Source: https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/438/59
Timestamp: 2020-02-18 12:27:45
Document Index: 115411197

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1337', '§ 1337', '§ 1331', '§ 1331', '§ 3566', '§ 4', '§ 140', '§ 2210', '§ 1331', '§ 1331', '§ 1331', '§ 1331']

DUKE POWER COMPANY, Appellant, v. CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY GROUP, INC., et al. UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION et al., Appellants, v. CAROLINA ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY GROUP, INC., et al. | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute
438 U.S. 59 (98 S.Ct. 2620, 57 L.Ed.2d 595)
Argued: March 20, 1978.
concurrence, REHNQUIST, STEVENS [HTML]
1. The District Court had jurisdiction over appellees' complaint against the NRC under 28 U.S.C. 1331(a) (1976 ed.) rather than § 1337, the jurisdictional base pleaded. The complaint, fairly read, raised two basic challenges to the Act, both of which are derived from the Fifth Amendment. Appellees' cause of action against the NRC directly under the Constitution is sufficiently substantial to sustain jurisdiction; the further question of whether such a cause of action is to be generally recognized need not be decided on this record. Pp. 68-72.
Amicus Curiae Information from pages 62-63 intentionally omitted liability for nuclear accidents resulting from the operation of private nuclear power plants licensed by the Federal Government.
When Congress passed the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, it contemplated that the development of nuclear power would be a Government monopoly. See Act of Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, 60 Stat. 755. Within a decade, however, Congress concluded 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 Atomic Energy Act of 1954, Act of Aug. 30, 1954, ch. 1073, 68 Stat. 919, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2011-2281 (1970 ed. and Supp V), implemented this policy decision, providing for licensing of private construction, ownership, and operation of commercial nuclear power reactors for energy production under strict supervision by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).1 See Power Reactor Development Co. v. Electrical Workers, 367 U.S. 396, 81 S.Ct. 1529, 6 L.Ed.2d 924 (1961), rev'g and remanding, 108 U.S.App.D.C. 97, 280 F.2d 645 (1960).
Congress responded in 1957 by passing the Price-Anderson Act, 71 Stat. 576, 42 U.S.C. 2210 (1970 ed. and Supp. V). The Act had the dual purpose of "protecting the public and . . . encouraging the development of the atomic energy industry." 42 U.S.C. 2012(i). In its original form, the Act limited the aggregate liability for a single nuclear incident2 to $500 million plus the amount of liability insurance available on the private market—some $60 million in 1957. The nuclear industry was required to purchase the maximum available amount of privately underwritten public liability insurance, and the Act provided that if damages from a nuclear disaster exceeded the amount of that private insurance coverage, the Federal Government would indemnify the licensee and other "persons indemnified"3 in an amount not to exceed $500 million. Thus, the actual ceiling on liability was the amount of private insurance coverage plus the Government's indemnification obligation which totaled $560 million.
In 1975, Congress again extended the Act's coverage until 1987, and continued the $560 million limitation on liability. However a new provision was added requiring, in the event of a nuclear incident, each of the 60 or more reactor owners to contribute between $2 and $5 million toward the cost of compensating victims.742 U.S.C. 2210(b) (1970 ed., Supp. V). Since the liability ceiling remained at the same level, the effect of the "deferred premium" provision was to reduce the Federal Government's contribution to the liability pool.8 In its amendments to the Act in 1975, Congress also explicitly provided that "in the event of a nuclear incident involving damages in excess of the amount of aggregate liability, the Congress will thoroughly review the particular incident and will take whatever action is deemed necessary and appropriate to protect the public from the consequences of a disaster of such magnitude . . . ." 42 U.S.C. 2210(e) (1970 ed., Supp. V).
