High Court Affirms Use Of NEPA Injunctions Without Setting New Test

摘要

The Supreme Court is reaffirming the test for when judges can block projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in a ruling that avoids raising the bar for activists seeking to block harmful projects, while emphasizing that injunctions are "extraordinary" remedies that lower courts should not grant easily.rnIn a 7-1 decision in Monsanto, et al. v. Geertson Seed Farms, et al., the court backed Monsanto's claims that a lower court judge overstepped his authority in issuing a nationwide permanent injunction against the planting of Roundup Ready alfalfa - a genetically engineered seed - while the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducts an environmental impact statement (EIS) to allow the planting. The decision is available on InsideEPA.com. See page 2 for details.