion of a 101-mile high-voltage transmission line. The court concluded that the action was not moot even though the transmission line project had been completed and placed in service in September 2024, but on the merits the court rejected arguments that the exchange violated the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The court found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (FWS’s) analysis of the land exchange—“the only reviewable federal action”—complied with NEPA because FWS considered possible environmental impacts, including climate consequences, and a reasonable range of alternatives. With respect to climate impacts, the court noted that a supplemental environmental assessment had found that the land exchange and related route modifications would not change the minor, long-term increase in greenhouse gas emissions over the previously approved transmission line project and that “very minor” climate benefits were expected from carbon sequestration resulting from management for resource conservation purposes of the new property incorporated into the refuge. The court also found that the defendants complied with NEPA’s public participation requirements.

Challenge to federal agency actions that would facilitate development of a high-voltage transmission line from Dubuque County, Iowa, to Middleton, Wisconsin, passing through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.

National Wildlife Refuge Association v. Rural Utilities Service

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Wisconsin Federal Court Said Environmental Review Considered Climate Consequences of Land Exchange for Completed Transmission Line

Filed

United States of America

Wisconsin

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Wisconsin Federal Court Said Environmental Review Considered Climate Consequences of Land Exchange for Completed Transmission Line

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance