Last July, the California Supreme Court held in Friends of the Eel River v. North Coast Railroad Authority that federal law does not preclude state public entity compliance with CEQA regarding a railroad project that the state owns.  The losing Railroad Authority asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.  Yesterday, the high court denied certiorari.

The Eureka Times-Standard quotes the Authority’s executive director as calling the cert petition the “longest of long shots.”