Full opinion text
DRONEY, Circuit Judge: Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, and Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., (collectively, “Entergy”) own and operate the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (“Vermont Yankee”), a nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vermont. Entergybrought suit in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont against the Governor and Attorney General of the State of Vermont and the members of the Vermont Public Service Board in their official capacities (collectively, “Vermont”), and asserted three claims. Count One alleged that three recently enacted Vermont statutes governing Vermont Yankee — Acts 74, 160, and 189 — concerned issues of radiological safety and thus were preempted by the federal Atomic Energy Act. Count Two alleged that Vermont had attempted to condition its grant of permission to operate Vermont Yankee on the execution of a power purchase agreement that favored Vermont retail consumers, and that this attempt was preempted by the Federal Power Act. Count Three asserted that these same actions with respect to the power purchase agreement also violated the dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. Following a bench trial, the district court (Murtha, J.) found in favor of Entergy as to Count One with respect to Acts 74 and 160 and found the challenge to Act 189 to be moot. The district court also found in favor of Entergy as to Count Three. Lastly, the district court found Count Two to be premature. We affirm the district court as to Counts One and Two, and reverse the district court as to Count Three. BACKGROUND We summarize here those findings of fact relevant to this appeal that were made by the district court following the bench trial. I. The History of Vermont Yankee In 1972, Vermont Yankee opened and began operating under the ownership and management of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation (VYNPC), a joint venture of eight New England retail electric utilities. Among the eight members of the joint venture were two Vermont electric companies (Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power), which owned a collective fifty-five percent share of Vermont Yankee. Vermont Yankee had been granted a forty-year Facility Operating License by the Atomic Energy Commission, the federal agency that preceded the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The forty-year license was to expire on March 21, 2012. In 1999, VYNPC sought to sell Vermont Yankee. After an initial bid by one firm was rejected by the Vermont Public Service Board (the “Board”), Entergy submitted a bid for Vermont Yankee in the summer of 2001 and sought a “certificate of public good” (CPG), a license from the Board to continue to operate Vermont Yankee under Vermont state law. As it was negotiating with the Board, Entergy entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) (the “2002 MOU”) with the Vermont Department of Public Service (the “Department”). The 2002 MOU incorporated a power purchase agreement (PPA) Entergy executed in 2001 (the “2001 PPA”) that promised Vermont retail electric utilities favorable pricing terms for the purchase of power from Vermont Yankee until 2012. Entergy maintains it agreed to the 2001 PPA because it feared that the Department would not otherwise recommend a CPG for Vermont Yankee. Entergy also agreed in the 2002 MOU to “waive any claim ... that federal law preempts the jurisdiction of the Board.” On June 13, 2002, the Board approved the sale of Vermont Yankee to Entergy and issued a new CPG. In its Decision and Final Order, the Board stated that the sale of Vermont Yankee to Entergy would “promote the general good” in part because, “under most reasonably foreseeable scenarios, the transactions are highly likely to produce an economic benefit for Vermont ratepayers.” In re Vt. Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., Docket No. 6545, 2002 WL 1997942, at *1 (Vt.Pub.Serv.Bd. June 13, 2002). The Order specifically endorsed the 2001 PPA because it allowed Vermont retail utilities to purchase power from Vermont Yankee at prices that “are substantially below the ‘currently committed’ operating costs of Vermont Yankee over the remaining term of its license.” Id. The Order noted that the 2001 PPA also imposed a “cap on the charges for Vermont Yankee power.” Id. In 2002, Entergy obtained from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorization to sell power into the interstate market under a market-based tariff, which remains in effect. The authorization permits Entergy to sell power wholesale through