Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/461/190/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 00:18:43+00:00

Document:
The Atomic Energy Act of 1954 pre-empts state regulation of radiological safety aspects that are part of building and operating nuclear plants, but the states still have their traditional authority over regulating electrical utilities regarding cost, need, and reliability.
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. argued that the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act, a California law, was preempted by the federal Atomic Energy Act. Pacific Gas pointed out that California had imposed a moratorium on certifying new nuclear plants until its Energy Resources and Conservation Commission had determined that the federal government had approved a demonstrated technology or means for the disposal of high-level nuclear waste in a permanent and terminal way. This provision would not be activated for a long time to come, but the lower court ruled that it was not pre-empted by the federal law. It found that parts of the Atomic Energy Act authorized states to regulate nuclear power plants for purposes other than protecting against radiation hazards.
States traditionally have the authority to regulate nuclear and other electrical utilities with an eye to concerns such as need, reliability, and cost. The Atomic Energy Act is not meant to interfere with that role of the states. California has justified the moratorium provisions on cost-related grounds, suggesting that it might be extremely costly to contain any problems related to nuclear waste or shut down reactors if a problem developed. Congress has occupied the field of nuclear safety regulations, but this provision is outside that field. Conflict pre-emption also does not apply because the federal government has not enacted any regulations that directly clash with the provisions. Rather than implementing state standards for disposal, the California law expressly recognizes the federal government's authority over developing and licensing technology to dispose of waste.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to continue licensing reactors, even though the disposal problem had not been resolved, should not be interpreted as a conflict with the moratorium provisions. It does not and cannot require a utility to build a nuclear development plant, so a company may comply with both the NRC order and California law. The NRC order is related only to safety, which is a federal interest, rather than cost, which is a state interest. Furthering one objective does not interfere with furthering the other.
Congress used the Atomic Energy Act to encourage the development of nuclear power, but this was not a mandate that states need to obey at all costs. They may retain their regulatory authority in traditional areas without frustrating the purposes of Congress.
Each law was designed to address a separate problem. The federal law concerned safety at plants, and the state law concerned their economic operation. This was not a situation in which the federal government had regulated an area so thoroughly that the states had no room to make their own regulations.
consideration." Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U. S. 136, 387 U. S. 149. Both of these factors counsel in favor of finding the challenge to § 25524.2 ripe for adjudication. The question of preemption is predominantly legal, and to require the industry to proceed without knowing whether the moratorium imposed by § 25524.2 is valid would impose a palpable and considerable hardship on the utilities, and may ultimately work harm on the citizens of California. Moreover, if § 25524.2 is void as hindering commercial development of atomic energy, delayed resolution would frustrate one of the key purposes of the Atomic Energy Act. Pp. 461 U. S. 200-202.
(b) Under circumstances where it is uncertain whether the State Commission will ever find a nuclear plant's interim storage capacity to be inadequate, and where, because of this Court's holding infra that § 25524.2 is not preempted by federal law, it is unlikely that industry behavior would be uniquely affected by such uncertainty surrounding the interim storage provision, a court should not stretch to reach an early, and perhaps a premature, decision respecting § 25524.1(b). P. 461 U. S. 203.
2. Section 25524.2 is not preempted by the Atomic Energy Act. Pp. 461 U. S. 203-223.
(a) From the passage of the Atomic Energy Act in 1954, through several revisions, and to the present day, Congress has preserved the dual regulation of nuclear powered electricity generation: the Federal Government maintains complete control of the safety and "nuclear" aspects of energy generation, whereas the States exercise their traditional authority over economic questions such as the need for additional generating capacity, the type of generating facilities to be licensed, land use, and ratemaking. This Court accepts California's avowed economic, rather than safety, purpose as the rationale for enacting § 25524.2, and accordingly the statute lies outside the federally occupied field of nuclear safety regulation. Pp. 461 U. S. 205-216.
field than by its licensing power over the plants themselves. Nor does it appear that Congress intended, through the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, to make the decision for the States as to whether there is now sufficient federal commitment to fuel storage and waste disposal that licensing of nuclear reactors may resume. Moreover, that Act can be interpreted as being directed at solving the nuclear waste disposal problem for existing reactors without necessarily encouraging or requiring that future plant construction be undertaken. Pp. 461 U. S. 217-220.
(c) Section 25524.2 does not frustrate the Atomic Energy Act's purpose to develop the commercial use of nuclear power. Promotion of nuclear power is not to be accomplished "at all costs." Moreover, Congress has given the States authority to determine, as a matter of economics, whether a nuclear plant vis-a-vis a fossil fuel plant should be built. California's decision to exercise that authority does not, in itself, constitute a basis for preemption. Pp. 461 U. S. 220-223.
