ELR Citation: 51 ELR 20206
No(s). 2:19-CV-14-FL (E.D.N.C. Dec 13, 2021) (Flanagan, J.)

A district court granted summary judgment for the Federal Highway Administration (FHwA) in a challenge to FHwA's decision to allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation to construct a toll bridge across Currituck Sound near the Outer Banks. Environmental groups argued the decision relied on an arbitrary and capricious alternatives analysis under NEPA and that FHwA had violated the Act's procedural requirements. The court found that FHwA considered all relevant factors, including possible alternatives or mitigation measures, and made a "good faith judgment" in its final EIS and ROD for the bridge, and that its decision not to prepare a supplemental EIS was neither arbitrary nor capricious. It granted summary judgment for FHwA.