A federal district court has turned back an attempt by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to require six utility companies applying for rights of way for electrical transmission lines across federal lands to reimburse the government for costs incurred in preparing environmental impact statements (EISs) in connection with processing the applications. The decision¹ is the first judicial pronouncement directly construing the applicability of the Independent Offices Appropriation Act's (IOAA) provision² for agency assessment of fees for work performed or benefit provided to the significant costs incurred in preparing impact statements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on requests for federal permits or licenses. At least one court of appeals had suggested that recovery of such costs would be possible under the statute,³ and commentators have asserted that such an assessment system would work to internalize the costs of environmental analysis by placing them on the private sponsor of the project or action.⁴ The district court's reasoning is flawed in several respects, however, and its decision is being appealed. The issue of agency recovery of EIS preparation costs under the IOAA thus remains very much alive.