ML20087M815

Affidavit of Jh Rodriguez on Applicant Motion for Deposition.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML20087M815
Person / Time
Site:	Hope Creek
Issue date:	03/26/1984
From:	Jaime Rodriguez NEW JERSEY, STATE OF
To:	NEW JERSEY, STATE OF
Shared Package
ML20087M808	List: ML20087M807 ML20087M815
References
OL, NUDOCS 8404020025
Download: ML20087M815 (10)

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V. L Attachment 2 4

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA i NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Befora the Atomic Safety and-Licensino ADpeal Board In the Matter of  :

Public Service Electric  :

and Gas Company

Docket No. 50-354 OL (Hope Creek Generating Station)  :

AFFIDAVIT OF JOSEPH H. RODRIGUEZ, ESQ.,

THE'PUBLIC ADVOCATE OF THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY

'I, Joseph H. Rodriguez, of full' age, being duly sworn, upon my oath, depose and say that:

1.

I serve as the Public Advocate and Commissioner of the Department of the Public Advocate, State of New Jersey.

I was appointed to this position by. Governor Thomas H. Kean, then , confirmed by'the New Jersey Senate, and sworn into office on February 11, 1982.

Acting in my official capacity as'Public Advocate, I have authorized this office to intervene

'in the above Hope Creek-Operating License proceeding now pending before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

2.

The office of the Public Advocate is a cabinet-level official of the State of New Jersey. Chapter 27 of 8404020025 840326 V-4 PDR ADOCK 05000354 '

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the Laws of--1974 ("the Act"), New Jersey Statutes Annotated

("N.J.S.A.") 52:27E-1, et seg. established the Department of the Public Advocate as a " principal department (of the] Executive Bra..ch of State Government." N.J.S.A. 52:

27E-2.

3. The Act provides that the " administrator and chief executive officer of the department shall be a commissioner

[ equivalent to the federal cabinet title of " Secretary"),

who shall be known as the Public Advocate." N.J.S.A. 52:

27E-3. The same section also permits the Public Advocate

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to serve concurrently as the State Public Defender and chief executive officer of the office which provides "the consti-tutional guarantees of counsel in criminal cases for indigent

'defendantW' throughout the state. Chapter 43, Laws of.1967, N.J.S.A. 2A: 158-1,et sea. I serve as both the State Public Advocate and Public Defender of the State of New Jersey.

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_ 4. In my capacity as Public Advocate and Public Defender, I oversee a staff of 883, including 335 attorneys and in-vestigators, housed in 29 offices in 21 counties, with an annual budget in fiscal year 1984 of $29 million. As a 9

a cabinet officer, I also serve on a great variety of high-level committees, commissions and task forces.1

5. Various offices and units of the Public Advocate and the Public Defender are engaged in a wide range of federal and state' court litigation and administrative

. proceedings.

1. These include the following: The Governor's Task Force on the Homeless, The Governor's Nursing Home Task Force, The Cabinet Committee on Aging, The Governor's Task Force on' Child Abuse and Neglect, The Governor's Affirma-tive Action' Policy Committee, The Governor's Commission on Children's Services, The Commission on the Future of State Colleges, The Task Force on Municipal Court Improvement, The Supreme Court Committee on Civil Case Management, The Governor's Advisory Committee on Capital Expenditure for Health. Care Facilities, The Peter Rodino Institute of

- Criminal Justice, The Administrative Conference of the United States, and The United' States Conference of Chief Justices,' inter alia.

2. These cases include such diverse areas as the right of low and moderate income state residents to affordable housing, So. Burlington Cty. NAACP v. To..of Mt. Laurel, 92'N.J. 158 (1983), 436 A 2d. 390; the right of institution-alized' psychiatric patients to due process prior to the involuntary administration of certain psychotropic medication, Rennie v. Klein, 462 F. Supp. 1131 (D.N.J. 1978), mod. 653 F.

