By Andrew Chung and John Kruzel
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court is set on Tuesday to examine the extent to which federal agencies must review the environmental impact of projects they regulate in a dispute over a proposed railway in Utah that was challenged by environmental groups and a Colorado county.
The court will hear arguments in an appeal by a coalition of seven Utah counties of a lower court’s decision that halted the project and faulted the environmental impact statement issued by a federal body called the Surface Transportation Board in approving the railway.
The counties are seeking to construct an 88-mile (142-km) railway line in northeastern Utah to connect the sparsely populated Uinta Basin region to an existing freight rail network that would be used primarily to transport waxy .
The case tests the scope of environmental impact studies that federal agencies must conduct under a U.S. law called the National Environmental Policy Act, enacted in 1970 to prevent environmental harms that might result from major projects.
Companies and environmental groups are closely watching for the potential effect the case could have on infrastructure and energy…
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