The Courts Have the Authority to Review Substantive Decisions of Administrative Agencies Under the National Environmental Policy Act

Analyzes whether the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has acted in the spirit of the National Environmental Policy Act in applying the Administrative Procedure Act to environmental cases. The author lists the judicial methods that are used to enforce and provide safeguards for environmental interests. The author concludes that in applying APA authority to review substantive agency decisions in NEPA cases, the Fifth Circuit has acted in compliance with the spirit of the Act. Judicial scrutiny of the substantive merits of administrative agency decisions helps to insure that the policies enunciated in the Act will be enforced and provides an additional safeguard of environmental interests.