2d 836 (3rd Cir. 1981), remanded 102 S.CT. 3506, on remand 720 F.2d 266 (3rd Cir. 1983); the need to balance housing and environmental factors in housing in coastal areas, In re Ecc Harbor Associates, __ N.J. __(198 3) , __ A.2d __; the

" discharged pending placement" hospital patients to adequate due process placement hearings, In re S.L., 94 N.J.

128 (1983), the constitutionality of the State's condominium conversion law, protecting elderly apartment dwellers, Troy Ltd v. Renna, F.2d (3rd Cir. 19 84) . (footnote continued on next page)

6. The total annual caseload of the department measures in the tens of thousands. For example, in calendar year 1982 the Division of-Rate Counsel participated in 790 public utility, insurance, hospital rate setting and similar con-sumer rate cases ; the Division of Mental Health Advocacy adjudicated over 6,000 individual and class action cases involving the rights of mental patients; the Division of Advocacy for the Developmentally Disabled resolved over 900 cases governing the rights of the handicapped and mentally retarded; and the public defender offices disposed of over 45,000 adult' and juvenile cases. When the 1983

- data are complete, it is anticipated that these numbers will be substantially higher.

7. Although my name appears on countless pleadings in cases before' scores of courts and administrative agencies, (f ootnote no. 2' continued from previous page) the' constitutional rights of-jail inmates and pretrial de-tainees against overcrowding and unhealthy c.onditions of confinement , in se'eral v cases; and the rights o'f severely 111' patients to continued *. care and comfort, In re Claire Conroy ,19 0N . J . Super . 4 5 3 ( App . Di.v . , 1983) , 464 A.2d 303 For a fuller discussion of theHeffner, Public "Advocate in Legislative Over-scholarly journals, please see:

sight: An Analysis of the Department of the Public Act" 1 Seton Hall Legislative Journal 75 (1976); "The Office of (footnote continued to next page)

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A as required by statute, N.J.S.A. 52:27E-42,1 I usually dele-gate the specific fact analysis and case development to division directors and staff attorneys. These matters I

. generally entrust to subordinates, such as the Assistant Commissioner, depending upon their statutory duties and areas of expertise. All policy judgments (notably, the decision to litigate in a particular area ) , however, I retain and exercise in my " sole discretion" as the law pro-vides. N.J.S.A. 52:27E-31.

8. In this proceeding, I have performed the statutory function under N.J.S.A. 52:27E-31 of determining that there (footnote no. 2 continued from previous pages) the Public Counsel; Institutionalizing Public Interest Repre-sentation'in State Government" 64 Georgetown Law Journal 895 (1976); Penn, " Advocate from Within" Trial Magazine 22 (1976); Penn and Bisgaier, "New Jersey's Experiment in State-Funded Public Interest Advocacy" 29 Land Use Law & zoning

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Digest 10 (1977); Perlin and Siggers, "The Role of the Lawyer

Un Mental Health Advocacy" 4. Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 204 (1976); Donato, "The Department of the Public Advocate-the Public Interest Representation and

. Administrative Oversight" 30.Rutgers Law Review 386 (1977) ; and Graybeal, "The Private Attorney General and the Public?. Advocate:

Facilitating Public Interent Litigation" 34 Rutgers Law Review

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350 (1982) .

3. "Any action brought by the Public Advocate. . . shall be brought in-the name of the person serving as the Public j Advocate or in the .:uune of an af f ected individual or group. . . "

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r is.a significant public interest to be served by participation as a party in.the Board's review of PSE&G's application to operate the-Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station. My

--judgment was predicated upon my understanding of the potential

' health, safety and environmental impacts of faulty.and, innsome respects even: normal operation.

