Californians are no strangers to freeway interchanges and their strategic importance to ambitious land developers. This widespread experience with the interchange oasis phenomenon may have played a part in an important new Ninth Circuit case¹ that firmly subjects development schemes at highway access points to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).² Judge Duniway's opinion for the unanimous panel displays a solid grasp of the realities of "private" land development projects and the vital role which governmental decisions regarding highway interchange location can play in them. More generally, it recognizes that municipalities have interests that may be adversely affected by nearby development projects; it is sensitive to the vulnerability of the physical environment to harm from development, harm that may not be detected without careful study; and it firmly opts for evaluation of these risks, through the NEPA environmental impact statement (EIS) process, prior to permitting any work on a project.

In legal terms, City of Davis represents a fusion of standing law, NEPA requirements, and federal highway statutes into a matrix calculated to ensure that the environment is adequately protected from helter-skelter roadside developments, and from unexamined federal actions generally.