March 17, 2014

JUDGES CRITICAL OF DOE’S CONTINUED COLLECTION OF NUCLEAR WASTE FEE

By ExchangeMonitor

Judges sharply questioned the Department of Energy’s reasoning for continued collection of the Nuclear Waste Fee during oral arguments Friday in a case to suspend the fee. The petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners was triggered by DOE’s continued collection of the fee from utility ratepayers for the Nuclear Waste Fund despite the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain program. “If somebody other than the government said the other party needs to comply with the contract, but we’re not going to comply, would that make sense to you?” asked Chief Judge David Sentelle. “Why is it good enough for you, the noncompliant party, to come in and say they have to comply but we’re not going to?”

Counsel for the Department argued that DOE Secretary Steven Chu completed an assessment of the fee last year that justified collection of the fee based on anticipated future costs for waste disposal. But the court remained skeptical. “How did he tell us the income isn’t sufficient to cover the costs of a program that’s not doing anything?” Sentelle asked. Judge Silberman suggested that a possible remedy would be to require DOE to submit an assessment of the fee within a specified time frame using guidelines provided by the court. NARUC has asked the court to direct DOE to submit to Congress an assessment that would suspend its collection. An opinion from the court is expected before the end of August.

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