FCC Ignored NEPA, Own Rules, in SpaceX License Mod: Appellants

Since the thousands of satellites SpaceX plans to deploy could have a notable environmental impact, it was incumbent on the FCC to order an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act, appellants Viasat and Balance Group told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Tuesday in a reply brief (docket 21-1123). They and Dish Network are challenging the license modification granted SpaceX earlier this year (see 2106020036). Dish, in its appellant reply brief, said its appeal "boils down to whether the Commission was permitted to ignore the evidence, as it admits it did, in the name of a rule that did not preclude a look at the evidence." It said the D.C. Circuit has made clear an agency must consider evidence that its application of a rule in a given situation is unreasonable. The FCC didn't comment Wednesday.