Opinion ID: 415261
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: NRC hearing procedures satisfy the requirements of due process.

Text: 31 The City argues that the NRC proceedings deprived it of liberty or property interests without due process of law. Yet generalized health, safety and environmental concerns do not constitute liberty or property subject to due process protection. See, e.g., Izaak Walton League v. Marsh, supra at 361; Gasper v. Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District, 418 F.Supp. 716, 720-721 (E.D.La.1976), affirmed, 577 F.2d 897 (5th Cir.1978), certiorari denied, 439 U.S. 1073, 99 S.Ct. 846, 59 L.Ed.2d 40. Although the City claims that it has presented specific documented concerns to the NRC in its petitions (Br. at 28), such concerns do not, without more, require due process protection. 32 Even if we were to find a protected liberty or property interest in this case, we would hold that Commission procedures constituted sufficient process. The City received a meaningful opportunity to submit statements and data explaining why the amendment should not be granted. See See-Land Service, Inc. v. FMC, 653 F.2d 544, 551 (D.C.Cir.1981). On October 27, 1981 the City filed four petitions for hearing with the NRC (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Docs. Nos. 1-5). NRC responded on November 5 by requesting that the City submit to NRC and serve on KM any information relating to the health, safety or environmental effects of issuing Amendment No. 3 (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 6). The City responded on November 13 with a list of six contentions (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 7), all of which KM denied (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 8). NRC addressed another letter to both parties asking KM to respond to the City's two factual allegations and offering the City a chance to respond to KM (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 9). KM submitted a detailed rebuttal of the City's contentions with supporting documentary information (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 13). The City responded by reiterating its earlier assertions but provided no other factual information (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 14). 33 By pressing its request for a formal evidentiary hearing, the City has indicated its belief that written comments and documentation provide an inadequate opportunity to air its concerns. However, we are given no hint by the City of concerns other than the six listed in its November 13 submission to the Commission. Of those six, only two present factual issues, see Part IIB infra, the resolution of which will in large part be based on technical or scientific data that will not necessarily be made more reliable through an oral presentation. Cf. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U.S. 319, 344-345, 96 S.Ct. 893, 907, 47 L.Ed.2d 18; Basciano v. Herkimer, 605 F.2d 605, 610-611 (2d Cir.1978). In addition, as in a motion for summary judgment, it appears that both the City and KM essentially agreed on the facts but contested their interpretation, thus alleviating the need for an oral hearing. 34 We find that NRC correctly applied the Mathews v. Eldridge analysis, 424 U.S. 319, 96 S.Ct. 893, 47 L.Ed.2d 18, in its order. 15 NRC at 256-262. The private interest that would be affected by official action in this case is a generalized one; in fact the health, safety and environmental interests of the City appear to be more public than private. Though such interests are, of course, significant in the larger sense, in this case the City itself valued the particular interest involved only minimally since it did not object to the issuance of Amendment No. 1 involving similar procedures. Taking into account the technical, scientific nature of the issues, the absence of credibility questions, and the apparent lack of controverted issues of material fact, the additional value of an oral hearing in this case is minimal. Finally, convening a formal hearing involves a great deal of expense, both for the agency and the parties. According to NRC, 15 NRC at 261, 35 A three-member licensing board or administrative law judge must be appointed, and with that come all the accouterments that make the proceeding more costly in terms of the time and materials expended: e.g., participation in a prehearing conference, preparation of transcripts, discovery, submission of pre-filed testimony, a trial-type hearing at which witnesses are presented and cross-examined, and the preparation of findings of fact and conclusions of law. 36 NRC concluded, and we concur, that in this particular case, the Commission procedures afforded the City all the process that was constitutionally necessary. 37 The City, however, raises another notice problem. The City contends that NRC regulations provide for only one kind of hearing--a formal one. See 10 C.F.R. Secs. 2.104 and 2.105, notes 4 and 5 supra. Despite the provisions in APA Section 552(a) which require that agency procedures be published in the Federal Register, there are no regulations in effect governing any kind of informal hearing. In addition, NRC has admittedly always granted formal hearings on request in materials licensing cases. 15 NRC at 246 n. 12, NRC Br. at 17 n. 11. 13 Therefore the City claims that when it filed its written materials in October and November of 1981, it assumed that these were preliminary to a formal hearing, and that it was prejudiced by lack of notice of the informal hearing. See Transco Sec., Inc. v. Freeman, 639 F.2d 318, 323-324 (6th Cir.1981), certiorari denied, 454 U.S. 820, 102 S.Ct. 101, 70 L.Ed.2d 90. 38 NRC seems to admit it has no regulations governing informal hearings, but argues that in this case at least the City had actual notice of the new procedures and an adequate opportunity to conform to them. APA Section 552(a) provides that persons may not be required to resort to, or be adversely affected by a matter which is not published [e]xcept to the extent that a person has actual and timely notice of the terms thereof. See Human Resources Management, Inc. v. Weaver, 442 F.Supp. 241, 247 (D.D.C.1977). In addition, though an agency may be bound by its own established customs and practices, it may satisfy due process requisites by prior public notice of its new policy or requirements. See Briscoe v. Kusper, 435 F.2d 1046, 1055 (7th Cir.1970). 39 We do not doubt the authority of NRC to change its procedures on a case-by-case basis with timely notice to the parties involved, see NLRB v. Bell Aerospace Co., 416 U.S. 267, 294, 94 S.Ct. 1757, 1771, 40 L.Ed.2d 134, but we question the wisdom of doing so without the benefit of published regulations. A review of the documents in this case indicates that the issue of adequate notice is a close one. The November 5, 1981, letter from NRC to the City requested that the City provide any additional information and arguments it desires that the Commission consider in connection with the license amendment .... (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 6). The final November 25, 1981, letter from NRC urged both KM and the City to recognize that the Commission is hereby requesting whatever information is now possessed by Kerr-McGee and the City which is relevant to resolving the City's assertions concerning KM's dust-abatement program (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 9). Although these letters are not totally unambiguous, we conclude that the City did have adequate notice that the Commission intended to base its decision on written submissions. Other than the mere allegation of prejudice, there is no evidence in the record that the City would have responded differently if it had a more definite idea of the type or scope of the hearing. See Citizens for Allegan Cty. v. FPC, 414 F.2d 1125, 1134 (D.C.Cir.1969). The City also argues that it received the technical information on the decommissioning activities in KM's December 4, 1981, letter, and was given only one week to respond (Admin.Rec., Vol. 1, Doc. No. 14). However, the City failed to request an extension from NRC and also failed to challenge substantively KM's decommissioning data at any subsequent time. Accordingly, there is no evidence that the City was prejudiced by the one-week notice period. 40