ISO-New England (“ISO-NE”), a nonprofit independent system operator under FERC regulation that administers New England’s energy markets. ISO-NE’s stated responsibilities are to maintain “reliable power system operations,” ensure “efficient and competitive markets,” and to “administer [the] regional transmission tariff, including comprehensive regional system planning.” II. The Recent Vermont Legislation Concerning Vermont Yankee A. Act 74: The Vermont Legislation Concerning Increased Nuclear Waste Storage by Vermont Yankee In 2003, Entergy petitioned the Board to obtain a twenty-percent “uprate,” which would allow an increase in Vermont Yankee’s power output and also result in a concomitant increase in nuclear waste. See Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC v. United States, 95 Fed.Cl. 160, 173 (2010), aff'd in part, rev’d in part sub nom., Vt. Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC, 683 F.3d 1330 (Fed.Cir.2012). Under a statute enacted in 1977 — five years after Vermont Yankee first began operating — the construction of new nuclear waste storage facilities in Vermont was prohibited unless the Vermont Legislature passed a bill or joint resolution finding that the facilities promoted the “general good of the state.” Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 6501(a). However, two years later, in 1979, the Vermont Legislature enacted an “exemption” provision stating that the requirements imposed by § 6501 do “not apply to any temporary storage by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation of spent nuclear fuel elements or other radioactive waste at its present site.” Id. § 6505. At the same time that Entergy sought the uprate, it also entered into a new MOU (the “2003 MOU”) with the Department under which Entergy would pay $6 million into new “State Benefits Funds,” namely the “Environmental Benefit Fund,” the “Low Income Benefit Fund,” and the “Entergy Fund for Economic Benefit.” See Entergy Nuclear, 95 Fed.Cl. at 173-74; In re Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC, 232 P.U.R.4th 219, 223 (Vt.Pub.Serv.Bd. Mar. 15, 2004). The Board then issued a CPG approving the uprate on March 24, 2004. Entergy Nuclear, 95 Fed.Cl. at 188. However, Entergy also needed to obtain approval to construct the new dry cask spent nuclear fuel storage facility, even though it had recently received approval for it from the NRC. Entergy then petitioned the Board, requesting permission to expand its spent fuel storage facility. Entergy maintained that the exemption provision of section 6505 applied to the Vermont Yankee site in general, as opposed to a particular owner of the plant. The Board sought guidance from the Vermont Senate, which, in turn, obtained a letter from the Office of the Vermont Attorney General opining that section 6505 was owner-specific. See Letter from Michael McShane, Asst. Att’y Gen., to Sen. Peter Welch, Pres. Pro Tempore of the Vt. Senate, 2004 WL 1737093, at *1-2 (Apr. 30, 2004). Since Vermont Yankee had changed ownership from VYNPC to Entergy, the letter provided that Entergy would need the approval of the Vermont Legislature to add spent fuel storage capacity. Id. at *4. In response, Entergy presented proposed legislation clarifying that section 6505 was site-specific, rather than owner-specific. This proposal failed to obtain support from the Vermont Legislature, however. The Vermont Legislature then began hearings on the bill that would eventually become Act 74. Act 74, which was enacted on June 21, 2005, had two principal effects. First, Entergy would only need to seek a CPG from the Board before constructing storage facilities for new spent nuclear fuel, rather than the Vermont Legislature as had been required by section 6501(a). However, this CPG would remain in effect only until March 21, 2012. The second effect of Act 74 was that after March 21, 2012, the storage of any new spent nuclear fuel in Vermont would require an affirmative vote by the Vermont Legislature. If no such affirmative vote occurred, storage of nuclear waste generated from operations after March 21, 2012, would not be permitted. Thus, Vermont Yankee would have to shut down. The post-March 21, 2012, shift of responsibility for approving the storage of spent nuclear fuel generated by Vermont Yankee from the Board to the Vermont Legislature had important ramifications. Decisions of the Board may be appealed to the Vermont Supreme Court. