SCOTUS Limits Infrastructure Environmental Reviews

CNN reports:

The Supreme Court on Thursday limited the scope of environmental reviews of major infrastructure projects in a decision that could speed up approvals of highways, airports and pipelines. The decision is the latest setback for environmentalists at the conservative Supreme Court, which has in recent years shut down regulations intended to protect wetlands, for instance, and reduce air pollution wafting across state lines. Trump repeatedly slammed the government’s environmental review process as too cumbersome.

The National Environmental Policy Act, signed by President Richard Nixon, is considered one of the foundational environmental laws formed at the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Justice Neil Gorsuch, a conservative, recused himself from the case. He did not explain his decision to back away from the appeal but the move came after Democrats on Capitol Hill argued that Denver-based billionaire Philip Anschutz, a longtime ally of Gorsuch, had a financial interest in the outcome of the case.

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BREAKING: An 8-0 Supreme Court *limits* the scope of environmental reviews federal agencies must do for projects, saying studying immediate effects is sufficient. #SCOTUS Justice Gorsuch recused.https://t.co/5dAFIVd7q8 pic.twitter.com/D6RNp7iOvI

— Katie Buehler (@bykatiebuehler) May 29, 2025