As a threshold matter, we must address the question of whether the District Court had subject-matter jurisdiction over appellees' claims, despite the fact that none of the parties raised this issue and the District Court did not consider it. See Liberty Mutual Ins. Co. v. Wetzel, 424 U.S. 737, 740, 96 S.Ct. 1202, 1204, 47 L.Ed.2d 435 (1976). Appellees' complaint alleges jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1337 (1976 ed.), which provides for original jurisdiction in the district courts over "any civil action or proceeding arising under any Act of Congress regulating commerce or protecting trade and commerce against restraints and monopolies." Our reading of the pleadings,12 however, indicates that appellees' claims do not "arise under" the Price-Anderson Act as that statutory language has been interpreted in prior decisions. See Peyton v. Railway Express Agency, 316 U.S. 350, 353, 62 S.Ct. 1171, 1172, 86 L.Ed. 1525 (1942).
Specifically, as we read the complaint, appellees are making two basic challenges to the Act—both of which find their moorings in the Fifth Amendment. First, appellees contend that the Due Process Clause protects them against arbitrary governmental action adversely affecting their property rights and that the Price-Anderson Act—which both creates the source of the underlying injury and limits the recovery therefor—constitutes such arbitrary action. And second, they are contending that in the event of a nuclear accident their property would be "taken" without any assurance of just compensation. The Price-Anderson Act is the instrument of the taking since on this record, without it, there would be no power plants and no possibility of an accident. Implicit in the complaint is also the assumption that there exists a cause of action directly under the Constitution to vindicate appellees' federal rights through a suit against the NRC, the executive agency charged with enforcement and administration of the allegedly unconstitutional statute.13 Appellees' right to relief thus depends not on the interpretation or construction of the Price-Anderson Act itself, but instead "upon the construction or application of the Constitution," Smith v. Kansas City Title & Trust Co., 255 U.S. 180, 199, 41 S.Ct. 243, 245, 65 L.Ed. 577 (1921). Hence, if there exists jurisdiction to hear appellees' claims at all, it must be derived from 28 U.S.C. 1331(a) (1976 ed.), the general federal-question statute, rather than from § 1337—the jurisdictional base pleaded.14
For purposes of determining whether jurisdiction exists under § 1331(a) to resolve appellees' claims, it is not necessary to decide whether appellees' alleged cause of action against the NRC based directly on the Constitution is in fact a cause of action "on which appellees could actually recover." Bell v. Hood, 327 U.S. 678, 682, 66 S.Ct. 773, 776, 90 L.Ed. 939 (1946). Instead, the test is whether " 'the cause of action alleged is so patently without merit as to justify . . . the court's dismissal for want of jurisdiction.' " Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 542-543, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 1382, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974) quoting Bell v. Hood, supra, at 683, 66 S.Ct., at 776. (Emphasis added.) See also Oneida Indian Nation v. County of Oneida, 414 U.S. 661, 666, 94 S.Ct. 772, 778, 39 L.Ed.2d 73 (1974) (test is whether right claimed is "so insubstantial, implausible, foreclosed by prior decisions of this Court, or otherwise completely devoid of merit as not to involve a federal controversy"). In light of prior decisions, for example, Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, 403 U.S. 388, 91 S.Ct. 1999, 29 L.Ed.2d 619 (1971) and Hagans v. Lavine, supra, as well as the general admonition that "where federally protected rights have been invaded . . . courts will be alert to adjust their remedies so as to grant the necessary relief," Bell v. Hood, supra, 327 U.S., at 684, 66 S.Ct., at 777, we conclude that appellees' allegations are sufficient to sustain jurisdiction under § 1331(a).15
We turn first to consider the kinds of injuries the District Court found the appellees suffered. It discerned two categories of effects which resulted from the operation of nuclear power plants in potentially dangerous proximity to appellees' living and working environment. The immediate effects included: (a) the production of small quantities of non-natural radiation which would invade the air and water; (b) a "sharp increase" in the temperature of two lakes presently used for recreational purposes resulting from the use of the lake waters to produce steam and to cool the reactor; (c) interference with the normal use of the waters of the Catawba River; (d) threatened reduction in prop rty values of land neighboring the power plants; (e) "objectively reasonable" present fear and apprehension regarding the "effect of the increased radioactivity in air, land and water upon appellees and their property, and the genetic effects upon their descendants"; and (f) the continual threat of "an accident resulting in uncontrolled release of large or even small quantities of radioactive material" with no assurance of adequate compensation for the resultant damage. 431 F.Supp. 203, 209. Into a second category of potential effects were placed the damages "which may result from a CORE MELT OR OTHER MAJOR ACCIDENT IN THE OPERATION OF A REACTOR . . . ." Id., at 209.17
The more difficult step in the standing inquiry is establishing that these injuries "fairly can be traced to the challenged action of the defendant," Simon v. Eastern Ky. Welfare Rights Org., supra, 426 U.S., at 41, 96 S.Ct., at 1926, or put otherwise, that the exercise of the Court's remedial powers would redress the claimed injuries. 426 U.S., at 43, 96 S.Ct., at 1926. The District Court discerned a "but for" causal connection between the Price-Anderson Act, which appellees challenged as unconstitutional, "and the construction of the nuclear plants which the appellees view as a threat to them." 431 F.Supp., at 219. Particularizing that causal link to the facts of the instant case, the District Court concluded that "there is a substantial likelihood that Duke would not be able to complete the construction and maintain the operation of the McGuire and Catawba Nuclear Plants but for the protection provided by the Price-Anderson Act." Id., at 220.