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 30, § 12. No such review mechanism would exist for the Vermont Legislature’s decision not to approve additional spent nuclear fuel storage space. Act 74 added three new sections to title 10 of the Vermont Statutes: sections 6521, 6522, and 6523. Section 6521 outlines the Vermont Legislature’s findings, including recognition of the need to develop renewable and environmentally sustainable energy sources in Vermont. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 6521. To support this objective, section 6521 references the state’s creation of an “energy efficiency fund ... to support cost-effective investments in end-use energy efficiency resources,” and a statewide energy purchasing pool with a “related program to accelerate investments in new renewable and combined-heat and power projects.” Id. Section 6522 restates the requirement that the owners of Vermont Yankee cannot construct new spent fuel storage facilities for the period up to March 21, 2012, unless they obtain a CPG from the Board. Id. § 6522(a). Section 6522 also mandates that the Board find that the owners of Vermont Yankee have adequate resources to manage spent fuel and decommission the plant, if necessary, and a plan “to remove all spent fuel from Vermont to a federally certified long-term storage facility in a timely manner,” and that the owners comply with any existing MOUs with the state. Id. § 6522(b). Lastly, section 6522 states that any CPG issued by the Board pursuant to Act 74 will apply to spent nuclear fuel generated by Vermont Yankee only until March 21, 2012, which is the “end of the current operating license.” Id. § 6522(c)(2). This provision states that the owners have no “expectation or entitlement to continued operation of Vermont Yankee following the expiration of its current operating license on March 21, 2012.” Id. § 6522(c)(5). Section 6522(c)(4) provides that Vermont Yankee cannot store spent nuclear fuel generated after March 21, 2012, on site, unless the Vermont Legislature enacts legislation granting such permission. In the absence of any other storage options, this would effectively shut down Vermont Yankee. Section 6523 established a “Clean Energy Development Fund” (the “Fund”), which Entergy agreed to when it received permission for its uprate. See Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 6523(a). Under section 6523(a), the money Entergy had promised to pay into the State Benefits Funds under the 2003 MOU would instead be paid into the Fund. The Fund’s purpose is to “promote the development and deployment of cost-effective and environmentally sustainable electric power and thermal energy or geothermal resources for the long-term benefit of Vermont consumers.” Id. § 6523(c). Section 6523(d) outlines various types of renewable energy investments that the Fund can undertake, such as energy projects on farms, biofuel production, and thermal energy facility development. Id. § 6523(d). Entergy estimated that its total obligation under section 6523 to the Fund would be $2.5 million per year, or about $15 million over the period from 2005 to 2012. Act 74 also explicitly incorporates the MOUs, including the 2002 and 2003 MOUs, as well as a new MOU executed on June 21, 2005 (the “2005 MOU”). Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 10, § 6522(b)(4). The 2005 MOU mandated, inter alia, that Entergy locate the spent nuclear fuel storage pad at least one hundred feet from a floodplain, space the storage casks to permit access to individual casks “to the greatest extent possible,” configure the spent-fuel pool so that high-decay heat assemblies are surrounded by low-decay heat assemblies, perform temperature monitoring and monthly manual radiation surveillance of the storage casks and report the results to the Department, not store waste generated outside Vermont on site, remove “high level” spent nuclear fuel from Vermont “as quickly as possible,” and conduct a study addressing the stability of the proposed new spent nuclear fuel storage facility based upon a stated concern that an adjacent river bank might erode and collapse. See 2005 MOU at 1-2; see also Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, 95 Fed.Cl. at 179; In re Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC, 249 P.U.R.4th 1, 2006 WL 1418626, at *48 (Vt.Pub.Serv.Bd. Apr. 26, 2006). This “flood analysis” was more extensive than that required by the NRC’s licensing process for the same spent nuclear fuel storage facility and, although Entergy believed that the Board’s concerns regarding the probability of a collapse were “not credible,” Entergy agreed to undertake the study. In re Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC, 2006 WL 1418626, at *28, *51. As with the earlier MOUs, Entergy agreed to waive any federal preemption claim concerning the 2005 