Whenever this Supreme Court Agrees to Review a 9th Circuit Interpretation of a Law, the Outcome is Nearly Certain. This Nepa Case is No Exception.

This morning, our nation's highest court agreed to hear an appeal by seven Utah Counties and a railroad company of a DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision. That DC Circuit decision revoked the Surface Transportation Board's approval of a new 88-mile rail line connecting the Uinta Basin, a remote area the size of Maryland, with the rest of the Utah.

The Supreme Court will now decide whether the National Environmental Policy Act requires a federal agency to consider any environmental effects of a project subject to the Agency's jurisdiction or only those effects within the Agency's jurisdiction.

The Third, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuit Courts of Appeals have concluded that the Supreme Court's decision in Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen means that a Federal Agency's NEPA review is limited to those potential environmental effects of a project within the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency.

The DC Circuit, the Ninth Circuit, and…