Evans Family Media spoke with a member of the Uinta Basin Railway legal team after Tuesday’s highly anticipated Supreme Court hearing and the interview is available to listen to on BasinNow.com. Jonathan Stearmer has been involved as an attorney in this project for over 6 years, first representing Uintah County and then as an attorney for the 7 County Infrastructure Coalition. When asked why the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, Stearmer said, “Looking at the environmental law track record of the Supreme Court over the past 4 to 5 years we feel strongly the Supreme Court took this case to provide additional guidance from 20 year old decisions that they issued that the 9th Circuit and DC Circuit Court of Appeals are not following.” Specifically, decisions tied to the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its effect on infrastructure projects across the nation. Oral arguments were submitted from both sides on Tuesday and there are no other hearings planned. A written decision is anticipated by March. Between now and then, the justices will be working together to see where the majority opinion is going to land and then a draft of the opinion will be circulated between them until the decision is released. Stearmer was asked his opinion on what way the Supreme Court will rule and his answer was confident. “This is one of those cases that you would much rather be the petitioner than the respondent in this case,” shared Stearmer in response. Listen to the entire interview by visiting www.BasinNow.com and clicking on Public Affairs under the Community tab.
