ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20015
No(s). 21-1039 (4th Cir. Jan 25, 2022)

The Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded the Forest Service's and BLM's renewed records of decision (RODs) for an interstate natural gas pipeline to cross through Jefferson National Forest. The groups argued the agencies violated NEPA, the National Forest Management Act (NMFA), and the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA) by inadequately considering the pipeline's sediment and erosion impacts and by approving the conventional bore method for crossing streams without analyzing its environmental effects. The court found the agencies failed to account for real-world data suggesting increased sedimentation along the pipeline route, and that their approval of the conventional bore method was improper. The groups also argued the agencies violated the MLA by insufficiently evaluating alternative routes that did not pass through national forests, and that the Forest Service failed to apply its 2012 Planning Rule's directly related substantive requirements within the scope and scale of the amendments to the forest plan to accommodate the pipeline. The court found the supplemental EIS demonstrated that the agencies did consider alternative routes, but that they failed to comply with the Service's 2012 Planning Rule. It granted in part and denied in part the petitions for review, vacated the renewed RODs, and remanded to the agencies for further proceedings.