Opinion ID: 476269
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The January 30, 1986 Order Refusing to Reopen the Record

Text: 43 Petitioners also seek review of the Commission's January 30, 1986 Order dismissing their final motion to reopen the record on the question of management competence and character. The specific issue before the Commission was whether the pendency of OI investigations into allegations of falsification of records and harassment of quality assurance/quality control personnel at the site demonstrated a lack of management character and competence. CLI-86-1, 23 N.R.C. at 5 (Jan. 30, 1986). The Commission held, inter alia, that petitioners' motion fail[ed] on its face to meet the standards for reopening a closed record. Id. at 7. We find no reason to disagree. 44 As this court noted in Mobil Oil Corp. v. ICC, 685 F.2d 624 (D.C.Cir.1982), our role in reviewing denials of motions to reopen the record is a limited one. Where as here the agency has taken final action on a matter that is peculiarly within its realm of expertise, we will not require the agency to reopen its proceedings except upon a clear showing of abuse of discretion or of extraordinary circumstances. Id. at 632. 45 In examining petitioners' plea to reopen the record, we rely on the same court-sanctioned test applied by the Commission in reaching its decision: 46 1) whether the motion to reopen is timely; 47 2) whether the information raises a significant safety (or environmental) concern; and 48 3) whether the information might have led the Licensing Board to reach a different result. 49 CLI-86-1, 23 N.R.C. at 4-5; see San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC, 751 F.2d 1287, 1318 (D.C.Cir.1984), vacated in part and rehearing en banc granted on other grounds, 760 F.2d 1320 (1985), affirmed, 789 F.2d 26 (1986) (Mothers for Peace). On applying the test to petitioners' claim as to the relevance of the ongoing OI investigation, we find that petitioners fail to meet two of the three test requirements. 50 As a primary task of OI is to investigate possible violations of NRC requirements, the mere fact of an investigation proves nothing about the matters under scrutiny. We therefore agree with the Commission's assessment that the material proferred by [petitioners], i.e., that investigations are under way, certainly is not 'tantamount to evidence,' and is not the type of 'relevant, material, and reliable' new information required to reopen a record. Id. at 5-6 (quoting Pacific Gas and Electric Co., 19 N.R.C. 1361, 1366-67 (1984), aff'd sub nom. Mothers for Peace, supra, 751 F.2d 1287). Accordingly, we find the Commission did not abuse its discretion in denying petitioners' motion to reopen.