Friends of the Earth v. Granholm

Friends of the Earth (FOTE) voluntarily dismissed its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) challenge to the U.S. Department of Energy’s award of more than $1 billion to prevent the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant from ceasing operations. FOTE concluded that funds committed by the State of California to Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to support operations at the power plant and the terms under which the funds were provided “very likely moot this case and divest the Court of Article III jurisdiction.” FOTE had alleged that the Department of Energy relied on outdated environmental analysis and failed to consider impacts, including the impacts of climate change on the power plant’s systems and equipment. Though it acknowledged that the case was moot, FOTE offered several “critical observations,” including that PG&E and California had been able to unilaterally moot the case using “contractual loopholes,” thus evading NEPA scrutiny. FOTE questioned whether the Department of Energy would comply with NEPA in connection with future subsidies through the Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program and also questioned the effectiveness and utility of the CNC Program.

Friends of the Earth (FOTE) filed a lawsuit in the federal district court for the Central District of California challenging the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) award of more than $1 billion to prevent the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant from ceasing operations. The funding was through the Civil Nuclear Credit Program of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. FOTE contended that DOE failed to comply with NEPA when it adopted “an over 50-year old environmental analysis, along with other outdated and incomplete NEPA documents.” Among the impacts that FOTE alleged were not disclosed and analyzed are cumulative impacts involving climate change and its impacts on ocean temperatures and aquatic wildlife species, as well as “potential climate change impacts to systems and equipment at the facility that would threaten plant safety.” The complaint noted that the Government Accountability Office had recently published recommendations that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission specifically address increased risks to nuclear power plants from climate change.