"Looking 'to the substantive issues' which Flast stated to be both 'appropriate and necessary' in relation to taxpayer standing was for the express purpose of determining 'whether there is a logical nexus between the taxpayer status asserted and the claim sought to be adjudicated.' 392 U.S. at 102 88 S.Ct. 1942. This step is not appropriate on a claim of citizen standing since the Flast nexus test is not applicable where the taxing and spending power is not challenged. . . ."
Our prior cases have, however, acknowledged "other limits on the class of persons who may invoke the courts' decisional and remedial powers," Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S., at 499, 95 S.Ct., at 2205, which derive from general prudential concerns "about the proper—and properly limited—role of the courts in a democratic society." Id., at 498, 95 S.Ct., at 2205. See also Schlesinger v. Reservists Comm. to Stop the War, supra, 418 U.S., at 221-227, 94 S.Ct., at 2932-2935. Thus, we have declined to grant standing where the harm asserted amounts only to a generalized grievance shared by a large number of citizens in a substantially equal measure. See United States v. Richardson, supra. We have also narrowly limited the circumstances in which one party will be give standing to assert the legal rights of another. "Even when the plaintiff has alleged injury sufficient to meet the 'case or controversy' requirement, this Court has held that the plaintiff generally must assert his own legal rights and interests, and cannot rest his claim to relief on the legal rights or interests of third parties." Warth v. Seldin, supra, at 499, 95 S.Ct., at 2205. See also United States v. Raines, 362 U.S. 17, 80 S.Ct. 519, 4 L.Ed.2d 524 (1960). This limitation on third-party standing arguably suggests a connection between the claimed injury and the right asserted bearing some resemblance to the nexus requirement now urged upon us.
The District Court held that the Price-Anderson Act contravened the Due Process Clause because "the amount of recovery is not rationally related to the potential losses"; because "the Act tends to encourage irresponsibility in matters of safety and environmental protection . . ."; and finally because "there is no quid pro quo " for the liability limitations. 431 F.Supp., at 222-223. An equal protection violation was also found because the Act "places the cost of nuclear power on an arbitrarily chosen segment of society, those injured by nuclear catastrophe." Id., at 225. Application of the relevant constitutional principles forces the conclusion that these holdings of the District Court cannot be sustained.