WHITE, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BURGER, C.J., and BRENNAN, MARSHALL, POWELL, REHNQUIST and O'CONNOR, JJ., joined. BLACKMUN, J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which STEVENS, J., joined, post, p. 461 U. S. 223.
The California laws at issue here are responses to these concerns. In 1974, California adopted the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act, Cal.Pub.Res.Code Ann. 25000-25986 (West 1977 and Supp.1983). The Act requires that a utility seeking to build in California any electric power generating plant, including a nuclear powerplant, must apply for certification to the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission). [Footnote 7] The Warren-Alquist Act was amended in 1976 to provide additional state regulation of new nuclear powerplant construction.
In 1978, petitioners Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Co. filed this action in the United States District Court, requesting a declaration that numerous provisions of the Warren-Alquist Act, including the two sections challenged here, are invalid under the Supremacy Clause because they are preempted by the Atomic Energy Act. The District Court held that petitioners had standing to challenge §§ 25524.1(b) and 25524.2, [Footnote 9] that the issues presented by these two statutes are ripe for adjudication, and that the two provisions are void because they are preempted by and in conflict with the Atomic Energy Act. 489 F.Supp. 699 (ED Cal.1980).
U.S. 136, 387 U. S. 148-149 (1967). In Abbott Laboratories, which remains our leading discussion of the doctrine, we indicated that the question of ripeness turns on "the fitness of the issues for judicial decision" and "the hardship to the parties of withholding court consideration." Id. at 387 U. S. 149.
Questions concerning the constitutionality of the interim storage provision, § 25524.1(b), however, are not ripe for review. While the waste disposal statute operates on a statewide basis, the Energy Commission is directed to make determinations under § 25524.1(b) on a case-by-case basis. As the Court of Appeals explained, because "we cannot know whether the Energy Commission will ever find a nuclear plant's storage capacity to be inadequate," judicial consideration of this provision should await further developments. [Footnote 16] Furthermore, because we hold today that § 25524.2 is not preempted by federal law, there is little likelihood that industry behavior would be uniquely affected by whatever uncertainty surrounds the interim storage provisions. In these circumstances, a court should not stretch to reach an early, and perhaps premature, decision respecting § 25524.1(b).
Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Assn. v. De la Cuesta, 458 U. S. 141, 458 U. S. 153 (1982), quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U. S. 218, 331 U. S. 230 (1947). Even where Congress has not entirely displaced state regulation in a specific area, state law is preempted to the extent that it actually conflicts with federal law. Such a conflict arises when "compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility," Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U. S. 132, 373 U. S. 142-143 (1963), or where state law "stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress." Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U. S. 52, 312 U. S. 67 (1941).
Need for new power facilities, their economic feasibility, and rates and services, are areas that have been characteristically governed by the States. Justice Brandeis once observed that the "franchise to operate a public utility . . . is a special privilege which . . may be granted or withheld at the pleasure of the State." Frost v. Corporation Comm'n, 278 U. S. 515, 278 U. S. 534 (1929) (dissenting opinion).
Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., supra, at 331 U. S. 230.
amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. V), grew out of Congress' determination that the national interest would be best served if the Government encouraged the private sector to become involved in the development of atomic energy for peaceful purposes under a program of federal regulation and licensing. See H.R.Rep. No. 2181, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., 1-11 (1954). The Act implemented this policy decision by providing for licensing of private construction, ownership, and operation of commercial nuclear power reactors. Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. at 438 U. S. 63. The AEC, however, was given exclusive jurisdiction to license the transfer, delivery, receipt, acquisition, possession, and use of nuclear materials. 42 U.S.C. §§ 2014(e), (z), (aa), 2061-2064, 2071-2078, 2091-2099, 2111-2114 (1976 ed. and Supp. V). Upon these subjects, no role was left for the States.
completely occupies a given field or an identifiable portion of it, as it has done here, the test of preemption is whether "the matter on which the State asserts the right to act is in any way regulated by the Federal Act." Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. at 331 U. S. 236. A state moratorium on nuclear construction grounded in safety concerns falls squarely within the prohibited field. Moreover, a state judgment that nuclear power is not safe enough to be further developed would conflict directly with the countervailing judgment of the NRC, see infra at 461 U. S. 218-219, that nuclear construction may proceed notwithstanding extant uncertainties as to waste disposal. A state prohibition on nuclear construction for safety reasons would also be in the teeth of the Atomic Energy Act's objective to insure that nuclear technology be safe enough for widespread development and use -- and would be preempted for that reason. Infra at 461 U. S. 221-222.
