Central Utah Project Litigation Documents

Page 46

by Ansel Adams in This is the American Earth SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DEFENSE SAN FRANCISCO JOHN D. HOFFMAN Executive Director JAMES W. MOORMAN LAURENS H. SILVER MICHAEL R. SHERWOOD Staff Attorneys FUND, INC. DENVER H. ANTHONY RUCKEL S. CHANDLER VISHER ALLEN W. STOKES, JR. Staff Attorneys December 4, 1974 Mr. John Hoffman Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund 311 California Street San Francisco, CA 94104 Re: Central Utah Project Litigation Dear John: I have reviewed the opinion of the 10th Circuit affirming the District Court of Utah's dismissal of our litigation. It is my opinion that we should seek a writ of certiorari from the U.S. Supreme Court. My reasons follow. We are all familiar with the recent trend of decisions under NEPA which set a standard of reasonability and fairness for review of the adequacy of environmental impact statements. Obviously, this standard is not working to the advantage of the litigant advo­cating environmental interests. If this standard, and particularly its application, is to be challenged at the Supreme Court level, I feel that the Central Utah Project litigation is a good case for such a challenge. Before the circuit, we focused on the question of the scope of the Bonneville Unit environmental impact statement. We asserted (1) that proper scope should include all units of the CUP, and (2) proper scope should also include the entire Bonneville Unit rather than only the Strawberry collection system, eventually admitted to be the true parameter of the EIS. It is this question of scope which I feel should be brought before the Supreme Court. San Francisco, CA: 311 California Street, Suite 311, 94104; Telephone [phone] Denver, CO: 530 Majestic Bldg., 209 16th Street, 80202; Telephone [phone]