Page:Alabama v. North Carolina, 560 U.S. (2010) slip opinion.pdf/38

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Author:Stephen Gerald Breyer, with whom Author:John Glover Roberts joins, concurring in part and dissenting in part.

I join Parts I, II–A, II–B, and III of the Court’s opinion. Unlike the Court, however, I believe that North Carolina breached the Southeast Interstate Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Compact (Compact) when it sus­pended its efforts toward building a waste disposal facility. (THE CHIEF JUSTICE joins all but Parts II–D and III–B of the Court’s opinion.)

Article 5(C) is the critical term of the Compact. It states:

“Each party state designated as a host state for a re­gional facility shall take appropriate steps to ensure that an application for a license to construct and op­erate a facility. . . is filed with and issued by the ap­propriate authority.” Omnibus Low-Level Radioactive Waste Interstate Compact Consent Act (Consent Act), 99 Stat. 1877.

In September 1986, North Carolina was “designated as a host state for a regional” low-level nuclear waste disposal “facility.” Ibid.; see also App. 417, 432. Soon thereafter, North Carolina’s General Assembly enacted legislation