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Oil & Gas Environmental Litigation

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Supreme Court Decision Limits the Opportunity for NEPA to Derail Projects

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent 8-0 ruling limited the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the national environmental law that mandates federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Supreme Court Issues First Major NEPA Ruling in Two Decades

On May 29, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8-0 opinion that clarifies the scope of environmental effects analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and requires substantial judicial deference to...more

Blank Rome LLP

Supreme Court Scales Back the NEPA Roadblock to Infrastructure Projects

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Overview - On May 29, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a significant decision clarifying the scope of environmental review required under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) for major infrastructure...more

McGlinchey Stafford

SCOTUS Reins in NEPA Scope in Seven County

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In a landmark ruling issued May 29, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously reversed the D.C. Circuit in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, sharply limiting the scope of environmental review...more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

SCOTUS Limits Scope of NEPA Reviews, Reinstates Approval of Uinta Basin Railway

In a highly anticipated decision for project developers and permitting agencies, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the D.C. Circuit’s 2023 decision that had invalidated federal approval of the Uinta Basin Railway. In Seven...more

Perkins Coie

Supreme Court Issues “Course-Correcting” NEPA Decision

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The Supreme Court of the United States’ opinion, issued May 29, 2025, in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, reaffirms the Court’s earlier, seminal decisions expounding judicial review under the...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Pruning NEPA’s Branches: The Supreme Court Reshapes Environmental Reviews for Major Actions

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Over the last half century, federal courts have interpreted the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to require federal agencies to study an ever-growing range of indirect effects and impacts when approving large...more

Holland & Hart LLP

SCOTUS Reins In NEPA: A Game-Changer for Infrastructure Development

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The U.S. Supreme Court instructed lower courts to make a dramatic “course correction” in how they handle claims under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in its first major NEPA ruling in nearly two decades. Writing...more

Jenner & Block

Supreme Court Limits Scope of NEPA’s Analysis of Upstream and Downstream Environmental Impacts of Federal Actions

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On May 29, 2025, in a 8-0 ruling (Justice Gorsuch recused himself from the case), the Supreme Court held that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit erred in requiring federal regulators to evaluate the potential...more

Steptoe & Johnson PLLC

Infrastructure Projects Win a Victory in the U.S. Supreme Court

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled on May 29 that lower courts had overstepped their bounds when reviewing federal agency actions pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The decision in Seven County...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

US Supreme Court Clarifies Scope of Review Under NEPA

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The decision emphasizes the importance of judicial deference to agencies on NEPA and narrows the scope of environmental analyses....more

Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law

Supreme Court Holds That Agencies Have “Substantial” Discretion to Omit Upstream and Downstream Projects from Environmental...

On May 29, 2025, a unanimous Supreme Court (voting 8-0, with Justice Gorsuch recused) held that federal agencies need not consider the environmental effects of “upstream” and “downstream” projects that are separate in time or...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Supreme Court Clarifies and Streamlines NEPA Requirements

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On May 29, 2025 the Supreme Court issued a decision that has the practical effect of reducing the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, and making it more likely that agency environmental reviews...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Supreme Court Clarifies NEPA Scope in Seven County Decision, Distinguishes Sabal Trail

In a significant decision issued on May 29, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court found that the Surface Transportation Board (the Board) was entitled to substantial deference under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Supreme Court Curbs the Scope of NEPA Reviews in Landmark Decision: Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County,...

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In the first major National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) case to reach the Supreme Court in almost two decades, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision on May 29, 2025, in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v....more

Allen Matkins

“A Course Correction”: Supreme Court Reinforces Agency Deference and Narrows the Scope of Environmental Effects that Agencies Must...

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On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they carry out, fund, or approve — does not...more

Hanson Bridgett

The Supreme Court Takes Aim at NEPA

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On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court issued its Opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition et al. v. Eagle County, Colorado et al., one of the most high-profile National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, cases to reach...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

One-Track Mind: Unanimous SCOTUS Decision on Rail Line Approval Further Narrows Scope of NEPA

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On May 29, the Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado that dramatically changes the way courts scrutinize federal agencies’ environmental reviews under the...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

The Supreme Court Issues a Major Course Correction, Limiting The Role of Federal Courts in NEPA Cases

On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, limiting the role of federal courts in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) cases. The Court recognized that...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 5.30.25

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of an alliance of local counties that support a planned 88-mile railroad project in Utah, concluding that the federal environmental review process did not have to consider...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Fifth Circuit Clouds Threshold Dose Analysis in Ruffin v. BP

Plaintiffs in toxic tort cases must prove both general and specific causation, generally through the testimony of experts. Experts must establish that a specific chemical exposure can (and did) cause the specific injury at...more

Bracewell LLP

Supreme Court Hits the Reset Button on the National Environmental Policy Act

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On May 29, 2025, the US Supreme Court pressed the reset button on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), issuing an 8-0 decision intended to convert what NEPA has become, a “judicial oak,” back into the originally...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 5.23.25

Allen Matkins on

The Senate on Thursday blocked California’s landmark plan to phase out the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles, setting up a legal battle that could shape the electric car market in the United States. The consequences of...more

Mintz

Pennsylvania State Court Dismisses Climate Tort Litigation Against Major Fossil Fuel Companies

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A local state court in Pennsylvania recently dismissed an array of climate tort claims brought against major fossil fuel companies by a local government--in this case, Bucks County. Among the three dozen or so climate tort...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Fifteen States Sue the Trump Administration Over “Energy Emergency” Executive Order

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On May 9, 2025, fifteen democratic states (“Plaintiff States”) sued the Trump Administration in Washington District Court, claiming that President Trump’s executive order “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” (“Executive...more

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