Law Commons^™

The Story Of Vermont Yankee: A Cautionary Tale Of Judicial Review And Nuclear Waste, Gillian E. Metzger

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay explores the puzzle of Vermont Yankee v. NRDC. Vermont Yankee stands as a definitive rejection of judicial efforts to control burgeoning informal rulemaking by adding to the procedural requirements contained in the Administrative Procedure Act. Yet judicial expansion of the APA's procedural requirements has continued apace, and the Court's simultaneous sanction of searching substantive scrutiny sits oddly with its excoriation of the D.C. Circuit for that court's perceived procedural excesses. To understand Vermont Yankee, the Essay puts the decision in its administrative and judicial context, exploring the case law and practical dilemmas facing administrators, advocates, and judges as …