Nine states and the National Conference of State Legislatures filed amicus or “friend of the court” briefs Monday supporting Vermont’s appeal of a decision invalidating two state laws that would effectively shutter the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon.
The National Conference of State Legislatures is a bipartisan organization that serves the legislators of all 50 states.
The NCSL, in its brief, criticizes Judge J. Garvan Murtha’s emphasis on pieces of Vermont’s legislative record in passing two laws that required legislative approval for the plant’s continued operation.
Murtha emphasized repeated references to nuclear safety in the legislative record. States are prohibited from regulating nuclear safety since it is specifically delegated to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Murtha found that the state was motivated by radiological safety when it passed those laws.
“[T]o inquire into legislative motive both threatens the independence of legislative decisionmaking and distorts the integrity of the legislative process,” the NCLS brief reads. “Left uncorrected, this type of misguided judicial inquiry will inevitably chill state legislatures’ willingness to debate policy issues robustly and to solicit a variety of viewpoints about proposed legislation openly.”
Another brief, filed by New York and joined by eight other states, highlights the longstanding role states have played in regulating nuclear power facilities.
The states’ brief says that states are not required to authorize a nuclear plant’s operation, and the U.S. Supreme Court has never found the Atomic Energy Act preempted a state law.
States can regulate non-safety issues, and the states’ brief states that Murtha’s approach “would undermine the carefully delineated ‘dual regulation’ structure of preemption under the Atomic Energy Act.”
A number of environmental groups representing the Conservation Law Foundation, the Vermont Natural Resources Council, the New England Coalition and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group also filed an amicus brief in support of the state.
Entergy Corp., Vermont Yankee’s owner will file its brief later this summer.
