42 U.S.C. § 2231
Section 2231 · Applicability of administrative procedure provisions; definitions
Amended 6 times on record
Applied in 12 court decisions — leading case San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1986)
Most recently applied in San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (April 2024)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The provisions of subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5 shall apply to all agency action taken under this chapter, and the terms “agency” and “agency action” shall have the meaning specified in section 551 of title 5: Provided, however, That in the case of agency proceedings or actions which involve Restricted Data, defense information, safeguards information protected from disclosure under the authority of section 2167 of this title or information protected from dissemination under the authority of section 2168 of this title, the Commission shall provide by regulation for such parallel procedures as will effectively safeguard and prevent disclosure of Restricted Data, defense information, such safeguards information, or information protected from dissemination under the authority of section 2168 of this title to unauthorized persons with minimum impairment of the procedural rights which would be available if Restricted Data, defense information, such safeguards information, or information protected from dissemination under the authority of section 2168 of this title were not involved.
The Commission shall provide for efficient and timely reviews and proceedings for the granting, suspending, revoking, or amending of any—
license or construction permit; or
application to transfer control.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “this Act”, meaning act Aug. 1, 1946, ch. 724, as added by act Aug. 30, 1954, ch. 1073, § 1, 68 Stat. 919, known as the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out under section 2011 of this title and Tables.
Codification
“Subchapter II of chapter 5, and chapter 7, of title 5” substituted in subsec. (a) for the first reference to the Administrative Procedure Act on authority of Pub. L. 89–554, § 7(b), Sept. 6, 1966, 80 Stat. 631, the first section of which enacted Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. “Section 551 of title 5” substituted for the second reference to the Administrative Procedure Act to reflect the codification of the definitions of “agency” and “agency action” in that section. Prior to the enactment of Title 5, the Administrative Procedure Act was classified to sections 1001 to 1011 of Title 5.
Prior Provisions
Provisions similar to subsec. (a) of this section were contained in section 1814(a), (c) of this title, prior to the general amendment and renumbering of act Aug. 1, 1946, by act Aug. 30, 1954.
Amendments
2024—Pub. L. 118–67 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted heading, and added subsec. (b).
1981—Pub. L. 97–90, in proviso, substituted “involve Restricted Data, defense information, safeguards information protected from disclosure under the authority of section 2167 of this title or information protected from dissemination under the authority of section 2168 of this title, the Commission shall provide by regulation for such parallel procedures as will effectively safeguard and prevent disclosure of Restricted Data, defense information, such safeguards information, or information protected from dissemination under the authority of section 2168 of this title to unauthorized persons with minimum impairment of the procedural rights which would be available if Restricted Data, defense information, such safeguards information, or information protected from dissemination under the authority of section 2168 of this title were not involved” for “involve Restricted Data, defense information, or safeguards information protected from disclosure under the authority of section 2167 of this title, the Commission shall provide by regulation for such parallel procedures as will effectively safeguard and prevent disclosure of Restricted Data, defense information, or such safeguards information, to unauthorized persons with minimum impairment of the procedural rights which would be available if Restricted Data, defense information, or such safeguards information, were not involved”.
1980—Pub. L. 96–295 inserted references and made provisions applicable to safeguards information.