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Civil Procedure Keyed to Marcus
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
ProfessorTodd Berman
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
The original action in which movants requested intervention was commenced by Plaintiff, Natural Resources Defense Counsel, Inc., (Plaintiff) seeking declaratory and injunctive relief on behalf of the Defendants, United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Agency (NMEIA) (Defendants), prohibiting those agencies from issuing licenses for the operation of uranium mills in New Mexico without first writing environmental impact statements. Under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (Act), Congress authorized the NRC, to issue licenses. Under Section 274(b) of the Act, the Defendant is authorized to enter into agreements with the states allowing the states to issue licenses. These agreements have been made with about twenty-five states including New Mexico. This action seeks to prevent the use of Section 274(b) in order to avoid the requirement of an impact statement. 42 U.S.C. Section: 4332(2)(C) requires that a detailed environmental impact statement be prepared by the federal agencies in every recommendation or report affecting the quality of the environment. The complaint alleges that Defendant only prepares these statements if the states have not entered into agreement with Defendant. On the other hand, they do not prepare these statements where there is an agreement with a state such as New Mexico. The complaint further alleges that the granting of licenses to state agencies by the Defendant eliminates the need of the state agency to prepare environmental impact statements since it is not a federal agency. The relief sought by the Plaintiff is that the Defendant’s involvement in the licensing procedure is sufficient to constitute major federal action. Plaintiffs also seek declaration that the New Mexico program is in conflict with the Act if an impact statement is not required with the granting of licenses. The motion of UNC to intervene was not opposed by the parties and was granted. On the date the complaint was filed, UNC was granted a license to operate a uranium mill in New Mexico and thus the complaint seeks to enjoin the issuance of the license. Motion to Intervene on behalf of Kerr-McGee Nuclear Corporation, Anaconda Company, Gulf Oil Corporation, Philips Petroleum Company and the American Mining Congress was denied on the grounds that the interests of the parties would be adequately represented by UNC.
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