Citizens Awareness Network, Inc. v. United States
United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
391 F.3d 338 (2004)
The Atomic Energy Act required the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (defendant) to hold a hearing for anyone affected by a license grant, amendment, or renewal, without specifying the hearing's format; the Commission had long treated this as requiring full, trial-like on-the-record hearings under the APA, which often took years. Facing a wave of license renewals, the Commission adopted new rules replacing discovery with mandatory disclosures and limiting cross-examination to what the presiding officer deemed necessary. Citizens Awareness Network (plaintiff) sued, arguing the Atomic Energy Act required on-the-record APA hearings and that the new rules fell short.
Whether, under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency conducting an adjudication must provide a hearing before a neutral decisionmaker and allow each party an opportunity to present its case, submit rebuttal evidence, and conduct any witness examination necessary to ensure disclosure of all relevant facts.