MOU. 2005 MOU at 3. On June 22, 2005, the day after Act 74 went into effect, Entergy filed a petition with the Board seeking to construct a dry fuel storage facility at Vermont Yankee, which, as mentioned, the NRC had already pre-licensed. In re Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC, 2006 WL 1418626, at *6. In the subsequent eight months, the Board held a series of public meetings and conducted technical hearings to evaluate the petition. Id. at *6-7. The Board also received public comments, of which the “vast majority ... highlighted public concerns about the public uprate that [the Board has] previously approved, and the desire for an independent safety assessment, general nuclear safety concerns, and Vermont Yankee as a terrorist target.” Id. at *9. In addition, most of those who attended the Board’s public meetings “opposed the proposed dry fuel storage facility” for reasons relating to the facility’s “vulnerability to natural or manmade disasters,” the adequacy of dry fuel storage technology, and the potential for environmental harm. Id. at *9-10. On April 26, 2006, the Board issued an Order granting the petition until 2012, and issuing a new CPG for the construction of the storage facility. Id. at *1. The Board stated that the “most significant factor” in its decision was the “economic benefit of the facility.” Id. at *5. Noting that Vermont Yankee “now provides approximately one-third of the power consumed by the state of Vermont,” an early shutdown of the plant due to the absence of spent nuclear fuel storage facilities would “impose substantial costs on Vermont ratepayers.” Id. “Without the favorably-priced power from Vermont Yankee, Vermont utilities would need to purchase replacement power from sources that are presently expected to be more expensive over this period. Approval of the dry fuel storage facility provides a direct economic benefit to the state by preserving the power.” Id. The Board estimated the likely savings to Vermont ratepayers arising from the 2001 PPA, under which Vermont Yankee power “has been sold to Vermont utilities at prices consistently below the spot-market price of energy in New England,” at “approximately $61 million over the period from 2008 to 2012.” Id. at *21. B. Act 160: The Vermont Legislation Requiring State Legislative Approval To Operate Vermont Yankee After 2012 On January 25, 2006, Entergy applied to the NRC for a renewal license to operate Vermont Yankee through March 21, 2032. One week later, on February 1, 2006, the Vermont Legislature began considering the bill that would eventually become Act 160. Act 160 was passed on May 18, 2006, and provides that “a nuclear energy generating plant may be operated in Vermont only with the explicit approval of the General Assembly.” Act 160, § 1(a). Act 160 provides that, in deciding whether to approve operation of a nuclear power plant, the Vermont Legislature should consider “the state’s need for power, the economics and environmental impacts of long-term storage of nuclear waste, and choice of power sources among various alternafives.” Id. The preamble states that Act 160’s general purpose is to provide the Vermont Legislature with the authority to determine whether to issue a new CPG for Vermont Yankee after March 21, 2012. Id. § 1(c). Act 160 would also help foster a “larger societal discussion of broader economic and environmental issues relating to the operation of a nuclear facility in the state, including an assessment of the potential need for the operation of the facility and its economic benefits, risks, and costs,” and of alternative methods of power generation as well. Id. § 1(d). Act 160 also includes a stated purpose of ensuring that the evaluation of new CPGs be conducted under new cost-benefit assumptions and analyses, rather than those that supported the previous CPG. Id. § 1(e). Act 160 adds three new sections to title 30 of the Vermont Statutes: sections 248(e)(2), 248(m), and 254. Section 248(e)(2) requires that the Vermont Legislature approve an extension of the Vermont Yankee operating lease before the Board issues a new CPG. See Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 30, § 248(e)(2). Legislative approval for continued operation of Vermont Yankee is no longer limited to issues concerning spent fuel storage, as under section 6522(c)(4) of Act 74; rather, Act 160 requires that the Vermont Legislature approve all aspects of the continued operation of Vermont Yankee. Section 248(m) requires that the Board “evaluate the application [for a new CPG] under current assumptions and analyses” and not apply “an extension of the cost benefit assumptions and