Overview

• In an 8-0 decision with Justice Gorsuch recused, the Supreme Court overturned the D.C. Circuit’s ruling and held that the Surface Transportation Board lawfully approved the 88-mile crude-oil railway.
• Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s opinion instructs courts to defer substantially to agencies’ factual determinations and bars them from examining indirect or separate project impacts under NEPA.
• The case is sent back to the D.C. Circuit for reconsideration under the tightened deference framework, with new briefs due from both supporters and opponents.
• Backers led by the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition say they will restart endangered species reviews, seek right-of-way permits, and secure private financing to move construction forward.
• Environmental groups, Eagle County and Colorado’s attorney general warn the decision could undercut climate and community protections and pledge to pursue further legal challenges.