29-05-2025
Legal challenge to SunZia project gets a lifeline
A federal appeals court has revived a legal challenge to a major Southwest electric transmission line, in a win for local tribes and advocacy groups opposing the construction plans for the clean energy project.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling dismissing claims that the Interior Department had failed to properly consult about the potential damage to historical and cultural sites in the path of the 550-mile SunZia line in the San Pedro Valley.
The planned transmission line is designed to provide 3 million customers in California and Arizona with mostly renewable power, and would extend from New Mexico to Arizona.
Advertisement
The appeals court found that Tohono O'odham Nation, the San Carlos Apache Tribe, Archaeology Southwest and the Center for Biological Diversity had 'plausibly alleged' that the Interior had violated a negotiated agreement for the implementation of the project, known as a programmatic agreement or PA.