Our general practice is to place considerable confidence in the interpretations of state law reached by the federal courts of appeals. Cf. Mills v. Rogers, 457 U. S. 291, 457 U. S. 306 (1982); Bishop v. Wood, 426 U. S. 341, 426 U. S. 346 (1976). Petitioners and amici nevertheless attempt to upset this interpretation in a number of ways. First, they maintain that § 25524.2 evinces no concern with the economics of nuclear power. The statute states that the "development" and "existence" of a permanent disposal technology approved by federal authorities will lift the moratorium; the statute does not provide for considering the economic costs of the technology selected. This view of the statute is overly myopic. Once a technology is selected and demonstrated, the utilities and the California Public Utilities Commission would be able to estimate costs; such cost estimates cannot be made until the Federal Government has settled upon the method of long-term waste disposal. Moreover, once a satisfactory disposal technology is found and demonstrated, fears of having to close down operating reactors should largely evaporate.
Third, petitioners note that there already is a body, the California Public Utilities Commission, which is authorized to determine on economic grounds whether a nuclear powerplant should be constructed. [Footnote 26] While California is certainly free to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis, a State is not foreclosed from reaching the same decision through a legislative judgment, applicable to all cases. The economic uncertainties engendered by the nuclear waste disposal problems are not factors that vary from facility to facility; the issue readily lends itself to more generalized decisionmaking, and California cannot be faulted for pursuing that course.
Fourth, petitioners note that Proposition 15, the initiative out of which § 25524.2 arose, and companion provisions in California's so-called nuclear laws, are more clearly written with safety purposes in mind. [Footnote 27] It is suggested that § 25524.2 shares a common heritage with these laws, and should be presumed to have been enacted for the same purposes.
Although these specific indicia of California's intent in enacting § 25524.2 are subject to varying interpretation, there are two further reasons why we should not become embroiled in attempting to ascertain California's true motive. First, inquiry into legislative motive is often an unsatisfactory venture. United States v. O'Brien, 391 U. S. 367, 391 U. S. 383 (1968). What motivates one legislator to vote for a statute is not necessarily what motivates scores of others to enact it. Second, it would be particularly pointless for us to engage in such inquiry here when it is clear that the States have been allowed to retain authority over the need for electrical generating facilities easily sufficient to permit a State so inclined to halt the construction of new nuclear plants by refusing, on economic grounds, to issue certificates of public convenience in individual proceedings. In these circumstances, it should be up to Congress to determine whether a State has misused the authority left in its hands.
Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. at 312 U. S. 67; Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. at 373 U. S. 142-143; Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Assn. v. De la Cuesta, 458 U.S. at 458 U. S. 153.
42 U.S.C. § 2013(d). The House and Senate Reports confirmed that it was "a major policy goal of the United States" that the involvement of private industry would "speed the further development of the peaceful uses of atomic energy." H.R.Rep. No. 883, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., 4 (1965); H.R.Rep. No. 2181, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., 9 (1954); S.Rep. No. 1699, 83d Cong., 2d Sess., 9 (1954). The same purpose is manifest in the passage of the Price-Anderson Act, 42 U.S.C. § 2210, which limits private liability from a nuclear accident. The Act was passed "[i]n order to protect the public and to encourage the development of the atomic energy industry. . . ." 42 U.S.C. § 2012(i). Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Environmental Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. at 438 U. S. 63-67.
compromised by promotional concerns does not translate into an abandonment of the objective of promoting nuclear power. The legislation was carefully drafted, in fact, to avoid any antinuclear sentiment. [Footnote 32] The continuing commitment to nuclear power is reflected in the extension of the Price-Anderson Act's coverage until 1987, Pub.L. 94-197, § 2-14, 89 Stat. 1111-1115, as well as in Congress' express preclusion of reliance on natural gas and petroleum as primary energy sources in new powerplants, Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978, 92 Stat. 3291, 42 U.S.C. §§ 8301(b)(3), 8311, 8312(a) (1976 ed., Supp. V). It is true, of course, that Congress has sought to simultaneously promote the development of alternative energy sources, but we do not view these steps as an indication that Congress has retreated from its oft-expressed commitment to further development of nuclear power for electricity generation.
OTA Study at 27. See also Affidavit of Terry R. Lash (staff scientist for Natural Resources Defense Council) ¦ 10, App. 419; Affidavit of Dale G. Bridenbaugh (nuclear engineer) ¦ 128-30, App. 478-480.
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U. S. 519, 435 U. S. 528, n. 6 (1978).
The role of these provisions in the federal regulatory structure is discussed infra at 461 U. S. 208-211.
"[A] delay in adjudication will not cause any undue hardship for the parties. The certification scheme, in general, does not have an 'immediate and substantial impact' on the utilities. Gardner v. Toilet Goods Association, 387 U. S. 167, 387 U. S. 171 . . . (1967); neither [Pacific Gas & Electric] nor [Southern California Edison] has a notice of intention or application for certification pending, and the threat that procedural burdens might someday be imposed or that certification might someday be denied for failure to meet Energy Commission standards is remote, at best."
