State of Texas v. NRC, 78 F.4th 827

Background

NRC issued a license to Interim Storage Partners, LLC to operate a private, consolidated interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Andrews County (Permian Basin), Texas; the license contemplated 5,000–40,000 metric tons of waste.
The Department of Energy’s Yucca Mountain repository program stalled after decades of delay; Congress enacted the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (NWPA) to create a federal repository and a statutory framework for interim storage.
Texas (via Governor and H.B. 7) and local parties (Fasken/Permian Basin Land & Royalty Owners) opposed the license; Texas passed H.B. 7 prohibiting high‑level radioactive waste storage in the State.
In agency proceedings Fasken sought intervention and filed contentions (many denied); Texas submitted formal comments; the NRC issued an environmental impact statement and then the license.
Petitioners challenged the license in the Fifth Circuit arguing (inter alia) that the Atomic Energy Act (AEA) does not authorize NRC to license private away‑from‑reactor storage and that the NWPA forecloses such licensing; the Fifth Circuit vacated the license.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Constitutional standing	Texas: sovereign injury because license conflicts with H.B. 7; Fasken: proximity to site and use of local resources causes concrete injury	NRC: petitioners lack injury-in-fact	Both Texas and Fasken have Article III standing (state sovereign interest; proximity/associational standing for Fasken/PBLRO)
Hobbs Act "party aggrieved" requirement	Texas: submitting formal comments suffices; Fasken: attempted intervention and filed contentions	NRC: only formal intervention/participation in adjudication confers Hobbs Act party status; denied intervenors may only challenge denial	Fifth Circuit applied its ultra vires exception — petitioners may challenge agency action as exceeding statutory authority even if not traditional "party aggrieved"; allowed review of authority claims
AEA authority to license private away‑from‑reactor storage	Texas: AEA’s licensing provisions are limited to enumerated uses (reactors, production/utilization, research, medical/industrial byproduct uses) and do not authorize licensing of long‑term, high‑level away‑from‑reactor storage	NRC/ISP: AEA authorizes possession licenses for constituent materials, which extends to storage facilities	AEA does not grant the broad authority the NRC claimed to license private away‑from‑reactor spent fuel storage
Interaction with NWPA (preclusion/foreclosure)	Texas: NWPA creates a comprehensive federal scheme prioritizing a permanent repository and limits interim storage to at‑reactor or federal/monitored retrievable programs; private consolidated interim storage conflicts with NWPA	NRC: NWPA did not repeal or displace NRC authority under the AEA	NWPA’s comprehensive scheme and its limits on interim/monitored retrievable storage foreclose the NRC’s claimed licensing authority here; license vacated

Key Cases Cited

Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, 578 U.S. 330 (2016) (Article III standing requirements)
Rumsfeld v. FAIR, 547 U.S. 47 (2006) (presence of one party with standing suffices)
American Trucking Ass’ns v. ICC, 673 F.2d 82 (5th Cir. 1982) (ultra vires / non‑party appeal exception)
Wales Transportation, Inc. v. ICC, 728 F.2d 774 (5th Cir. 1984) (application of the ultra vires exception)
Bullcreek v. NRC, 359 F.3d 536 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (D.C. Cir. assumed NRC authority to license away‑from‑reactor storage without detailed statutory analysis)
West Virginia v. EPA, 142 S. Ct. 2587 (2022) (major questions doctrine; careful scrutiny where agency claims broad authority on matters of vast economic and political significance)
Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Env’t Study Group, 438 U.S. 59 (1978) (environmental injury from radiation exposures and proximity)
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Res. Conservation & Dev. Comm’n, 461 U.S. 190 (1983) (background on federal regulation of nuclear energy under the AEA)