ML21344A000
| ML21344A000 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Consolidated Interim Storage Facility |
| Issue date: | 12/06/2021 |
| From: | Abrams M, Baasch R, Kanner A, Paxton K, Stone J, Webster B Fasken Land & Minerals, Ltd, Kanner & Whiteley, Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners, State of TX, Commission on Environmental Quality, State of TX, Governor, State of TX, Office of the Attorney General, State of TX, Solicitor General |
| To: | NRC/OGC, US Federal Judiciary, Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit |
| References | |
| 00516118517, 21-60743 | |
| Download: ML21344A000 (6) | |
Text
No. 21-60743 In the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit State of Texas; Greg Abbott, Governor of the State of Texas; Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; Fasken Land and Minerals, Limited; Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners, Petitioners,
- v.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission; United States of
- America, Respondents.
On Petition for Review of Action by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission JOINT UNOPPOSED MOTION TO EXTEND TIME TO FILE OPENING BRIEFS In accordance with Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 27 and Fifth Circuit Rule 31.4, State Petitioners Greg Abbott, Governor of the State of Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the State of Texas file this motion to extend time to file their opening brief on the merits. Petitioners Fasken Land and Minerals, Limited, and Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners (Fasken Petition-ers) join in this motion such that their opening brief deadline will be consistent with Case: 21-60743 Document: 00516118517 Page: 1 Date Filed: 12/06/2021
2 the briefing deadline for State Petitioners. Respondents Nuclear Regulatory Com-mission and the United States are unopposed to this motion, as is Intervenor Interim Storage Partners, LLC.
- 1.
This is a complex appeal of an agency determination that will require signif-icant review of the underlying administrative record and comprehensive briefing on the merits.
- 2. On September 23, 2021, State Petitioners filed their petition for review of the order entered by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Docket No. 72-1050 on September 13, 2021: Interim Storage Partners, LLC; WCS Consolidated In-terim Storage Facility; Issuance of Materials License and Record of Decision, 86 Fed. Reg.
51,926 (Sept. 17, 2021) (issuing Materials License No. SNM-2515).
- 3. Respondents filed a motion to dismiss the petition for review for lack of ju-risdiction, to which State Petitioners responded. On November 19, the Court carried the motion with the case and entered a briefing schedule. Under that schedule, State Petitioners opening brief is currently due on December 29, 2021.
- 4. State Petitioners respectfully seek a 40-day extension of time to file their opening brief. The requested 40-day extension of time is necessary because of un-dersigned counsels obligations on multiple matters that have prevented and will prevent counsel from drafting an opening brief that is thorough and helpful to the Court, including:
- drafting Appellants motion for stay pending appeal and reply in support of the stay pending appeal in E.T. v. Paxton, No. 21-51083 (5th Cir.) (filed on November 23 and November 26, 2021);
Case: 21-60743 Document: 00516118517 Page: 2 Date Filed: 12/06/2021
3
- drafting Appellants reply brief in Amawi v. Paxton, No. 21-50360 (5th Cir.) (filed on November 29, 2021);
- drafting Appellants response to a motion to dismiss filed in Gutierrez v.
Saenz, No. 21-70006 (5th Cir.) (due on December 13, 2021);
- drafting a petition for review in the Texas Supreme Court arising from Abbott v. City of San Antonio, No. 04-21-342-CV (Fourth Court of Ap-peals) (due on December 27, 2021); and
- drafting the State of Texass brief on the merits in Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v.
State of Texas, No.20-493 (Supreme Court of the United States) (due on January 10, 2022).
- 5. In addition to these conflicts, the upcoming holidays and the closure of the Office of the Solicitor General during the holidays will make it difficult to finalize and file State Petitioners brief within the current deadlines.
- 6. This extension is sought in the interest of justice, not for delay, and no party will be prejudiced if this unopposed request for an extension is granted.
- 7. Separately, Fasken Petitioners filed a petition for review on November 12, 2021, which also challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions order issuing Materials License No. SNM-2515. This Court has since consolidated the petitions for review under one cause number. Fasken Petitioners opening brief is due on De-cember 28, 2021.
- 8. Fasken Petitioners join in this motion to extend time so that the parties will proceed on a uniform briefing schedule, which will serve the interests of judicial economy and preserve the resources of the Court and the parties.
Case: 21-60743 Document: 00516118517 Page: 3 Date Filed: 12/06/2021
4 For the foregoing reasons, State Petitioners and Fasken Petitioners jointly re-spectfully request that the deadlines to file their opening briefs be extended to Mon-day, February 7, 2022.
Case: 21-60743 Document: 00516118517 Page: 4 Date Filed: 12/06/2021
5 Conclusion Petitioners deadlines to file their opening briefs should be extended to Monday, February 7, 2022.
Ken Paxton Attorney General of Texas Brent Webster First Assistant Attorney General Office of the Attorney General P.O. Box 12548 (MC 059)
Austin, Texas 78711-2548 Tel.: (512) 936-1700 Fax: (512) 474-2697 Respectfully submitted.
Judd E. Stone II Solicitor General
/s/ Michael R. Abrams Michael R. Abrams Assistant Solicitor General State Bar No. 24087072 Michael.Abrams@oag.texas.gov Ryan S. Baasch Assistant Solicitor General Counsel for Petitioners State of Texas, Governor Greg Abbott, and Texas Commission on Environmen-tal Quality KANNER & WHITELEY LLC
/s/ Allan Kanner Allan Kanner 701 Camp Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 Tel.: (504) 524-5777 a.kanner@kanner-law.com Counsel for Petitioners Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd. and Permian Basin Land and Royalty Owners Case: 21-60743 Document: 00516118517 Page: 5 Date Filed: 12/06/2021
6 Certificate of Conference On December 2, 2021, the parties conferred regarding this motion, and counsel for Federal Respondents and Intervenor are unopposed to the relief requested.
/s/ Michael R. Abrams Michael R. Abrams Certificate of Service On December 6, 2021, this response was served via CM/ECF on all registered counsel and transmitted to the Clerk of the Court. Counsel further certifies that:
(1) any required privacy redactions have been made in compliance with Fifth Circuit Rule 25.2.13; (2) the electronic submission is an exact copy of the paper document in compliance with Fifth Circuit Rule 25.2.1; and (3) the document has been scanned with the most recent version of Symantec Endpoint Protection and is free of viruses.
/s/ Michael R. Abrams Michael R. Abrams Certificate of Compliance This document complies with: (1) the type-volume limitation of Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 27(d)(2)(A) because it contains 619 words, excluding exempted text; and (2) the typeface requirements of Rule 32(a)(5) and the type-style require-ments of Rule 32(a)(6) because it has been prepared in a proportionally spaced type-face (14-point Equity) using Microsoft Word (the same program used to calculate the word count).
/s/ Michael R. Abrams Michael R. Abrams Case: 21-60743 Document: 00516118517 Page: 6 Date Filed: 12/06/2021