Recent U.S. Supreme Court Ruling Could Make Completing Energy Infrastructure Easier Again

• The court ruled in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado to limit the scope of environmental review obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• The ruling should lessen the ability of infrastructure opponents to use the judicial system to stymie projects with expansive environmental reviews

For years there have been questions about whether long-haul interstate energy infrastructure projects will be able to be completed in the years to come. The regulatory and judicial review, along with local opposition, of such projects has cast a big shadow across the midstream industry. However, on May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court issued its ruling in the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, which could reshape judicial precedent moving forward and open the door for new energy infrastructure.

The case in question concerned a planned 88-mile railroad in northeast Utah which would connect the Uinta basin with the national railroad network. Under federal law, new railroads must be approved by the US Surface Transportation Board (STB). As part of its review, the STB completed an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under NEPA. However, as we’ve seen across numerous other projects, the District of Columbia Circuit Court vacated the EIS in part because the STB failed to analyze the potential impacts of increased upstream drilling and downstream refining.

The Supreme Court overturned the lower court’s ruling and clarified the scope of environmental review under NEPA. The Court said an EIS should focus on the direct environmental impacts of the specific project and not every effect or project that may result upstream or downstream of the project in question. Additionally, courts should allow “substantial deference” (i.e. defer to the agency’s expertise) regarding agency decision making so long as decisions fall within a “broad zone of reasonableness.”

This decision along with legislative changes to NEPA as part of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 should streamline the federal permitting process for infrastructure projects and limit judicial challenges.