## Facts

- The Government in the Sunshine Act generally requires that every portion of every agency “meeting” be open to public observation, subject to statutory exemptions and specified notice and closing procedures.
- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a regulation defining the term “meeting” for Sunshine Act purposes.
- Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC) and other environmental groups petitioned for direct review of the regulation in the D.C. Circuit.
- NRDC argued the definition was substantively unlawful because it conflicted with the Sunshine Act’s text and legislative history.
- NRDC also argued the regulation was procedurally unlawful because it did not include additional safeguards NRDC claimed were needed to secure effective relief when meetings are improperly closed.

## Issues

1. Whether the NRC’s regulatory definition of “meeting” is consistent with the Government in the Sunshine Act.
2. Whether the NRC’s regulation is invalid for failing to include additional procedural safeguards not specified by the Sunshine Act or the Administrative Procedure Act.

## Decision

- The D.C. Circuit denied the petition for review and left the NRC regulation in effect.
- The court held the NRC’s definition was valid because it adopted verbatim the Supreme Court’s interpretation of “meeting” under the Sunshine Act.
- The court held NRDC’s request for additional procedural safeguards was foreclosed by the rule that courts may not impose procedural requirements on agencies beyond those mandated by statute or the APA.

## Legal Principles

- An agency regulation that tracks binding Supreme Court interpretation of a statutory term is generally consistent with the statute for purposes of judicial review.
- The Sunshine Act’s openness, notice, and closing requirements apply only when the gathering qualifies as a covered “meeting.”
- Courts may not require agencies to implement extra-statutory procedural mechanisms; absent statutory or APA commands, judicially imposed procedural additions are improper.

## Conclusion

The D.C. Circuit upheld the NRC’s Sunshine Act “meeting” definition because it mirrored the Supreme Court’s construction of the statute and rejected NRDC’s attempt to compel additional enforcement-oriented procedures not required by Congress.


Nat. Res. Def. Council, Inc. v. Nuclear Regul. Comm'n, 216 F.3d 1180 (D.C. Cir. 2000)