Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC | |
---|---|
Holding | |
While federal agencies are free to grant additional procedural rights in the exercise of their discretion, reviewing courts are generally not free to impose them if the agencies have not chosen to grant them. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinion | |
Majority | Rehnquist, joined by unanimous |
Blackmun, Powell took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
Laws applied | |
Administrative Procedure Act |
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 435 U.S. 519 (1978), is a case in which the
Background
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the
Aftermath
In its decision, the Supreme Court "could not have made plainer its view that the D.C. Circuit had overstepped its proper role and illegitimately used its judicial review function to advance its judges' own policy preferences."[3] While the holding in Vermont Yankee was "certainly broad enough to suggest that courts should stick to the original understanding of the APA with respect to [the APA's requirements that agencies issue a notice of proposed rulemaking and a statement of basis and purpose]," courts have not applied it in that way.[4]
The case was remanded for the circuit court to determine whether the Table S-3 rule was adequately supported by the administrative record. After the
Vermont Yankee signaled a change in administrative law jurisprudence towards legal formalism and textualism.[3] Despite the signaled change, the DC Circuit continued to read additional requirements into the APA for other steps in the rulemaking process. Professor Kenneth Davis wrote that "the Vermont Yankee opinion is largely one of those rare opinions in which the unanimous Supreme Court speaks with little or no authority."[6] While courts have continued to embrace hybrid rulemaking to some degree, the Vermont Yankee opinion did tip the scales back to formalism.
See also
References
- ^ Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519 (1978).
- ^ Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., 435 U.S. at 549.
- ^ a b c d e f Metzger, Gillian (January 1, 2005). "The Story of Vermont Yankee: A Cautionary Tale of Judicial Review and Nuclear Waste". Columbia Law School, Pub. Law Research Paper No. 05-92: 26.
- OCLC 1061760117.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - (1983).
- ISBN 978-1-64708-639-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
Further reading
- JSTOR 1340411.
- Scalia, Antonin (1978). "Vermont Yankee: The APA, the D.C. Circuit, and the Supreme Court". Supreme Court Review. 1978: 345–409. S2CID 141792209.
- Stewart, Richard B. (1978). "Vermont Yankee and the Evolution of Administrative Procedure". Harvard Law Review. 91 (8): 1805–1822. JSTOR 1340409.
External links
- Text of Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519 (1978) is available from: CourtListener Findlaw Google Scholar Justia Library of Congress Oyez (oral argument audio) Louisiana State University