The Surface Transportation Board unlawfully authorized the construction of a new railway line in Utah’s Uinta Basin, the D.C. Circuit ruled Friday, finding that the agency didn’t fully consider its environmental effects.
The “limited weighing” of environmental policies “fails to demonstrate any serious grappling with the significant potential for environmental harm stemming from the project,” a three-judge panel on the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said.
The board granted a petition filed by seven Utah counties to receive an exemption from the agency’s formal application requirements for construction of the more than 80-mile rail line. The project ...