analyses forming the basis of the previous certificate of public good for the operation of the facility.” Id. § 248(m). Lastly, section 254 requires that the owners of Vermont Yankee apply for a new CPG at least four years prior to the expiration of the current CPG, and that the Board inform the Vermont Legislature of the receipt of any new CPG application. Id. § 254(a)(l)-(2). When any new CPG application is submitted, the Department is directed to engage in fact-finding with three stated objectives in mind: (A) to facilitate public discussion of long-term economic and environmental issues relating to the operation of any nuclear facility in the state; (B) to identify and assess the potential need for the operation of the facility and its long-term economic and environmental benefits, risks, and costs; and (C) to assess all practical alternatives to those set forth in the applicant’s petition that may be more cost-effective or that otherwise may better promote the general welfare. Id. § 254(b)(1). Section 254 also requires that the Department collect information relating to Entergy’s “funding plans for guardianship of nuclear waste after licensure but before removal of nuclear waste from the site,” plant closure procedures, and funding for emergency management systems. One subsection of section 254 requires the Department to “identify, collect information on, and provide analysis of long-term environmental, economic, and public health issues, including issues relating to dry cask storage of nuclear waste and decommissioning options.” Id. § 254(b)(2)(B). The Department is further directed to report its findings to the Board and to the Vermont Legislature. Id. § 254(a)(2)-(3). The Board, in turn, is directed to consider the findings of the Department in assessing an application for a new CPG. Id. § 254(c). C. Act 189: The Vermont Legislation Requiring State Inspections of Vermont Yankee On June 5, 2008, then-Vermont Governor Jim Douglas signed into law Act 189, entitled “An Act Relating to a Comprehensive Vertical Audit and Reliability Assessment of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Facility.” The purpose of Act 189 was to assist the Vermont Legislature in making its determination as to whether Vermont Yankee should be permitted to operate past 2012, and to reconfirm the “obligation and authority of the general assembly to examine the reliability of the nuclear power station of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee.” Act 189, § 1(a). Act 189 further provides that, because Entergy was applying to extend the life of Vermont Yankee beyond its original forty-year design, the Vermont Legislature needed to assess any “reliability issues associated with operating [Entergy] for an additional 20 years after its scheduled closure in 2012.” Id. § 1(b). Act 189’s text also addresses concerns relating to the operating reliability of Vermont Yankee and issues relating to its performance that might arise from expanding the plant. Id. § 2. Act 189 calls for Department inspections of Vermont Yankee’s operations, such as its electrical, emergency, and mechanical systems. Id. §§ 3(a), 5(a). The Act also sets out documentation requirements and inquiries that must be undertaken by the Department relating to the installation, maintenance, and inspection of safety systems in Vermont Yankee. Id. § 4. To maximize the public visibility of these inspections of Vermont Yankee, Act 189 creates an oversight panel consisting of experts in nuclear power appointed by the governor and the Vermont Legislature. Id. § 6. The panel’s findings and evaluation of Vermont Yankee were to be reported to the Vermont Legislature, which would use this information to determine whether to extend the operating license for the plant beyond March 21, 2012. Id. § 6(d). D. S.289: The Vermont Senate Bill That Would Have Permitted the Continued Operation of Vermont Yankee Beyond 2012, as Required by Act 160 On January 7, 2010, Entergy disclosed a leak of tritium, a decay product of nuclear energy, emanating from Vermont Yankee. Entergy stopped the leak and remediated its impact on the surrounding soil, and after a subsequent investigation, the NRC concluded that the “public’s health and safety and the off-site environment were not adversely affected.” A report by an independent consulting group retained by the State of Vermont concluded, on April 30, 2010, that the leak did not affect the reliability of Vermont Yankee. At the time of the leak, the Vermont Senate was considering S.289, which was originally titled, “An Act Relating to Approval for Continued Operation of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station.” S.289, if