Honeywell International, Inc. v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Summary

The D.C. Circuit reviewed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s denial of Honeywell International’s request for an exemption allowing goodwill to be included in calculating the tangible-net-worth requirement for decommissioning financial assurance. The court held that it had jurisdiction under the Hobbs Act and that the controversy was not moot because it was capable of repetition yet evading review. It granted Honeywell’s petition, concluding that the NRC had failed to provide a reasoned explanation for departing from its prior decisions granting similar exemptions.

Holdings

1. The D.C. Circuit had jurisdiction under the Hobbs Act because the NRC treated the exemptions as amendments to Honeywell's source-materials license, and the denial was a final order in a licensing proceeding.
2. The petition was not moot because Honeywell's challenge fell within the capable-of-repetition-yet-evading-review exception.
3. The NRC acted arbitrarily and capriciously by denying the 2009 exemption without adequately explaining its inconsistent treatment of the criteria used in its 2007 and 2008 decisions and without addressing significant contrary evidence.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the D.C. Circuit had exclusive jurisdiction under the Hobbs Act to review the NRC's denial of Honeywell's exemption request.
2. Whether Honeywell's petition was moot because the one-year exemption period had expired.
3. Whether the NRC acted arbitrarily and capriciously by denying Honeywell's exemption without adequately explaining its departure from the criteria used in its prior exemption decisions and without addressing material evidence in the record.

Disposition

vacated