A panel of legal experts will discuss the possible impacts of the newly adopted Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act and recent Supreme Court administrative law decisions on various aspects of the NRC’s regulatory and adjudicatory processes.  Even before Chevron, courts afforded judicial deference to the NRC’s recognized scientific and technical expertise in implementing the Atomic Energy Act’s unique regulatory scheme.  What implications does the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo which ended Chevron deference afforded to an agency’s interpretation of its statutory authority have for promulgating or challenging NRC rules implementing ADVANCE Actrelated regulatory and adjudicatory process changes?  Will the “major questions” doctrine articulated by the Supreme Court in 2022 in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency come into play in relation to any challenges to ADVANCE Act-based regulatory changes?  What does the Supreme Court’s 2024 determination in Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy that a challenge to an agency civil penalty proceeding must be litigated before a Federal district court jury portend for the NRC’s enforcement program and processes? And how do the Nuclear Energy Institute’s ADVANCE Act-associated proposed changes to the NRC’s hearing process measure up in light of existing agency practice, the Administrative Procedure Act’s strictures, and constitutional due process concerns?

 

• Welcome Remarks
  William Froehlich, Administrative Judge, ASLBP/NRC and Paul Bollwerk, III