Page:Alabama v. North Carolina, 560 U.S. (2010) slip opinion.pdf/15

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Commission is clear from its context. The first sentence of Article 7(C) states that an eligible State “shall be declared” a party State “upon enactment of this compact into law by the [S]tate and upon [the] payment of” a $25,000 fee, as “required by Article 4(H)(1).” Ibid. The second sentence makes the Commission the “judge” of four matters, all of which concern status as a party State or Commission member. First, the Commission is the judge of the “qualifications” of a State to become a party State (the qualifications set forth in Article 7(A) for the initial party States and in Article 7(B) for States that subsequently petition to join). Second, the Commission is the judge of the qualifications of the members of the Commission, which are specified in Article 4(A). Third, the Commission is the judge of a party State’s compliance with the “conditions” and “requirements” of the Compact. The former term is an obvious reference to Article 7(B): “The Commission may establish such conditions as it deems necessary and appropriate to be met by a [S]tate wishing. . . to become a party [S]tate to this [C]ompact.” Id., at 1878. The accompanying term “requirements” also refers to Article 7’s prescriptions for prospective party States, such as paying the “fees required” under Article 7(C), id., at 1879, and obtaining, as Article 7(B) requires, a two-thirds vote of the Commission in favor of admission. Finally, the Commission is the judge of the “laws of the party [S]tates relating to the enactment of this compact.” Art. 7(C), ibid. Again, that concerns status as a party State, which requires that the State “enac[t]. . . this compact into law,” ibid. The Commission is the “judge” of only these specific matters.

This is not to say the Commission lacks authority to interpret the Compact or to say whether a party State has violated its terms. That is of course implicit in its power to sanction under Article 7(F). But because “the express terms of the [Southeast] Compact do not constitute the