9. My staff presented these concerns to the Board as part of the amended petition to intervene. Thus, ten (10) contentions were submitted on November.7, 1983; four (4) were admitted into controversy'at the Special Prehearing 4 -Conference of November 22, 1983. As to the matters contained ,

in' the Public Advocate's contentions, I have no personal

-knowledge or specialized technical informat. ion beyond the information presented to the Board in support of these contentions.-

10. In preparing these contentions, my direct partici-pation was. limited to reviewing the proposed petition to intervene, and assuring myself that the attorneys had j

researched the matter thoroughly.- I then approved the sub-mission of the petition and contentions. Thus, as in the L

vast majority of.the Public Advocate-Public Defender cases, my-participation was limited to (1) determining after careful consideration -- and consonant with state law and regulation, i

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J-see N.J.A.C.' 15A:1-1.1, et'sec. ,that the public interest of New Jersey residents' would benefit from the' intervention, and (2) participating in meetings, consultations, and briefings.with R. William Potter, Esq., the attorney.who, along with Susan Remis, Esq. prepared the papers offered to the Board.

-11. I sincerely believe that submitting to applicant's deposition will serve no useful purpose. Moreover, it will subject this office.to annoyance, oppression, and undue costs,J and disrupt the orderly administration of the cabinet-2 level department of which I am the " administrator and chief executive officer." N.J.S.A. 52:27E-4. -It also comes at a most inopportune-time 1as I am scheduled to present the depart-ment's budget for the next' fiscal year.in early April before the Legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee. (In i.

' preparation for.this critical appearance I am devoting

. substantial blocks of time.to~ meetings with my budget staff, the Treasury Department and-the Office of Management and Budget.)

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' 12 . Also, I note-that the deposition is scheduled for March 30 in Newark, (Essex County) New Jersey. The time and location are burdensome, distant and in conflict with my schedule. (I reside in Cherry Hill, (Camden County)

New Jersey, which is 35 miles southwest of Trenton, (Mercer County), where my office is located, while Newark is another 55 miles northeast.of Trenton. Therefore, the site' conforms neither to my place of residency nor work.)

Dated: March 26 , 1984 Lk I h &

JSEPHH.RODRIGUE[

Sworn and Subscribed to beforey me this 26th day of March,1984.

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA b 'D3

' NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ,

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~ .. a: e Before the Atomic Safety and Licensinc IhpEd$$dodhd 9 In the Matter of  :

Public Service Electric  :

and Gas Company (Hope Creek Generating Station).  : Docket No. 50-354 OL I cbrtify that on today's date, March 26, 1984, I caused to be sent copies of the Public Advocate of the State of New Jersey's Motion to Quash the Applicant's

. Subpoena by first class mail to those listed below and by personal service on those listed with an asterick.

(I understand that personal service will not be effectuated until 9:00 A.M., Tuesday., March 27, 1984.)

The Hon. Marshall E. Miller Atomic Safety,and Licensing Chairman Appeal Panel Atomic Safety and Licensing U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm.

Board Panel 1717 "H" Street, N.W.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm. Washington, DC 20555 East-West West Building (5 copies)

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Room 408 ,

4350 East-West Highway Atomic Safety and Licensing Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Board Panel (2 copies) U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm.

L 1717 "H" Street, N.W.

Dr. Peter A. Morris

• Washington, DC.20555 Atomic Safety and Licensing l _ Board Panel Richard Fryling, Jr. , Esq.

U.S.' Nuclear Regulatory Comm.

1717 "H" Street, N.W. Associate General Counsel Washington, IX: 20555 Public Service Electric and Gas Co.

PO Box 570 (TSE)

Newark, NJ 07101

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Docketing and. Service Lee Scott Dewey, Esq.*

Gtation Office of the Executive Legal Office of the Secretary Director U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm.

1717 "H" Street, NW' East-West West Building Washington, DC 20555 4350 East-West Highway Bethesda, Maryland 20814

, (2 copies)

-Director,. Division of Troy B. Conner, Jr., Esq.*

Environmental Control Conner and Wetterhahn Tatnell Building 1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Dover, Delaware 19901 Washington, DC 20006 (2 copies)

Hon. Irwin R.'Kimmelman Carol Delaney, Esq.

Attorney General Deputy Attorney General State of New Jersey Department.of Justice Justice Complex State Office Building - 8th floor Trenton, NJ 08625 820 North French Street Wilmington, Delaware 19801

( ) Sfo R. WILLIAM POTTER ,

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