On June 15, 2020, the Supreme Court issued a 7-2 ruling reversing a lower court decision on Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association which stopped construction on the $7.4 billion, 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) owned by Duke Energy and Dominion Energy.[1] The Supreme Court ruling gives the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers U.S. national forests and grasslands, the authority to grant the ACP developers right of way on the project because it goes over 600 feet underground across a portion of the Appalachian Trail, which is part of the National Park System. This does not necessarily mean that the U.S. Forest Service will approve the project. Critics of the pipeline say that the pipeline still has other hurdles in its path and the decision is not a definitive greenlight for the project. However, both utilities issued statements that the ruling is "an affirmation for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline."

The Supreme Court ruling will also affect the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303-mile project running from West Virginia to southern Virginia by crossing the Jefferson National Forest.[2] Construction on the nearly completed project was previously halted due to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline case.

[1] https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/atlantic-coast-pipeline-llc-v-cowpasture-river-preservation-association/

[2] https://www.mountainvalleypipeline.info/