As we read the Act and its legislative history, it is clear that Congress' purpose was to remove the economic impediments in order to stimulate the private development of electric energy by nuclear power while simultaneously providing the public compensation in the event of a catastrophic nuclear incident. See, e. g., S.Rep. No. 296, 85th Cong., 1st Sess., 15 (1957); U.S.Code, Cong. & Admin.Code 1957, p. 1803. The liability-limitation provision thus emerges as a classic example of an economic regulation—a legislative effort to structure and accommodate "the burdens and benefits of economic life." Usery v. Turner Elkhorn Mining Co., supra, 428 U.S., at 15, 96 S.Ct., at 2892. "It is by now well established that such legislative Acts . . . come to the Court with a presumption of constitutionality, and that the burden is on one complaining of a due process violation to establish that the legislature has acted in an arbitrary and irrational way." Ibid. That the accommodation struck may have profound and far-reaching consequences, contrary to appellees' suggestion, provides all the more reason for this Court to defer to the congressional judgment unless it is demonstrably arbitrary or irrational.27
"This limitation does not, as a practical matter, detract from the public protection afforded by this legislation. In the first place, the likelihood of an accident occurring which would result in claims exceeding the sum of the financial protection required and the governmental indemnity is exceedingly remote, albeit theoretically possible. Perhaps more important, in the event of a national disaster of this magnitude, it is obvious that Congress would have to review the problem and take appropriate action. The history of other natural or man-made disasters, such as the Texas City incident, bears this out. The limitation of liability serves primarily as a device for facilitating further congressional review of such a situation, rather than as an ultimate bar to further relief of the public." H.R.Rep. No. 883, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. 6-7 (1965).
Given our conclusion that, in general, limiting liability is an acceptable method for Congress to utilize in encouraging the private development of electric energy by atomic power, candor requires acknowledgment that whatever ceiling figure is selected will, of necessity, be arbitrary in the sense that any choice of a figure based on imponderables like those at issue here can always be so characterized. This is not, however, the kind of arbitrariness which flaws otherwise constitutional action. When appraised in terms of both the extremely remote possibility of an accident where liability would exceed the limitation30 and Congress' now statutory commitment to "take whatever action is deemed necessary and appropriate to protect the public from the consequences of" any such disaster, 42 U.S.C 2210(e) (1970 ed., Supp. V),31 we hold the congressional decision to fix a $560 million ceiling at this stage in the private development and production of electric energy by nuclear power, to be within permissible limits and not violate of due process.
"The primary defect of this alternative nonrenewal of the Act, however, is its failure to afford the public either a secure source of funds or a firm basis for legal liability with respect to new plants. While in theory no legal limit would be placed on liability, as a practical matter the public would be less assured of obtaining compensation than under Price-Anderson. Establishing liability would depend in each case on state tort law and procedures, and these might or might not provide for no-fault liability, let alone the multiple other protections now embodied in Price-Anderson. The present assurance of prompt and equitable compensation under a pre-structured and nationally applicable protective system would give way to uncertainties, variations and potentially lengthy delays in recovery. It should be emphasized, moreover, that it is collecting a judgment, not filing a lawsuit, that counts. Even if defenses are waived under state law, a defendant with theoretically "unlimited" liability may be unable to pay a judgment once obtained. When the defendant's assets are exhausted by earlier judgments, subsequent claimants would be left with uncollectable awards. The prospect of inequitable distribution would produce a race to the courthouse door in contrast to the present system of assured orderly and equitable compensation." Hearings on H.R. 8631 before Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, 94th Cong., 1st Sess., 69 (1975).
Appellees, like the District Court, differ with this appraisal on several grounds. They argue, inter alia, that recovery under the Act would not be greater than without it, that the waiver of defenses required by the Act, 42 U.S.C. 2210(n) (1970 ed., Supp. V), is an idle gesture since those involved in the development of nuclear energy would likely be held strictly liable under common-law principles;34 that the claim-administration procedure under the Act delays rather than expedites individual recovery; and finally that recovery of even limited compensation is uncertain since the liability ceiling does not vary with the number of persons injured or amount of property damaged. The extension of short state statutes of limitations and the provision of omnibus35 coverage do not save the Act, in their view, since such provisions could equally well be included in a fairer plan which would assure greater compensation.
