If the VT legislature votes to close VY will the Feds pre-empt the state?

[cali]

Looming vote in Vt. Senate on nuclear plant raises question of possible federal pre-emption
By Dave Gram


MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - A looming legislative vote that could call for the shutdown of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in 2012 has raised the possibility that a federal court might be asked to block a shutdown.

Vermont's Legislature is the only one in the country that has the power to vote on whether a nuclear plant should get a license extension; other states leave it to utility regulators and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

In 2006, lawmakers allowed Vermont Yankee to expand storage of highly radioactive spent fuel on its site in Vernon. But the law also gave lawmakers a say in whether Vermont Yankee should operate after the expiration of its 40-year license in March of 2012.

The law said the Legislature must agree to the license extension before the state Public Service Board would get to decide whether to issue the plant a new state license.

Senate leaders announced Tuesday they would vote next week on a bill authorizing the board to complete its process and that they expected the bill would die in the Senate and not make it to the House or to Gov. Jim Douglas for his signature.

That raised an obvious question: What would the next move be for Vermont Yankee and its owner, New Orleans-based Entergy Corp.?

Vermont Yankee spokesman Larry Smith declined to comment Wednesday, adding that the company will wait until the Senate acts before it comments.

But one possibility would be for Entergy to go to federal court to argue that the state had overstepped into an area under federal jurisdiction.

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http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9DUJN780

[FBaggins]

1. It depends on how the legislature frames the subject.

If it's entirely on safety issues? Yes... they may very well be preempted. Or more correctly put, they will have their attempt to preempt federal prerogatives rejected.

But they don't necessarily need to frame their vote in that way.