City of West Chicago v. US NUCLEAR REG. COM'N, 81 C 5743.

• Decision Date: 05 April 1982
• Docket Number: No. 81 C 5743.,81 C 5743.
• Citation: 542 F. Supp. 13
• Parties: CITY OF WEST CHICAGO, a municipal corporation of Illinois, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION, R. G. Page, and Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois

542 F. Supp. 13

CITY OF WEST CHICAGO, a municipal corporation of Illinois, Plaintiff, v. UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION, R. G. Page, and Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation, Defendants.

No. 81 C 5743.

United States District Court, N. D. Illinois, E. D.

April 5, 1982.

Bruce R. Kelsey, Harold J. Spelman & Associates, West Chicago, Ill., for plaintiff.

Gail C. Ginsberg, Asst. U. S. Atty., John C. Berghoff, Jr., Pamela J. Kempin, and Mary C. Bryant, Chadwell, Kayser, Ruggles, McGee & Hastings, Ltd., Chicago, Ill., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

McGARR, Chief Judge.

This cause is currently before the court on two motions. The plaintiff, the City of West Chicago ("West Chicago") has filed an amended petition for a preliminary injunction. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the "NRC" or the "government"), one of the defendants, has filed a motion to dismiss in which it has been joined by the other defendant, Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation ("Kerr-McGee"). Since both motions can be resolved on the same grounds, the court will address them together in this opinion.

This cause is one of a series of actions brought by West Chicago against the NRC and Kerr-McGee. These actions stem from the operation of Kerr-McGee's Rare Earth processing facility in West Chicago. Chemical compounds containing thorium, a naturally occurring radioactive element, were produced at this plant. Because thorium was involved, the facility was originally licensed by the Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor in authority to the NRC. Production at this site ceased in 1973 and now Kerr-McGee is in the process of decommissioning the site.

At issue here is the demolition of several buildings at the West Chicago location. Their demolition was authorized by the NRC in an amendment to Kerr-McGee's license dated September 28, 1981. West Chicago then filed this complaint and a petition for a temporary restraining order ("TRO"). A hearing was held during which the plaintiff alleged that the NRC issued the license amendment without a hearing and without notice to the plaintiff.

The court granted the plaintiff's request for a TRO on October 21, 1981. The order required the NRC to consider the plaintiff's request for intervention and a hearing on the licensing amendment proceedings.

Now West Chicago is before the court with a request for a preliminary injunction. The action is framed primarily as a mandamus action, 28 U.S.C. § 1361, although federal question jurisdiction is also asserted. 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

On February 11, 1982, the NRC issued its order reaffirming the issuance of the amendment to Kerr-McGee's license. The NRC's order was issued after it complied with the court's direction that it provide West Chicago with proper notice of its deliberations. According to the government, the NRC considered all the information presented to it pertaining to the proposed licensing amendment. This included all the information submitted by the parties to this suit as well as the NRC's staff analysis of the environmental impact and health and safety considerations involved in the decision.

In the February 11 order, the NRC also considered West Chicago's request for a hearing. The NRC determined that none of its regulations nor any due process considerations entitled West Chicago to a hearing. To the extent that the Atomic Energy Act ("AEA") provides for hearings in proceedings by this type, 42 U.S.C. § 2239(a), the NRC found that an informal hearing, based on written submissions of the parties, was an appropriate procedural mechanism to consider fully a challenge to the proposed licensing amendment.

The complaint brought by West Chicago can be summarized as follows: The plaintiff asserts that the NRC's amendment to Kerr-McGee's license allowing demolition of certain buildings and receipt for temporary storage of thorium was granted in violation of NRC regulations, the AEA, the due process clause of the Constitution and the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). In short, the plaintiff seeks judicial review of the NRC's license amendment on the grounds that it was improperly issued. These allegations are contained in Counts V through XII of the complaint.

Next, the complaint alleges that the NRC delayed in issuing for public comment a draft environmental impact statement ("EIS") on Kerr-McGee's plans for permanent decommissioning of the West Chicago site and delayed approval of the plan in violation of the NEPA. These allegations are contained in Counts I through IV of the complaint.

Before considering these allegations, the court must first decide the issue, raised in both motions, of whether it may properly assert subject matter over this cause.

The court of appeals has exclusive jurisdiction to review final orders entered by the NRC. 28 U.S.C. § 2342(4); 42 U.S.C. § 2239(b). The government contends that the nature of this action is to question the validity of the NRC's order.¹

Specifically, the government contends that inasmuch as Counts V through XII of the complaint attack the validity of the licensing amendment there can be no doubt that this was a final order in a licensing proceeding over which the court of appeals has exclusive jurisdiction to review. Natural Resources Defense Counsel v. NRC, 606 F.2d 1261 (D.C.Cir.1979). Of course, a specific grant of authority to the court of appeals supersedes the more general grants...