On Wednesday, APGA joined a coalition of energy groups in submitting an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in a case that will determine the breadth of environmental reviews an agency must conduct to fulfil the requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Col. is a case before SCOTUS that is addressing whether NEPA requires a federal agency to examine environmental impacts beyond the proximate effects of the action over which the agency has regulatory authority. In other words, the Court will be deciding whether potential indirect environmental impacts must be considered by the agency that is conducting the NEPA review if that agency has no authority over those indirect impacts. A classic example would be whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must consider the potential impacts of new natural gas development that may be spurred by the Commission’s approval of a major interstate pipeline project to satisfy its requirements under the statute.
Through the amicus brief, APGA and co-amici argue that the scope of NEPA, as a procedural statute, has been unlawfully expanded and that SCOTUS should return to an earlier precedent that made clear that NEPA does not require review of environmental effects for which the agency is not the legally relevant cause. The brief points to how NEPA, the most heavily litigated environmental statute, has been a significant driver behind permitting delays that have impeded energy infrastructure development and increased costs for consumers. In total, there were 20 amici briefs submitted, with represented interests ranging from state and tribal governments to all aspects of industry due to the far-reaching impacts this case will have on all kinds of future infrastructure development.
The coalition that jointly submitted this amicus brief also included the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA), National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC), Midcontinent Independent System Operator, INC. (MISO), Liquid Energy Pipeline Association (LEPA), Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA), Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA), Center for LNG (CLNG), and Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA).
A copy of the amicus brief is available here. For those interested, related files in the docket, including briefs of petitioners and other amici briefs in support of petitioners, are available here.
If you have questions regarding this article, please contact Renée Lani of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-0836 or by email at rlani@apga.org.