Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC

E77393

United States Supreme Court case administrative law case environmental law case

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC is a 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case that limited courts’ ability to impose additional procedural requirements on federal agencies beyond those mandated by the Administrative Procedure Act and relevant statutes.

Aliases (1)

D.C. Circuit imposed additional procedural requirements on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ×1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case → administrative law case → environmental law case →
areaOfLaw	administrative procedure → environmental regulation → nuclear energy regulation →
citation	435 U.S. 519 → 55 L. Ed. 2d 460 → 98 S. Ct. 1197 →
country	United States →
court	Supreme Court of the United States →
decisionDate	1978-04-03 →
holding	Courts may not require agencies to use particular rulemaking procedures such as cross-examination or discovery absent statutory command → Reviewing courts may not impose additional procedural requirements on administrative agencies beyond those required by the Administrative Procedure Act or the agency’s organic statute or its own regulations → The Administrative Procedure Act establishes the maximum as well as the minimum procedural requirements for informal rulemaking unless Congress provides otherwise →
impact	became a leading precedent in U.S. administrative law on agency procedures → limited judicial power to superimpose procedural requirements on agencies → reinforced the primacy of the Administrative Procedure Act in governing informal rulemaking procedures →
issue	Whether a court of appeals may require an agency to employ additional rulemaking procedures beyond those specified in the APA and relevant statutes →
joinedBy	Byron R. White NERFINISHED → Harry A. Blackmun NERFINISHED → John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED → Lewis F. Powell Jr. NERFINISHED → Potter Stewart NERFINISHED → Thurgood Marshall → Warren E. Burger → William J. Brennan Jr. NERFINISHED →
jurisdiction	federal question jurisdiction →
languageOfOpinion	English →
legalPrinciple	courts cannot use their own notions of proper procedures to overturn agency rulemaking → judicial deference to agency procedural choices within statutory bounds →
lowerCourt	United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit →
lowerCourtDecision	D.C. Circuit imposed additional procedural requirements on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission →
majorityOpinionBy	William H. Rehnquist →
opinionType	unanimous decision →
petitioner	Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation →
relatedCase	Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe → Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. →
relatedConcept	hard look review → informal rulemaking → notice-and-comment rulemaking →
respondent	Natural Resources Defense Council → other environmental groups →
result	Supreme Court reversed the D.C. Circuit →
statuteInterpreted	Administrative Procedure Act → Atomic Energy Act →
subjectMatter	Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing procedures for nuclear power plants →
term	1977 Term →

Referenced by (2)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC ("D.C. Circuit imposed additional procedural requirements on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission") →	lowerCourtDecision
National Environmental Policy Act →	relatedCaseLaw