An appeals court has dismissed claims that federal regulators failed to adequately weigh the risks of building a 32-mile gas pipeline to supply a Tennessee Valley Authority power plant.
In a ruling Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was in line with federal law when it found the project’s environmental effects would not be significant.
The court’s majority relied heavily on the Supreme Court’s decision this summer in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, which found that agencies get considerable deference for their interpretation of the National Environmental Policy Act. The ruling also limited how far NEPA reviews could stray from effects within an agency’s jurisdiction or from effects close to the project itself.
Judge Justin Walker, who wrote the majority opinion, said the 2025 Supreme Court ruling has changed the legal landscape, ending the period where courts had ordered expansive environmental reviews spanning hundreds or even thousands of pages.
