The question for the justices was whether an agency had complied with a federal law by issuing a 3,600-page report on the impact of a proposed railway in Utah.

The Supreme Court placed new limits on the bedrock environmental law that has, for decades, required federal agencies to study the environmental effects of energy and infrastructure projects such as pipelines,

The Supreme Court put new limits on the scope of federally mandated environmental impact statements, clearing the way for a proposed rail line linking Utah and Colorado.

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 intended “legislative acorn.

I think what the Supreme Court has done is given the administration a justification for a lot of things that it was probably already planning and doing,” said Holland & Knight partner Rafe Petersen. “The administration now has a clear road map in amending NEPA.

The Supreme Court decision centered on the National Environmental Policy Act and a rail line in Utah that would carry billions of gallons of oil.