We disagree. We view the congressional assurance of a $560 million fund for recovery, accompanied by an express statutory commitment, to "take whatever action is deemed necessary and appropriate to protect the public from the consequences of" a nuclear ccident, 42 U.S.C. 2210(e) (1970 ed., Supp. V), to be a fair and reasonable substitute for the uncertain recovery of damages of this magnitude from a utility or component manufacturer, whose resources might well be exhausted at an early stage. The record in this case raises serious questions about the ability of a utility or component manufacturer to satisfy a judgment approaching $560 million—the amount guaranteed under the Price-Anderson Act.36 Nor are we persuaded that the mandatory waiver of defenses required by the Act is of no benefit to potential claimants. Since there has never been, to our knowledge, a case arising out of a nuclear incident like those covered by the Price-Anderson Act, any discussion of the standard of liability that state courts will apply is necessarily speculative. At the minimum, the statutorily mandated waiver of defenses establishes at the threshold the right of injured parties to compensation without proof of fault and eliminates the burden of delay and uncertainty which would follow from the need to litigate the question of liability after an accident. Further, even if strict liability were routinely applied, the common-law doctrine is subject to exceptions for acts of God or of third parties37—two of the very factors which appellees emphasized in the District Court in the course of arguing that the risks of a nuclear accident are greater than generally admitted. All of these considerations belie the suggestion that the Act leaves the potential victims of a nuclear disaster in a more disadvantageous position than they would be in if left to their common-law remedies—not known in modern times for either their speed or economy.
Appellees' remaining objections can be briefly treated. The claim-administration procedures under the Act provide that in the event of an accident with potential liability exceeding the $560 million ceiling, no more than 15% of the limit can be distributed pending court approval of a plan of distribution taking into account the need to assure compensation for "possible latent injury claims which may not be discovered until a later time." 42 U.S.C. 2210(o )(3) (1970 ed., supp. v). althoUgh somE DELAY MIGht follow from compliance with this statutory procedure, we doubt that it would approach that resulting from routine litigation of the large number of claims caused by a catastrophic accident.38 Moreover, the statutory scheme insures the equitable distribution of benefits to all who suffer injury—both immediate and latent; under the common-law route, the proverbial race to the courthouse would instead determine who had "first crack" at the diminishing resources of the tortfeasor, and fairness could well be sacrificed in the process. The remaining contention that recovery is uncertain because of the aggregate rather than individualized nature of the liability ceiling is but a thinly disguised version of the contention that the $560 million figure is inadequate, which we have already rejected.
In the course of adjudicating a similar challenge to the Workmen's Compensation Act in New York Central R. Co. v. White, 243 U.S., at 201, 37 S.Ct., at 252, the Court observed that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was not violated simply because an injured party would not be able to recover as much under the Act as before its enactment. "He is entitled to moderate compensation in all cases of injury, and has a certain and speedy remedy without the difficulty and expense of establishing negligence or proving the amount of the damages." The logic of New York Central would seem to apply with renewed force in the context of this challenge to the Price-Anderson Act. The Price-Anderson Act not only provides a reasonable, prompt, and equitable mechanism for compensating victims of a catastrophic nuclear incident, it also guarantees a level of net compensation generally exceeding that recoverable in private litigation. Moreover, the Act contains an explicit congressional commitment to take further action to aid victims of a nuclear accident in the event that the $560 million ceiling on liability is exceeded. This panoply of remedies and guarantees is at the least a reasonably just substitute for the common-law rights replaced by the Price-Anderson Act. Nothing more is required by the Due Process Clause.
With some difficulty, I can accept the proposition that federal subject-matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1331 (1976 ed.) exists here, at least with respect to the suit against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency responsible for the administration of the Price-Anderson Act. The claim under federal law is to be found in the allegation that the Act, if enforced, will deprive the appellees of certain property rights, in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. One of those property rights, and perhaps the sole cognizable one, is a state-created right to recover full compensation for tort injuries. The Act impinges on that right by limiting recovery in major accidents.
Surely a plaintiff does not have standing simply because his challenge, if successful, will remove the injury relied on for standing purposes only because it will put the defendant out of existence. Surely there must be some direct relationship between the plaintiff's federal claim and the injury relied on for standing. Cf. Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Dev. Corp., 429 U.S. 252, 261, 97 S.Ct. 555, 561, 50 L.Ed.2d 450; United States v. SCRAP, 412 U.S. 669, 687-690, 93 S.Ct. 2405, 2415-2417, 37 L.Ed.2d 254; Linda R. S. v. Richard D., 410 U.S. 614, 617-618, 93 S.Ct. 1146, 1148-1149, 35 L.Ed.2d 536. An interest in the local water temperature does not, in short, give these appellees standing to bring a suit under 28 U.S.C. 1331 (1976 ed.) to challenge the constitutionality of a law limiting liability in an unrelated and as-yet-to-occur major nuclear accident.
