Shenandoah Valley Cetwork v. CAPKA .

The Federal Highway Administration ("FHWA") and the Virginia Department of Transportation ("VDOT") (collectively, "the Agencies") are planning improvements to Virginia’s Interstate 81 corridor using a tiered review process. Appellants—a group of environmental and preservation organizations—challenged the Agencies’ execution of the tiered process, alleging various constitutional and statutory violations. The district court rejected these challenges and granted summary judgment in favor of the Agencies. On appeal, appellants claim that the Agencies are attempting to foreclose consideration of environmentally friendly alternatives for specific sections of I-81 by choosing a corridor-wide improvement concept in the first stage of the review process. Appellants, however, misapprehend the Agencies’ position. As confirmed at oral argument, the Agencies plan to comply with the Stipulation in this case and the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), 42 U.S.C. §§ 4321 et seq., by considering site-specific alternatives to the corridor-wide concept in subsequent stages. Because there is no actual dispute here, and because appellants cannot show any injury or imminent threat of injury, this suit is not justiciable. Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal.