WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday backed a multibillion-dollaroil railroad expansion in Utah, endorsing a limited interpretation of a key environmental law. The8-0 decisioncomes after an appeal to the high court from backers of the project, which is aimed atquadrupling oil productionin the remote area of sandstone and sagebrush. Supporters said restricting the scope of environmental reviews under theNational Environmental Policy Actwould speed development. The case centers on theUinta Basin Railway,a proposed 88-mile (142-kilometer) expansion that would connect oil and gas producers to the broader rail network and allow them to access larger markets. The justices reversed alower court decisionand restored a critical approval from federal regulators on theSurface Transportation Board. The project could still face additional legal and regulatory hurdles. Environmental groups and a Colorado county had argued that regulators must consider a broad range of potential impacts when they consider new development, including the potential impact of producing and refining so much more oil. The justices, though, found that regulators were right to consider the direct effects of the project, rather than the wider upstream and downstream impact. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that courts should defer to regulators on "where to draw the line" on what factors to take into account. Four other conservative justices joined his opinion. The court's conservative majority court has taken steps to curtail the power of federal regulators in other cases, includingstriking downthe decades-oldChevron doctrinethat made it easier for the federal government to set a wide range of regulations. Justice Sonia Sotomayor agreed with the outcome, but with a different legal reasoning. She said federal regulators do not have the authority to take into account any harms caused by the oil that might eventually be carried on the railway. She was joined by her two liberal colleagues. Justice Neil Gorsuchdid not participate in the case after facing calls to step aside over ties toPhilip Anschutz, a Colorado billionaire whose ownership of oil wells in the area means he could benefit if the project goes through. Gorsuch, as a lawyer in private practice, had represented Anschutz.
