Fourth Circuit summarily affirms denial of attorneys' fees in U.S. Route 29 environmental case

In Piedmont Environmental Council v. U.S. Department of Transportation, the Fourth Circuit in a per curiam opinion for the panel of Judges Widener, Williams, and Traxler affirmed without much discussion the decision of Judge Norman Moon of the W.D. Va. to deny completely plaintiffs' claim for attorneys' fees of $493,404.75 under the Equal Access to Justice Act, concluding that the appellees' position was "substantially justified," where the plaintiffs had prevailed on but one count out of nine in their legal challenge to the proposed Route 29 bypass at Charlottesville and widening of Route 29.