The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway, if built, would connect the remote, oil-rich Uinta Basin to the rest of the country and refineries on the Gulf Coast. The railroad could quintuple the region’s oil exports, according to a 2021 environmental review.

A proposed western railroad expansion aimed at boosting crude oil production in Utah is coming before the Supreme Court in a case that could have wider effects on federal environmental regulation.

The U.S. Supreme Court appeared inclined on Tuesday to limit the extent to which federal agencies must review the environmental impact of projects they regulate in a dispute over a proposed railway in Utah meant to carry crude oil that was challenged by environmental groups and a Colorado county.