Giving the conclusory allegations of appellees' complaint the most liberal possible reading, they purport to establish only two grounds for the declaratory relief requested. First, they contend that the Price-Anderson Act deprives them of their property without due process of law in that it irrationally limits the tort recovery otherwise available in the North Carolina courts.1 Second, they contend that the Act works an unconstitutional taking of their property for public use without just compensation. They purport to base District Court jurisdiction upon 28 U.S.C. 1337 (1976 ed.) which covers "any civil action or proceeding arising under any Act of Congress regulating commerce or protec ing trade and commerce against restraints and monopolies."
"It is the settled interpretation of these words 'arising under', as used in this statute, conferring jurisdiction, that a suit arises under the Constitution and laws of the United States only when the plaintiff's statement of his own cause of action shows that it is based upon those laws or that Constitution. It is not enough that the plaintiff alleges some anticipated defense to his cause of action, and asserts that the defense is invalidated by some provision of the Constitution of the United States. Although such allegations show that very likely, in the course of the litigation, a question under the Constitution would arise, they do not show that the suit, that is, the plaintiff's original cause of action, arises under the Constitution." Id., at 152, 29 S.Ct., at 43.
Just as the underlying claim in Mottley arose under Kentucky contract law, the underlying claim in this case arises under North Carolina tort law. This Court has construed the "arising under" language of 28 U.S.C. 1337 (1976 ed.) just as it has the similar language of 28 U.S.C. 1331 (1976 ed.). Peyton v. Railway Express Agency, Inc., 316 U.S. 350, 353, 62 S.Ct. 1171, 1172, 86 L.Ed. 1525 (1942).
Nor does the fact that appellees seek only declaratory relief under the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. 2201 (1976 ed.), support a different result. This Court has held that the well-pleaded complaint rule applied in Mottley is fully applicable in cases seeking only declaratory relief, because the Declaratory Judgment Act merely expands the remedies available in the district courts without expanding their jurisdiction. "It would turn into the federal courts a vast current of litigation indubitably arising under State law, in the sense that the right to be vindicated was State-created, if a suit for a declaration of rights could be brought into the federal courts merely because an anticipated defense derived from fe eral law." Skelly Oil Co. v. Phillips Petroleum Co., 339 U.S. 667, 673, 70 S.Ct. 876, 880, 94 L.Ed. 1194 (1950). See also Phillips Petroleum Co. v. Texaco Inc., 415 U.S. 125, 94 S.Ct. 1002, 39 L.Ed.2d 209 (1974); C. Wright, A. Miller, & E. Cooper, Federal Practice and Procedure § 3566, pp. 437-438 (1975).2
More importantly, there is no allegation in this complaint that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has taken or will take any unconstitutional action at all. The complaint alleges only that the Commission granted construction permits to Duke, and that it will enter into an agreement "to indemnify Duke for any nuclear incident exceeding the amount of $125,000,000 subject to a maximum liability of $560,000,000." App. 31, ¶ 13. Neither of these actions is alleged to be unconstitutional. The gist of the complaint is the asserted unconstitutionality of 42 U.S.C. 2210(e) (1970 ed., Supp. V), which limits Duke's liability. But this limitation of liability is separate and apart from the indemnity agreement which the Commission is authorized to execute under 42 U.S.C. 2210(d) (1970 ed., Supp. V). The Commission has nothing whatever to do with the administration of the limitation of liability; whatever administration of that statute there is to be is left in the hands of the District Court. 42 U.S.C. 2210(o ) (1970 ed. and supp. v). the dIstrict Court, of course, is not a party to this suit.3
The District Court does have jurisdiction to consider claims of taking under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1346(a)(2) (1976 ed.), where the amount in controversy does not exceed $10,000.4 "But the Act has long been construed as authorizing only actions for money judgments and not suits for equitable relief against the United States." Richardson v. Morris, 409 U.S. 464, 465, 93 S.Ct. 629, 631, 34 L.Ed.2d 647 (1973). It is incontro ertibly established that neither the Court of Claims nor the district courts have jurisdiction under the Tucker Act to issue the sort of declaratory relief granted here. Compare ibid., with United States v. King, 395 U.S. 1, 89 S.Ct. 1501, 23 L.Ed.2d 52 (1969). Thus, the record does not establish any jurisdictional basis upon which the District Court could grant declaratory relief on appellees' taking claim.
