ML19259A927

Reply by NRDC & Citizens for Better Environ to Suppl Brief of Commonwealth Edison Co.Asserts That Util Errs in Claiming That Only Direct Personal case-by-case Authorization of Litigation Can Confer Standing.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML19259A927
Person / Time
Site:	Dresden, Quad Cities
Issue date:	12/19/1978
From:	Roisman A National Resources Defense Council
To:
References
NUDOCS 7901110257
Download: ML19259A927 (5)

Text

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l' s NRC PUBLIC DOCUMENT ROOM .,;2 s, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ,  ; it3~[.6 7 * .

. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION y

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S In The Matter Of )

) Docket Nos. 50-237 COMMCNWEALTH EDISON COMPANY, et al.) 50-249

) 50-254 (Amendments to Facility Operating ) 50-265 Licenses) )

NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL AND CITIZENS FOR A BETTER ENVIRONMENT REPLY TO SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF OF COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY ON AUTHORIZATION OUESTION In its supplemental brief, Applicant asserts that only direct personal case-by-case authorization of litigation can confer standing. No cases are cited which have ever made such a requirement, nor are we aware of any. To impose that requirement is contrary to the principles under which NRDC and CBE recruit members and would subject the administrative and court system and intervenors to endless and fruitless controversy.

NRDC and CBE recruit members who are providing money for these groups to pursue certain identified interests. Members are fully aware of CBE and NRDC nuclear and other activities and, by providing monetary support, are providing the organiza-tion with an authorization to use its best judgment as to what litigatien is to be pursued. Members are affirming that the organizational interests coincide with their own personal interests and are placing reliance on NRDC and CBE to choose what actions to initiate. A typical NRDC membership solicitation THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS P00R QUAUTY PAGES 7 9 01110 ft5 7

s-*: 2 is attached which illustrates this blanket support for and authorization of NRDC activities by its members. If standing requires ignoring that relationship of trust created by membership, then there is no end to the scope of the inquiry.

If we identify Jane Doe as a member who has authorized the action, a party may seek to take Jane Dee's deposition to verify that authorization was obtained. In the deposition, counsel may characterize the litigation in ways different from when authorization was sought and may obtain different answers.

Whose characterization of the suit controls? Once the case begins, issues evolve. A party may seek further depositions to see if the authorization is still applicable. Will standing be destroyed if the member does not approve each brief before it is filec? What applicant seeks is to force NRDC and CBE to act as counsel for inidvidual members and not to act in their corporate capacity. No standing case does, or reasonably could, go that far.

The crucial language in Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S.

727, 740 (1971) is the following:

It is clear that an organization whose members are injured may reprasent those me=bers in a proceeding for judicial review. See, e.g., NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 428.

In this case, Applicant concedes that CBE and NRDC have alleged the requisite injury in fact. That should be, and is, the end of the standing inquiry.

1 3 Respectfully submitted, J Yl

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Anthony Z.,lRoisman Natural Resources Defense Council 917 15th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005 (202)737-5000 Counsel for NRDC and CBE Dated: December 19, 1978

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - 3. 7

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION k h h 1 ;dk s' In the Matter of  % -

COMMONWEALTH EDISON CO., et al.  : Docket Nos. 50-237

50-249 (Amendments to Operating Licenses)  :

• 50-254 50-265 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of NRDC AND CBE REPLY TO SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF OF COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY ON AUTHORIZATION QUESTION were mailed today, necember 19, 1978, by first class mail, postage prepaid, to:

Secretary of the Commission Gary L. Milhollin, Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1815 Jefferson Street Washington, D.C. 20555 Madison, Wisconsin 33711 e

Att'ntion: Docketing and Service '

Mrs. Elizabeth B. Johnson Executive Legal Director Union Carbide Corporation U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Division Washington, D.C. 20555 P.O. Box X Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 Philip P. Steptoe Isham, Lincoln & Beale Dr. Quentin J. Stober One First National Plaza Fisheries Research Institute 42nd Floor University of Washington Chicago, Illinois 60603 Seattle, Washingten 98195 Susan N. Sekuler Assistant Attorney General 188 W. Randolph Street Suite 2315 Chicago, Ill. 60601

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