Our summary affirmance in Northern States Power Co. v. Minnesota, 447 F.2d 1143 (CA8 1971), summarily aff'd, 405 U.S. 1035 (1972), is fully consistent with this reading of the division of regulatory authority. Minnesota's effort to regulate radioactive waste discharges from nuclear plants fell squarely within the field of safety regulation reserved for federal regulation. The invalidation of this regulation in Northern States requires no retraction of the state authority preserved in §§ 271 and 274 of the Act. And, as with all summary affirmances, our action "is not to be read as an adoption of the reasoning supporting the judgment under review." Zobel v. Williams, 457 U. S. 55, 457 U. S. 64, n. 13 (1982); Mandel v. Bradley, 432 U. S. 173, 432 U. S. 176 (1977) (per curiam).
Petitioners correctly cite Perez v. Campbell, 402 U. S. 637, 402 U. S. 651 (1971), for the proposition that state law may not frustrate the operation of federal law simply because the state legislature, in passing its law, had some purpose in mind other than one of frustration. In Perez, however, unlike this case, there was an actual conflict between state and federal law. Perez involved an Arizona law that required insured motorists who had not satisfied judgments against them or had failed to pay settlements after accidents to prove their financial responsibility before the State would license them to drive again. The Arizona law, contrary to the Federal Bankruptcy Act, specified that this obligation would not be discharged in bankruptcy. We held the state law preempted, despite the fact that its purpose was to deter irresponsible driving, rather than to aid in the collection of debts. Only if there were an actual conflict between § 25524.2 and the Atomic Energy Act, such that adherence to both were impossible or the operation of state law frustrated accomplishment of the federal objective, would Perez be apposite.
We recently rejected a similar claim that congressional policy to favor the use of coal as a fuel source preempted state legislation that may have an adverse effect on the use of coal. Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana, 453 U. S. 609, 453 U. S. 633 (1981).
Id. at 328 U. S. 164. In the same manner, requiring compliance with state requirements would have reduced the project to a size that the Federal Power Commission had determined was inadequate, and compliance with state engineering requirements could handicap the financial success of the project. The Atomic Energy Act does not give the NRC comprehensive planning responsibility. Moreover, § 25624.2 does not interfere with the type of plant that could be constructed. State regulations which affected the construction and operation of federally approved nuclear powerplants would pose a different case.
Ante at 461 U. S. 213. Third, the Court believes that a prohibition on construction of new nuclear plants would "be in the teeth of the Atomic Energy Act's objective to insure that nuclear technology be safe enough for widespread development and use." Ibid. For reasons summarized below, I cannot agree that a State's nuclear moratorium, even if motivated by safety concerns, would be preempted on any of these grounds.
power, to exercise their traditional police power over the manner in which they meet their energy needs. There is, in short, no evidence that Congress had a "clear and manifest purpose," Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U. S. 218, 331 U. S. 230 (1947), to force States to be blind to whatever special dangers are posed by nuclear plants.
The Court's second basis for suggesting that States may not prohibit the construction of nuclear plants on safety grounds is that such a prohibition would conflict with the NRC's judgment that construction of nuclear plants may safely proceed. A flat ban for safety reasons, however, would not make "compliance with both federal and state regulations . . . a physical impossibility." Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U. S. 132, 373 U. S. 142-143 (1963). The NRC has expressed its judgment that it is safe to proceed with construction and operation of nuclear plants, but neither the NRC nor Congress has mandated that States do so. [Footnote 2/2] See ante at 461 U. S. 205.
The Atomic Energy Act was intended to promote the technological development of nuclear power, at a time when there was no private nuclear power industry. The Act addressed "the practical question of bringing such an industry into being," [Footnote 2/4] in order to make available an additional energy source. The Court makes much of the general statements of purpose in the Act and the legislative history, see ante at 461 U. S. 221, but those statements simply reflect Congress' desire to create a private nuclear power industry. Congress did not compel States to give preference to the eventual product of that industry or to ignore the peculiar problems associated with that product. See Wiggins, 13 U.C.D.L.Rev. at 78.
The Court recognizes the limited nature of the federal role, ante at 461 U. S. 205 but then describes that role in more expansive terms, ante at 461 U. S. 212-213.
A conflict would exist, of course, if the NRC determined that construction of nuclear plants could not proceed and a State nevertheless chose to go ahead with construction. Cf. Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. at 373 U. S. 143.
The Court states that such a ban would be "in the teeth of the Atomic Energy Act's objective to insure that nuclear technology be safe enough for widespread development and use." Ante at 461 U. S. 213. A State's decision not to permit construction of nuclear plants, however, affects only indirectly the Atomic Energy Act's goal of ensuring that nuclear power be safe enough for widespread development. A safety-motivated ban might highlight a State's perception that the federal safety goal had not been accomplished, but the ban itself would not interfere with efforts to achieve that goal.

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