passed, would have authorized the operation of Vermont Yankee for an additional twenty years past March 21, 2012, as required by Act 160. Although the NRC granted a twenty-year renewal for the operation of Vermont Yankee on March 21, 2011, S.289 failed to pass in the Vermont Senate. As a result, Vermont Yankee has not been granted permission by the Vermont Legislature to operate past March 21, 2012. Collectively, under Acts 74 and 160, and due to the failure to pass S.289, the operation of Vermont Yankee after March 21, 2012, depends upon the Vermont Legislature approving the power plant’s continued operation. As the Vermont Legislature has failed to act, Vermont Yankee’s CPG expired on March 21, 2012, and the plant would have been forced to shut down absent the district court’s decision below. In making its determination whether to permit further operation, the Vermont Legislature is required by Acts 74 and 160 to consider the impact of the local storage of spent nuclear fuel on the local economy and environment, and on the diversity of power sources available to Vermont retail utilities. Under the two Acts, the Vermont Legislature must also consider the following in determining whether to allow Vermont Yankee to continue operating: (1) the “public health” implications related to dry cask storage of nuclear waste and decommissioning of the plant; (2) Entergy’s resources for emergency management systems, management of spent nuclear fuel storage, and decommissioning of the plant; (3) Entergy’s planning for the removal of nuclear waste; and (4) Entergy’s long-term plan for the closure of Vermont Yankee. In addition, Acts 74 and 160 require that Entergy comply with the 2002, 2003, and 2005 MOUs. Those MOUs impose, inter alia, the following additional requirements on Entergy, apart from making payments into a fund used to promote alternative energy sources: (1) analysis of the operational safety of Vermont Yankee in the event of flooding in excess of federal licensing requirements; (2) compliance with specific requirements for the construction and monitoring of spent nuclear fuel casks; (3) monitoring of the temperature and radiation of the storage casks and regular reporting to the Department; (4) no storage of any nuclear waste generated outside of Vermont; (5) removal of the nuclear waste generated by Vermont Yankee from the state as quickly as possible; and (6) waiver of any federal preemption challenge to the Board’s authority to regulate the plant. Lastly, the MOUs require that Entergy comply with the 2001 PPA under which Vermont retail utilities must receive favorable pricing terms for the power produced by Vermont Yankee relative to retail utilities in other states. III. Proceedings Before the District Court On April 18, 2011, Entergy brought suit in the United States District Court for the District of Vermont against the Governor and Attorney General of the State of Vermont and the members of the Vermont Public Service Board. The complaint sets forth three claims: • Count One: Entergy sought a permanent injunction and declaration that Act 74, Act 160, and Act 189 are invalid under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution because they are preempted by the Atomic Energy Act. Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC v. Shumlin, 838 F.Supp.2d 183, 188-89 (D.Vt.2012). • Count Two: Entergy sought a permanent injunction and declaration that the Federal Power Act preempts the State of Vermont from conditioning Vermont Yankee’s continued operation on the existence of a power purchase agreement between Vermont Yankee and Vermont’s retail utilities, because FERC has exclusive jurisdiction over the regulation of power transmission and sale. Id. at 189. • Count Three: Entergy sought a permanent injunction and declaration that Vermont may not condition continued operation of Vermont Yankee on the existence of a power purchase agreement, because doing so places substantial burdens on interstate commerce, in violation of the dormant Commerce Clause. Id. On January 19, 2012, the district court issued its opinion following a bench trial. The court first concluded that the Atomic Energy Act facially preempts Act 160, which, through the operation of section 248(e)(2), effectively allows the Vermont Legislature to “deny a pending renewal petition by taking no action on the petition, for any reason, procedural or substantive, stated or unstated, permissible or impermissible under federal law.” Entergy Nuclear, 838 F.Supp.2d at 227. The court also pointed to section 254(b)(2)(B), which calls upon the Department to support the Vermont Legislature’s