Under the terms of the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, 42 U.S.C. 5801 et seq. (1970 ed., Supp. V), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has now replaced the AEC as the licensing and regulatory authority.
A "nuclear incident" is defined as "any occurrence . . . within the United States causing, within or outside the United States, bodily injury, sickness, disease, or death, or loss of or damage to property, or loss of use of property, arising out of or resulting from the radioactive, toxic, explosive, or other hazardous properties of source, special nuclear, or by-product material . . . ." 42 U.S.C. 2014(q).
"The term 'person indemnified' means (1) with respect to a nuclear incident occurring within the United States . . . the person with whom an indemnity agreement is executed and any other person who may be liable for public liability . . . ." 42 U.S.C. 2014(t).
By the terms of the Act as originally passed, it was only applicable to licenses issued between August 30, 1954, and August 1, 1967. § 4, 71 Stat. 576, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 2210(c).
The waiver provision is incorporated in the indemnity agreement. The defenses of negligence, contributory negligence, charitable or governmental immunity and assumption of risk all are waived in the event of an extraordinary nuclear occurrence, as are, to a limited degree, defenses based on certain short state statutes of limitations. 80 Stat. 891, 42 U.S.C. 2210(n)(1). See also 10 C.F.R. §§ 140.81 to 140.85, 140.91 to 140.92 (1977).
The Act was also amended in 1966 to provide for the transfer of all claims arising out of a nuclear incident to a single federal district court. 42 U.S.C. 2210(n)(2). If the court finds that liability may exceed the liability limitation of the Act, immediate payments to injured parties are limited to 15% of the liability limitation until the court approves a plan of distribution to insure equitable treatment of all parties. § 2210(o ) (1970 ed. and Supp. V).
As the number of reactors increases, the $5 million deferred premium in itself will yield a fund exceeding the present liability ceiling. For example, it is predicted that by 1985 there will be a maximum of 138 reactors operating, see Executive Office of the President, The National Energy Plan 71 (1977), which would produce $690 million in addition to whatever insurance is available from the private insurance market. Under the Act, the liability ceiling automatically increases to a level equal to the amount of primary and secondary (deferred premium) insurance coverage when the amount of such coverage exceeds the $560 million figure. 42 U.S.C. 2210(e) (1970 ed., Supp. V).
Our jurisdiction was invoked under 28 U.S.C. 1252 (1976 ed.), which provides for a direct appeal to this Court from any decision invalidating an Act of Congress in any suit to which the United States, its agencies, officers, or employees are parties.
Mr. Justice REHNQUIST suggests that appellees' "taking" claim will not support jurisdiction under § 1331(a), but instead that such a claim can be adjudicated only in the Court of Claims under the Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. 1491 (1976 ed.). We disagree. Appellees are not seeking compensation for a taking, a claim properly brought in the Court of Claims, but are now requesting a declaratory judgment that since the Price-Anderson Act does not provide advance assurance of adequate compensation in the event of a taking, it is unconstitutional. As such, appellees' claim tracks quite closely that of the petitioners in the Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases, 419 U.S. 102, 95 S.Ct. 335, 42 L.Ed.2d 320 (1974), which were brought under § 1331 as well as the Declaratory Judgment Act. See App. in Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases, O.T.1974, Nos. 74-165, 74-166, 74-167, 74-168, p. 161, 95 S.Ct. at p. 367. While the Declaratory Judgment Act does not expand our jurisdiction, it expands the scope of available remedies. Here it allows individuals threatened with a taking to seek a declaration of the constitutionality of the disputed governmental action before potentially uncompensable damages are sustained.
