Supreme Court weighs case over Air Force detonating munitions in Guam

The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with a case about whether the Air Force needs to conduct environmental review before its munitions detonations in Guam. 

An environmental group, Prutehi Guåhan, has sued, saying that the decision to file a permit renewal application with the Guam Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) constitutes an agency action that triggered environmental review, noting that the move to submit the renewal application automatically allowed the Air Force to continue operating under the prior permit.

The Ninth Circuit court of appeals agreed with Prutehi Guåhan.

The Air Force, however, has asked the court to overturn that decision. It argues both that a decision to file a permit application is not a final agency action subject to judicial review and that since it is seeking the permit under the nation’s hazardous waste law, it does not have to conduct an environmental review under a separate statute known as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

NEPA requires the government to consider environmental consequences of major federal actions before they are carried out. 

The case could have broader implications for whether the U.S. government, including the military, needs to conduct environmental reviews of certain actions that are assessed by a separate authority such as the Guam EPA.

The justices asked tough questions of both the Air Force and Prutehi Guåhan, not giving a clear indication of which way they would rule.

However, in a case last term, the court narrowed the scope of environmental........

© The Hill