DOE APPEALS FOR MORE TIME IN FEE CASE

The Department of Energy filed an appeal this week with the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to extend the time period it has to decide if it wants to file for a rehearing in the Nuclear Waste Fee case. Two weeks ago, the court decided that DOE had to halt the collection of the fee from electricity rate payers due to the shuttering of the planned repository at Yucca Mountain and lack of alternative disposal plan for the nation’s high level nuclear waste as required by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. “Our reasonable request for an additional 31 days within which to file a petition in this matter is necessary to allow sufficient time to receive full and careful input from the requisite level within the Department of Energy and other interested components of the Government, obtain necessary review and approvals by the Civil Division and Solicitor General, and prepare any petition that may be filed,” the appeal said. “Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day, and other Federal and religious holidays all fall within the current 45-day period, effectively shortening our time to petition for review.” The time period to file for re-hearing would end 45 days after the court’s decision, which would be Jan. 3, but DOE’s appeal would push that date back to Feb. 3.