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Interim Storage Partners, LLC v. Texas, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, No. 21-60743 · judgment August 25, 2023


Decided · June 18, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 12% cert probability (95% interval 9%–17%)

Before the decision, about 3× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a Fifth Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a dissent in the court below (flagged in the petition).

Questions presented

Consolidated with 23-1300.

  1. Whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's exercise of authority to issue a license to a private party to temporarily possess spent nuclear fuel at a location away from an operating nuclear power reactor was lawful under the applicable statutes (as the D.C. and Tenth Circuits have held) or not (as the Fifth Circuit, deliberately splitting from those other circuits, held in this case).

  2. Whether, notwithstanding an allegation of "ultra vires" agency action, a person must take steps to become a "party" to an agency proceeding under the Hobbs Act, 28 U.S.C. 2344, in order to then subsequently challenge the agency action resulting from that proceeding in court (as the Second, Seventh, Tenth, and Eleventh Circuits have held), or whether an allegation of "ultra vires" agency action can override statutory limitations on jurisdiction (as the Fifth Circuit, deliberately splitting from those other circuits, held in this case).

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Arnold Bradley Fagg
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP

For respondent
David C. Frederick
Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick, P.L.L.C.

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
1 cert-stage

Related
Vide, 23-1300

Argument & decision

Argued March 5, 2025 — Malcolm L. Stewart · Brad Fagg · Aaron L. Nielson · David C. Frederick. Audio and transcript

Decided June 18, 2025. Opinion by Kavanaugh.

Proceedings

  1. Jul 21 2025
    Judgment Issued.
  2. Jun 18 2025
    Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Kavanaugh, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Sotomayor, Kagan, Barrett, and Jackson, JJ., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas and Alito, JJ., joined. VIDED.
  3. Mar 05 2025
    Argued. For petitioners in 23-1300: Malcolm L. Stewart, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. For petitioner in 23-1312: Brad Fagg, Washington, D. C. For respondents Texas, et al.: Aaron L. Nielson, Solicitor General, Austin, Tex. For respondent Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd.: David C. Frederick, Washington, D. C. VIDED.
  4. Dec 23 2024
    Record received electronically from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and available with the Clerk.
  5. Nov 27 2024
    Record requested from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
  6. Nov 22 2024
    SET FOR ARGUMENT on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. VIDED.
  7. Oct 04 2024
    Petition GRANTED. The petition for a writ of certiorari in No. 23-1300 is granted. The cases are consolidated, and a total of one hour is allotted for oral argument. VIDED.
  8. Oct 04 2024
    Because the Court has consolidated these cases for briefing and oral argument, future filings and activity in the cases will now be reflected on the docket of No. 23-1300. Subsequent filings in these cases must therefore be submitted through the electronic filing system in No. 23-1300. Each document submitted in connection with one or more of these cases must include on its cover the case number and caption for each case in which the filing is intended to be submitted. Where a filing is submitted in fewer than all of the cases, the docket entry will reflect the case number(s) in which the filing is submitted; a document filed in all of the consolidated cases will be noted as “VIDED.”
  9. Sep 04 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/30/2024.
  10. Aug 30 2024
    Reply of petitioner Interim Storage Partners, LLC filed. (Distributed)
  11. Aug 21 2024
    Brief of respondent Fasken Land and Minerals, Ltd. in opposition filed. VIDED.
  12. Aug 21 2024
    Brief of State Respondents in opposition filed. VIDED.
  13. Jul 12 2024
    Brief amicus curiae of Nuclear Energy Institute, Inc. filed. VIDED.
  14. Jul 03 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including August 21, 2024, for all respondents.
  15. Jul 02 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from July 15, 2024 to August 21, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
  16. Jun 12 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due July 15, 2024)