Opinion ID: 179005
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Consent Act Saving Clause

Text: As to the first saving clause, Congress consented to the Northwest Compact subject to the provisions of the [1985] Act, and only for so long as the regional commission, committee, or board established in the compact complies with all of the provisions of such Act. Consent Act § 212. EnergySolutions argues these conditions indicate Congress only consented to provisions in the Compact that were explicitly approved in the 1985 Act. If true, this would mean that even though the Compact is the primary source of the Northwest Compact's exclusionary authority, that authority is circumscribed by reference to the 1985 Act. We disagree with this interpretation. As we noted earlier, Congress explicitly consented to each and every part and article of the Compact. Consent Act § 221. EnergySolutions would have us essentially rewrite this agreement by concluding Congress took away with one hand what it gave with the otherthat is, by conditioning its consent on compliance with the 1985 Act, it was not really granting what it purported to grant. Even if we were to assume Congress may, at times, do just this, we are reluctant to conclude it would do so in such a casual way, especially on such an important issue. Congress, according to the Supreme Court, does not alter the fundamental details of a regulatory scheme in vague terms or ancillary provisionsit does not, one might say, hide elephants in mouseholes. Whitman v. Am. Trucking Ass'ns., 531 U.S. 457, 468, 121 S.Ct. 903, 149 L.Ed.2d 1 (2001). And of course, repeals by implication are disfavored. See Bialek v. Mukasey, 529 F.3d 1267, 1270 (10th Cir.2008) (quoting United States v. Morgan, 222 U.S. 274, 281, 32 S.Ct. 81, 56 L.Ed. 198 (1911)). EnergySolutions also posits that when Congress adopted the Compact subject to the provisions of the 1985 Act, this meant we must read any reference to facility in the Compact as referring to a regional disposal facility as defined in the 1985 Act. Under that reading, the Northwest Compact only exercises exclusionary authority over the Clive Facility if that facility is operated under a compact. 1985 Act § 2021b(11). And the Clive Facility does not meet this definition since it is a private facility not operated by the Northwest Compact. Even assuming for the moment this is a valid representation of Congress's grant of consent, we are not persuaded by this argument. We can find little in the context of the statute or the legislative history to determine the meaning of the phrase under a compact. The choice of under in this context is more inclusive than if Congress had said operated by a compact, and may mean nothing more than simply a facility operated within a compact. Regardless of its proper meaning, we will not allow the non-specific saving clause to undo Congress's specific language in the Consent Act. When Congress conditions its explicit consent to each part of a compact on conformity with another federal statute, the most natural understanding of this action is to allow any part of the compact that is not in direct conflict with the federal statute to stand. In context, this means, for instance, the Northwest Compact is required to comply with the benchmarks established in the 1985 Act, even though the Compact contains no such requirements. It does not mean the compacts are forbidden from agreeing to anything not found in the 1985 Act. [12] Recent case law supports this natural interpretation. In Alabama v. North Carolina , for example, the Supreme Court analyzed a compact containing provisions that required more than the text of the 1985 Act. One of the main disagreements among the parties in that case was whether the Southeast Compact authorized the imposition of monetary sanctions on states failing to conform to their responsibilities. 130 S.Ct. at 2305. But nothing in the 1985 Act authorizes compacts to do so. While the Court eventually determined the Southeast Commission lacked this authority, it was not because the 1985 Act failed to provide for it, but because the terms of the compact did not allow it. Id. at 2305-07. Importantly, the Court noted other compacts, approved contemporaneously, did allow for the imposition of monetary sanctions. Id. at 2307. This indicates the Court viewed the entire LLRW interstate compact system as allowing for great flexibility in determining each compact's specific authority, which is defined by each compact's language. Alabama thus indicates compacts are not limited only to authority found in the 1985 Act. Another type of authority found in many compacts but not in the 1985 Act is the authority to require all LLRW generated within a compact's region to be disposed of in the regional disposal facility. A policy prohibiting export from the state or region would also implicate dormant Commerce Clause concerns, see South-Central Timber Dev., Inc. v. Wunnicke, 467 U.S. 82, 91, 104 S.Ct. 2237, 81 L.Ed.2d 71 (1984) ([T]he Court has viewed with particular suspicion state statutes requiring business operations to be performed in the home State that could more efficiently be performed elsewhere.) (internal quotations omitted), and therefore this practice can only continue with express congressional approval. These provisions exist to ensure the regional disposal facility will always have an incoming stream of waste, and therefore make it more likely the facility will remain economically viable. These provisions are an important feature of the statutory scheme. Amici argue that if compacts only have authority explicitly laid out in the 1985 Act, then no compact would be entitled to require disposal of in-region waste at their regional disposal facilities. In turn, they argue, this would undermine the economic viability of their disposal sites, potentially leading to closures and a nationwide lack of disposal sites. We recognize many congressionally-approved compacts contain this authority to prevent export of LLRW generated in the region. See Br. of Amicus Curiae Atlantic Interstate Low Level Radioactive Waste Compact, et. al, pp. 20-21 (citing provisions in the Southeast Compact, the Texas Compact, and the Southwestern Compact); Br. of Aplt. Rocky Mountain Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact, pp. 19-20 (citing provisions in the Rocky Mountain Compact, the Central Compact, the Central Midwest Compact, and the Atlantic Compact). These provisions help illustrate the point that many compacts go beyond the 1985 Act itself, a point Congress affirmed by its wholesale approval contained in the Consent Act. In short, when Congress conditioned its consent on compliance with the 1985 Act, it meant only to strike out any provisions of a compact that directly contradicted that Act. Congress did not intend, when adding the saving clause to its consent, to negate the consent it had explicitly given under specific terms of each compact.