Mr. Justice REHNQUIST undertakes to sever the action of the NRC in executing indemnity agreements under the Act from the Act's alleged constitutional infirmities—particularly the liability limitation provisions. Careful examination of the statutory mechanism indicates that such a separation simply cannot be sustained. The execution of the indemnification agreements by the NRC triggers the statutory ceiling on liability which, in terms, applies only to "persons indemnified." See 42 U.S.C. 2210(e) (1970 ed., Supp. V). Thus, absent the execution of such agreements between the NRC and the licensees, the liability-limitation provisions of the Act, to which appellees object, would simply not come into play. This fact, coupled with the District Court's finding that "but for" the liability-limitation provisions there is a substantial likelihood that the contemplated plants would not be built or operated, is sufficient to establish the justiciability of appellees' claim against the Commission. See Simon v. Eastern Ky. Welfare Rights Org., 426 U.S., at 44-46, 96 S.Ct., at 1927-1928.
The Act explicitly provides for "payments to, or for the aid of, claimants for the purpose of providing immediate assistance following a nuclear incident." 42 U.S.C. 2210(m). Unlike the normal tort recovery situation, these emergency payments are made prior to the determination of injury and the setting of damages, and are not conditioned on the execution of any release by the victim. Ibid.
Appellees also contend that the Price-Anderson Act effects an unconstitutional "taking" because in the event of a catastrophic nuclear accident their property would be destroyed without any assurance of just compensation. We find it unnecessary to resolve the claim that such an accident would constitute a "taking" as that term has been construed in our precedents since on our reading the Price-Anderson Act does not withdraw the existing Tucker Act remedy, 28 U.S.C. 1491 (1976 ed.). See Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases, 419 U.S., at 125-136, 95 S.Ct., at 349-354. Appellees concede that if the Tucker Act remedy would be available in the event of a nuclear disaster, then their constitutional challenge to the Price-Anderson Act under the Just Compensation Clause must fail. Brief for Appellees 71 n. 56. The further question of whether a taking claim could be established under the Fifth Amendment is a matter appropriately left for another day.
The Court concludes, ante, at 71 n. 15, although appellees do not so contend, that their taking claim is cognizable under 28 U.S.C. 1331(a) (1976 ed.), which grants jurisdiction to the district courts where the suit "arises under the Constitution." The Court cites only the Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases, 419 U.S. 102, 95 S.Ct. 335, 42 L.Ed.2d 320 (1974), in support of its conclusion that this claim may be maintained under § 1331. It is, of course, well established that "when questions of jurisdiction have been passed on in prior decisions sub silentio, this Court has never considered itself bound when a subsequent case finally brings the jurisdictional issue before us." Hagans v. Lavine, 415 U.S. 528, 535 n. 5, 94 S.Ct. 1372, 1378, 39 L.Ed.2d 577 (1974). In the Regional Rail Reorganization Act Cases this Court's opinion did not even cite the statutory basis for jurisdiction, much less consider its validity. To conclude that § 1331 embraces a "taking" claim makes the Tucker Act largely superfluous, cf. United States v. Testan, 424 U.S. 392, 404, 96 S.Ct. 948, 956, 47 L.Ed.2d 114 (1976), and will permit the district courts to consider claims of over $10,000 which previously could only be litigated in the Court of Claims. Richardson v. Morris, 409 U.S. 464, 93 S.Ct. 629, 34 L.Ed.2d 647 (1973). Such a significant expansion of the jurisdiction of the district courts should not be accomplished without the benefit of arguments and briefing.
Lawrence FEIN v. PERMANENTE MEDICAL GROUP.
OHIO FORESTRY ASSOCIATION, INC., Petitioner, v. SIERRA CLUB et al.
PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY, et al., Petitioners v. STATE ENERGY RESOURCES CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION et al.