fact-finding by conducting studies on, inter alia, “long-term environmental, economic, and public health issues, including issues relating to dry cask storage of nuclear waste and decommissioning options.” Id. at 227-28. In light of the statute’s required consideration of “public health issues,” which are not defined elsewhere in the statute, the court then examined the actual legislative purpose leading to the passage of Act 160. Id. Finding the stated legislative policy and purposes offered by Vermont for Act 160 to be unpersuasive, the court conducted an extensive review of the act’s legislative history, including statements made by legislators and state regulators during both committee hearings and on the floor. See id. at 229-31. On the basis of this review, the court held that there was “overwhelming evidence in the legislative record that Act 160 was grounded in radiological safety concerns and the concomitant desire to empower the legislature to act on those concerns in deciding the question of Vermont Yankee’s continued operation.” Id. at 230. The court concluded that Act 160 was thus preempted on its face by the Atomic Energy Act under the standards articulated by the Supreme Court in Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation & Development Commission, 461 U.S. 190, 103 S.Ct. 1713, 75 L.Ed.2d 752 (1983) (“Pacific Gas ”). The district court performed the same analysis of Act 74. The court reasoned that by not permitting Entergy to store spent nuclear fuel generated after March 21, 2012, in Vermont, “absent affirmative action by the General Assembly,” section 6522(c)(4) effectively “permits the General Assembly to fail to act on a pending petition to store spent fuel for radiological safety reasons, in a manner that evades review.” Entergy Nuclear, 838 F.Supp.2d at 231. The court conducted another extensive analysis of the legislative history behind Act 74, and determined that Act 74 was “enacted with radiological safety purposes in mind,” and that by “giving the General Assembly the unreviewable power to prohibit storage of fuel, and therefore to prohibit continued operation for preempted radiological safety reasons,” Act 74 was facially preempted under the Atomic Energy Act. Id. at 232-33. As to Entergy’s preemption challenge to the PPA under the Federal Power Act, the district court considered the scope of FERC authority under the Act and the “filed-rate doctrine,” which holds that “state courts and regulatory agencies are preempted by federal law from requiring the payment of rates other than the federal filed rate.” Id. at 233-34. The district court noted that Vermont Yankee has been operating under a market-based tariff filed with FERC, which only requires that the seller of power “enter into freely negotiated contracts with purchasers,” as opposed to setting a prescribed rate. Id. at 234 (quoting Morgan Stanley Capital Grp., Inc. v. Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1 of Snohomish Cnty., 554 U.S. 527, 537, 128 S.Ct. 2733, 171 L.Ed.2d 607 (2008) (emphasis in Entergy Nuclear) (internal quotation marks omitted)). The court then held that even if Entergy were to be forced to enter into a new PPA in violation of the market-based tariff, its recourse would be to have the agreement reviewed by FERC. Id. at 235. However, the court concluded that “it is not clear what preemptive effect the [Federal Power Act] has to prevent [Vermont] from refusing to consider continued operation without such an agreement,” as there would be no such agreement to review. Id. The court thus declined to enjoin the defendants on the basis of Entergy’s Federal Power Act claim. Lastly, the district court found merit in Entergy’s claim that Vermont had conditioned “approval of a CPG for continued operation on the existence of a power purchase agreement at below-wholesale market rates” in violation of the dormant Commerce Clause. Id. at 235. The court concluded that an injunction was an appropriate remedy in this case, even though no new PPA past March 21, 2012, had yet been issued, because there was “evidence of intent to condition continued operation on the demonstration of some marked ‘economic benefit,’ ... in the form of below-wholesale-market long-term power purchase agreements for Vermont utilities.” Id. at 236. The court made this finding by examining the materials submitted and testimony of the representatives of the Department in proceedings before the Board, as well as the statements of state legislators, to find impermissible intent on the part of the defendants. Id. at 236-39. On this basis, the court issued an injunction “enjoin[ing] Defendants from conditioning