It’s been strangely quiet in Washington: after the House passed its “Big, Beautiful Bill,” Congress left town for its traditional Memorial Day recess. No new executive orders have emanated from the White House since before the holiday weekend.
But the third branch of government, the judiciary, was more active than ever last week, shaping (and blocking) policies that have direct and indirect impacts on CRM.
Herewith a few major cases that will likely reverberate for months or years to come:
Tariffs Blocked, then (Temporarily) Restored. The big judicial news last week came from the somewhat obscure U.S. Court of International Trade, which ruled Wednesday that President Trump went well beyond his authority in invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to levy tariffs on virtually every country in the world.
But a day later, a federal appeals court agreed to temporarily put the judgement on hold, keeping the tariffs in place as the government appeals. Separately, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia also blocked Trump’s tariffs, but immediately paused their ruling for 14 days while the government appeals.
For those unable to keep up with all the tariff developments, President Trump issued a worldwide 10-percent tariff on April 2 (aka, Liberation Day), with additional tariffs on many countries. But he delayed most of the higher country-by-country tariffs two weeks later as the bond market faltered, while keeping the across-the-board 10 percent tariff in place, but raised tariffs on China to 145 percent before agreeing to lower them to 30 percent.
Supreme Court Narrows NEPA. The Supreme Court 8-0 last week ruled that courts should narrow the scope of reviews required under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) to just the environmental effects of specific projects, and not to broader up- and downstream effects.
The case arose out of an 88-mile rail line being proposed in Utah to transport crude oil to refineries along the Gulf Coast. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board approved the project following the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS). But the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Board violated NEPA because they failed to consider the upstream and downstream effects of the rail line, namely the possibility of increased drilling upstream and more oil refining and distribution downstream.
In the Supreme Court’s opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that “the Board’s determination that its EIS need not evaluate possible environmental effects from upstream and downstream projects separate from the [rail project] complied with NEPA’s procedural requirements, particularly NEPA’s textually mandated focus on the “proposed action” under agency review. While indirect environmental effects of the project itself may fall within NEPA’s scope even if they might extend outside the geographical territory of the project or materialize later in time, the fact that the project might foreseeably lead to the construction or increased use of a separate project does not mean the agency must consider that separate project’s environmental effects.” (emphasis in original)
Notably, the Court’s liberal justices concurred in the decision, albeit for different reasons, concluding that the Surface Transportation Board lacked the authority to make judgements about the impacts of energy production and refinement.
Harvard Wins Temporary Reprieve for International Students. In a case that could echo throughout higher education, a U.S. District Judge ruled last Thursday that Harvard University can continue enrolling international students.
The ruling extends a previous decision that blocked efforts by the Trump administration to prevent international students from enrolling at the school. But according to news reports, the administration is exploring other ways to prevent Harvard from enrolling international students.
The administration’s effort is part of a larger fight between the White House and a number of prominent universities, including Columbia and Penn, which has included the blocking of federal funding to the schools.
International students comprise an increasing portion of many universities’ student bodies (25 percent of Harvard’s students are from abroad), meaning that efforts to reduce or block U.S. higher education institutions from enrolling international students will have a large impact on their budgets.
Trump Administration Seeks to End DBE Program. As reported previously in ACRASphere, the Trump administration has asked a district court to effectively end the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, which sets aside a percentage of contracts for women- and minority-owned firms.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice joined with two Indiana-based companies that sued over the program to ask the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky to accept a consent order that would prohibit using race or gender as a consideration in the approval of a DBE contract. Should the judge approve the consent order, the USDOT would still be able to set goals for awarding contracts for disadvantaged businesses but not be able to use race or gender as a factor.
As a number of CRM firms that compete for transportation contracts are eligible as DBEs, ACRA is watching this case – and all court cases that could affect CRM – closely.
Help Show Your Elected Officials That #HistoryMatters
As recent developments show, the need to educate policymakers about the benefits of CRM is as great as ever. One of the best ways to accomplish this is with site visits and constituent meetings in their local offices.
This summer ACRA, SAA and SHA are bringing back our joint campaign to bring senators and representatives to project sites during the upcoming August congressional recess. In representing our community before Congress, we deliver the message of how CRM preserves our shared cultural heritage for present and future generations, and how this preservation of our past enriches local communities and creates economic benefits.
To learn more about how you can join the campaign, watch a recording of our May 8 HistoryMatters webinar, read the toolkit, and don’t hesitate to contact us at info@acra-crm.org with any questions.