Opinion ID: 173333
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Whether the NRC denied Petitioners the right to an administrative hearing on HRI's ability to restore the water quality in the other three mining sites

Text: The AEA provides that, [i]n any proceeding under this chapter, for the granting, suspending, revoking, or amending of any license ... the Commission shall grant a hearing upon the request of any person whose interest may be affected by the proceeding. 42 U.S.C. § 2239(a)(1)(A). Petitioners requested such a hearing, and the NRC conducted one. Petitioners do not challenge the adequacy of that hearing. Instead, they complain that there will be a number of determinations about HRI's project that will be made in the future, and yet Petitioners will not at that time have the opportunity for another hearing on those issues. For example, the exact groundwater restoration standards cannot be determined until HRI drills its wells in Section 8. And restoration and surety requirements for the other three mining sites will not be determined until HRI initially demonstrates its ability to restore the groundwater at Section 8. The NRC determined, however, that Petitioners had a fair opportunity to challenge the 9 pore volume estimate for Section 8, which was based upon the available information to date. The fact that data from the restoration demonstration project will be reviewed for confirmation of the 9 pore volume estimate does not obviate the fact that a meaningful hearing has been provided for the adjudication of the 9 pore volume estimate. In re Hydro Res., Inc., 60 N.R.C. 581, 593 (2004). That determination was not arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion or otherwise unlawful. The NRC conducted a hearing, after which it definitively determined that at this time a nine-pore-volume restoration effort would be necessary. The NRC further noted that, if HRI or the NRC requested to amend the license and/or HRI's surety, Petitioners will, at that time, have an opportunity to request another hearing. See 42 U.S.C. § 2239(a)(1)(A) (In any proceeding under this chapter, for the granting, revoking, or amending of any license ... the Commission shall grant a hearing upon the request of any person whose interest may be affected by the proceeding.) (emphasis added). If, on the other hand, the NRC decides it does not need to amend HRI's license and/or surety, Petitioners themselves can petition to amend HRI's license. See 10 C.F.R. § 2.206(a) (stating that [a]ny person may file a request to institute a proceeding pursuant to § 2.202 to modify, suspend, or revoke a license, or for any other action as may be proper). See generally Fla. Power & Light Co. v. Lorion, 470 U.S. 729, 731, 105 S.Ct. 1598, 84 L.Ed.2d 643 (1985). Petitioners argue that it is unlikely that the relevant NRC Director will exercise its discretion, see Ohio ex rel. Celebrezze v. NRC, 868 F.2d 810, 814-15 (6th Cir.1989), to grant them a hearing under § 2.206. See Eddleman v. NRC, 825 F.2d 46, 48 (4th Cir.1987) (noting there is no right to a hearing under 10 C.F.R. § 2.206). But they are entitled to request a hearing. And if an NRC Director wrongly denies them a hearing, although there is no further administrative review available, see 10 C.F.R. § 2.206(c)(2), Petitioners may be able to seek judicial review of that determination. See Lorion, 470 U.S. at 740-41, 746, 105 S.Ct. 1598; see also Kelley v. Selin, 42 F.3d 1501, 1515 (6th Cir.1995) (citing Bellotti v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 725 F.2d 1380, 1383 (D.C.Cir.1983)) (noting NRC may not deny arbitrarily a petition seeking a hearing under 10 C.F.R. § 2.206); Massachusetts v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 878 F.2d 1516, 1522, 1525 (1st Cir.1989) (reviewing to determine whether agency inexcusably default[ed] on its fundamental responsibility to protect the public safety). But see Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Collins, 359 F.3d 156, 164 (2d Cir.2004) (holding that NRC's denial of § 2.206(a) petition for a hearing was not reviewable because it was left to the agency's total and unreviewable discretion); Nuclear Info. Res. Serv. v. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 969 F.2d 1169, 1178 (D.C.Cir. 1992) (noting the same); Arnow v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 868 F.2d 223, 235-36 (7th Cir.1989) (same). For these reasons, the NRC does not appear to have deprived Petitioners of their right to a hearing.