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Show 1122 449 FEDERAL REPORTER, 2d SERIES tal matters cannot have presented a radically unsettling problem. And, in any event, the obvious sense of urgency on the part of Congress should make clear that a transition, however "orderly," must proceed at a pace faster than a funeral procession. [8] In the end, the Commission's long delay seems based upon what it believes to be a pressing national power crisis. Inclusion of environmental issues in pre-March 4, 1971 hearings might have held up the licensing of some power plants for a time. But the very purpose of NEPA was to tell federal agencies that environmental protection is as much a part of their responsibility as is protection and promotion of the industries they regulate. Whether or not the spectre of a national power crisis is as real as the Commission apparently believes, it must not be used to create a blackout of environmental consideration in the agency review process. NEPA compels a case-by-case examination and balancing of discrete factors. Perhaps there may be cases in which the need for rapid licensing of a particular facility would justify a strict time limit on a hearing board's review of environmental issues; but a blanket banning of such issues until March 4, 1971 is impermissible under NEPA. IV The sweep of NEPA is extraordinarily broad, compelling consideration of any .and all "types of environmental impactof federal action. However, the Atomic" Energy Commission's rules specifically 30. 10 C.F.R. § 50, App. D, at 249. Appendix D does require that applicants' environmental reports and the Commission's "detailed statements" include "a discussion of the water quality aspects of the proposed action." Id. at 248. But, as is stated in text, it bars independent consideration of those matters by the Commission's reviewing boards at public hearings. It also bars the Commission from requiring-or even considering-any water protection measures not already required by the approving state agencies. See Note 31 infra. exclude from full consideration a wide variety of environmental issues. First, they provide that no party may raise and the Commission may not independently examine any problem of water quality- perhaps the most significant impact of nuclear power plants. Rather, the Commission indicates that it will defer totally to water quality standards devised and administered by state agencies and approved by the federal government under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act.30 Secondly, the rules provide for similar abdication of NEPA authority to the standards of other agencies: "With respect to those aspects of environmental quality for which environmental quality standards and requirements have been established by authorized Federal, State, and regional agencies, proof that the applicant is equipped to observe and agrees to observe such standards and requirements will be considered a satisfactory showing that there will not be a significant, adverse effect on the environment. Certification by the appropriate agency that there is reasonable assurance that the applicant for the permit or license will observe such standards and requirements will be considered dispositive for this purpose."31 The most the Commission will do is include a condition in all construction permits and operating licenses requiring compliance with the water quality or other standards set by such agencies.33 The upshot is that the NEPA procedures, viewed by the Commission as superfluous, will wither away in disuse, applied The section of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act establishing a system of state agency certification is § 21, as amended in the Water Quality Improvement Act of 1970. 33 U.S.C.A. § 1171 (1970). In text below, this section is discussed as part of the Water Quality Improvement Act. 31. 10 C.F.R. § 50, App. D, at 249. 32. Ibid. |
