A federal court is giving another chance to a lawsuit by native Americans against the SunZia electric transmission line in southern Arizona.
The 550-mile line, if approved, would be the largest renewable clean energy project in U.S. history and carry wind energy from New Mexico to California but opponents argue it will also destroy historic and cultural sites when it runs through the historic San Pedro Valley.
A Ninth Circuit ruling determined the trial judge hearing the lawsuit brought by the Tohono O’odham and San Carlos Apache tribes was in error when the suit was dismissed based on wrong standards. The three-judge panel found the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s “final agency decision” was its 2023 notice for construction and not the 2015 approval of the route.
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