ELR Citation: ELR 20241
No(s). s. 08-977, -978 (Colo. Oct 13, 2009)

The Colorado Supreme Court held that a county has standing to challenge the state environmental agency's issuance of a radioactive materials license and a hazardous waste permit to a private company. Under Colorado's Low-Level Radioactive Waste Act and Hazardous Waste Siting Act, the state agency may not issue a license or permit to an applicant until the applicant has first applied for and received a certificate of designation (CD) from the county in which the facility is to be located. Here, the county has alleged that the agency issued the license and permit to the company notwithstanding the fact that the company never applied for nor received such a CD. The county, therefore, has alleged an injury in fact to its authority to issue (or to refuse to issue) a CD for the disposal of the materials in question prior to the agency's issuance of a license or permit. In addition, the county has prudential standing. Under the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Act and the Hazardous Waste Siting Act, the county is not a subordinate state agency with regard to the issuance (or non-issuance) of a CD. Instead, the authority to issue a CD is within the discretion of the county in which the disposal facility is to be located. A lower court decision dismissing the case on standing grounds was therefore reversed.