support for the conclusion that the FWPCA's grant of regulatory authority to the EPA and the States did not encompass the control of AEA-regulated materials.

The Wolff amendment, according to its author, would "give the States a voice in deciding what kinds and amounts of such radioactive wastes may be discharged into their waters." 1 Leg. Hist. 544. In explaining the need for such an amendment, Representative Wolff noted that the time had come "to seriously consider standards more stringent than those promulgated by the AEC." Id., at 545. Representative Frenzel, a cosponsor of the amendment, pictured it as an attempt to alter the result in the Northern States case. The AEC, he explained, could not be expected to protect the health and safety of the public as effectively as the States, because "the AEC has a dual mission-that of promotion. as well as safety." 1 Leg. Hist. 548.15

The opponents of the Wolff Amendment voiced strong opposition to the transfer of the AEC's regulatory authority to the States or to the EPA. Representative Stanton, a Member of the House Committee on Public Works, which reported the House bill, stated:

"The amendment presents the House with a very complex and difficult proposition. It proposes to take authority for the setting of pollution control standards from the AEC and places it in the hands of EPA. For normal operations involving pollution, that control properly belongs under EPA. But atomic energy is a peculiar field. To date, the operation of the atomic energy program has been under the control of the Commission itself. Eventually, such control will be delegated to the States as more and more knowledgeable people at the State level be

15 See also 1 Leg. Hist. 552 (remarks of Rep. Hungate), 555 (remarks of Rep. McClory).

1

Opinion of the Court

come involved in the atomic energy program. That time, however, has not yet arrived. Until we reach that stage it is obvious that the control of which we speak should remain with the Atomic Energy Commission itself, as the committee points out on page 131 of House Report 92-911 [quoted supra, at 11], which accompanies this bill. For this reason, I would oppose the amendment offered by my distinguished colleague." Id., at 554–555.

Representative Price, Vice Chairman of the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, argued against the amendment as follows:

"The bill as reported establishes a program of effluent limitations and standards, and section 510 clearly provides that the States may set more restrictive standards should they so desire. The proposed amendment is aimed at two so-called pollutantsradioactive materials and thermal discharges-and seeks to collaterally amend any statute enacted by the Congress relative to them without any specific reference to the statutes that might be affected. As to radioactive materials, the target of the amendment is obvious. It seeks to reverse the decisions of the courts which have held that the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 preempted to the Federal Government, acting through the Atomic Energy Commission, the exclusive jurisdiction to regulate most radioactive materials. Clearly, if such is the will of the House, it should be undertaken only after a thorough examination of the impact of such a decision and it should be done directly by amending the statute involved-the Atomic Energy Act-not collaterally through this legislation. If this amendment had been proposed as a piece of original legislation, it would have been referred to the appropriate

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committee for hearings and evaluation of all the pertinent factors involved in such a decision. I could go on with the explanation of those factors, but this is not the time nor the place for such a consideration in the first instance. This bill is not the appropriate vehicle for amending a major piece of legislation, thoroughly considered in committee and by the Congress, which established at the direction of the Congress a thorough and pervasive regulatory program relative to radioactive materials." Id., at 556.

Representative McCormack, a Member of the House Committee on Public Works and Chairman of the House Science and Astronautics Committee's Task Force on Energy Research and Development, urged the amendment's defeat in similar terms. After noting the inadvisability of "throwing away" the AEC's "meticulous work" in the area of safety in favor of state regulation, id., at 550, he concluded:

"[I]t is obvious from the report by the House Committee on Public Works for this bill, and from the committee report from the other body that this bill does not impact directly upon the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. This bill applies only to radioactive materials not covered by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 and, as such, the amendment is not relevant to this bill at all." Id., at 551.16 Respondents urge that the Wolff amendment was addressed only to the question of the States' regulatory authority, and that its defeat did not reflect any intent to foreclose regulation of source, byproduct, and special nuclear materials by the EPA. We do not agree that

16 See also id., at 546-547 (remarks of Rep. Holifield); 553 (remarks of Rep. Hosmer); 553 (remarks of Rep. Clausen); 557 (remarks of Rep. Harsha).

18

the House's consideration of the Wolff amendment leaves room for EPA regulation. Several of the opponents of the amendment were quite explicit in their reliance upon the House Committee Report's statement that radioactive materials subject to AEA regulation were excluded from the coverage of the FWPCA." Neither Representative Wolff nor Representative Frenzel took issue with that interpretation in the course of the debate on their amendment, and indeed it is arguable that their amendment was premised on the assumption that source, byproduct, and special nuclear materials were wholly beyond the scope of the FWPCA. If these materials were covered by the Act—that is, if they were "pollutants"-the amendment was wholly superfluous, for the unamended provision that is now 33 U. S. C. § 1370 (1970 ed., Supp. IV) would permit the States to regulate their discharge. But regardless of the underlying assumptions of the sponsors of the Wolff amend

17 In addition to the comments of Representatives Stanton and McCormack, quoted above, see id., at 587-588 (remarks of Reps. Holifield, Jones, Harsha, and Hosmer).

18 The statements of Representatives Wolff and Frenzel referred to above suggest that they recognized the absence of any role for the EPA in regulating the materials in question. In explaining the need to vest regulatory power in the States, they both referred to the inadequacy of regulation by the AEC, without any mention of the prospect of regulation by the EPA.

It should not escape mention that one supporter of the Wolff amendment, Representative McClory, urged its adoption "in order to make eminently clear that we are controlling nuclear. . . pollution in this bill." Id., at 555. To the extent that this statement suggested that the amendment merely clarified what the House bill already provided, it is a far less persuasive indicator of legislative intent than the contrary statements by the successful opponents of the amendment. Similarly, Representative Frenzel's statement the day after the Wolff amendment was defeated that the FWPCA applied to AEA-regulated radioactive materials, 1 Leg. Hist. 745-746, is not entitled to great weight.

ment, the interpretation respondents would place upon its defeat is unacceptable. As respondents would have it, the House expressed an intent to permit EPA regulation of the materials in question, but to preclude state regulation of the same materials under the FWPCA. That result could find no basis in the language of the Act. In our view, then, the House's consideration and rejection of the Wolff amendment offers additional support for the interpretation stated in the House Committee Report that source, byproduct, and special nuclear materials are beyond the reach of the FWPCA.

The House's rather explicit statement of intent to exclude AEA-regulated materials from the FWPCA was unchallenged by the Conference Committee, which simply retained the same reference to "radioactive materials" contained in both the House and Senate bills. S. Conf. Rep. No. 92-1236, p. 144 (1972), 1 Leg. Hist. 327. Representative Harsha, a ranking member of the Conference Committee, explained the import of the Conference Committee action as follows:

"The conference report does not change the original intent as it was made clear in the colloquy between Senators Muskie and Pastore in the course of the debate in the other body. I also note that an amendment to H. R. 11896 was offered on March 28, 1972, which would have overturned the Northern States Power against Minnesota case.

"The distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Holifield) spoke in opposition to the amendment and pointed out the necessity of not changing the careful division of authority between the States and the Federal Government over nuclear materials and facilities as enunciated in the Northern States case. The amendment was defeated by a 3-to-1 vote of the House.