Vermont Yankee’s continued operation on the existence of a below-market PPA with Vermont utilities.” Id. at 239. In sum, the district court permanently enjoined Vermont from taking any action to shut down Vermont Yankee after March 21, 2012, pursuant to Act 160 or pursuant to section 6522(c)(4) of title 10, as enacted in Act 74. Id. at 243. It also permanently enjoined Vermont from conditioning the issuance of a CPG on the execution of a favorable power purchase agreement. Id. After the district court rendered its decision, Vermont suggested in a statement dated February 22, 2012, that it still had authority over Vermont Yankee’s storage of spent nuclear fuel pursuant to section 6522(c)(2) of title 10 of the Vermont Statutes. ECF No. 192. On March 19, 2012, the district court entered an injunction enjoining Vermont from seeking to shut down Vermont Yankee on the basis of this statute as well. ECF No. 209. Vermont appeals the district court’s determinations with respect to Entergy’s challenges to Acts 74 and 160 under the Atomic Energy Act and Entergy’s claim under the dormant Commerce Clause. Entergy cross-appeals the district court’s determination that its preemption challenge under the Federal Power Act is premature. Neither party appeals the district court’s determination that the challenge to Act 189 is moot because the safety assessments mandated by Act 189 had been completed by the time of trial. DISCUSSION I. Standard of Review “We review de novo a district court’s application of preemption principles.” N.Y. SMSA Ltd. P’ship v. Town of Clarkstown, 612 F.3d 97, 103 (2d Cir.2010) (per curiam). “Findings of fact in a bench trial are reviewed for clear error; application of law to those facts is reviewed de novo.” Goodspeed Airport LLC v. E. Haddam Inland Wetlands & Watercourses Comm’n, 634 F.3d 206, 209 n. 3 (2d Cir.2011). A district court’s grant of a permanent injunction is reviewed for abuse of discretion. ACORN v. United States, 618 F.3d 125, 133 (2d Cir.2010). “A district court abuses its discretion ‘when (1) its decision rests on an error of law (such as application of the wrong legal principle) or a clearly erroneous factual finding, or (2) its decision — though not necessarily the product of a legal error or a clearly erroneous factual finding — cannot be located within the range of permissible decisions.’ ” Id. (quoting Kickham Hanley P.C. v. Kodak Ret. Income Plan, 558 F.3d 204, 209 (2d Cir.2009)). II. Analysis A. Atomic Energy Act Preemption Claim A(l). Preemption Principles The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution provides that federal law “shall be the supreme Law of the Land.” U.S. Const, art. VI, cl. 2. In determining whether preemption exists, we must “start with the assumption that the historic police powers of the States were not to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress.” Wyeth v. Levine, 555 U.S. 555, 565, 129 S.Ct. 1187, 173 L.Ed.2d 51 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted). “This assumption provides assurance that the federal-state balance will not be disturbed unintentionally by Congress or unnecessarily by the courts.” Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U.S. 519, 525, 97 S.Ct. 1305, 51 L.Ed.2d 604 (1977) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted). “[0]ur task is to ascertain Congress’ intent in enacting the federal statute at issue.” Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U.S. 85, 95, 103 S.Ct. 2890, 77 L.Ed.2d 490 (1983). “The purpose of Congress is the ultimate touchstone.” Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck, 471 U.S. 202, 208, 105 S.Ct. 1904, 85 L.Ed.2d 206 (1985) (internal quotation marks omitted). There are several forms of preemption. “The most obvious is where Congress expressly states that it is preempting state authority.” Cnty. of Suffolk v. Long Island Lighting Co., 728 F.2d 52, 57 (2d Cir.1984) (citing Jones, 430 U.S. at 525, 97 S.Ct. 1305). Preemption may also occur “where compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility,” Fla. Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142-43, 83 S.Ct. 1210, 10 L.Ed.2d 248 (1963), or where state law impedes the “execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress.” Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67, 61 S.Ct. 399, 85 L.Ed. 581 (1941). In the absence of such explicit or functionally overt preemption, “Congress’ intent to supersede state law may be found from ‘a scheme of federal regulation ... so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it.’ ” Cnty. of Suffolk, 728 F.2d at 57 (quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230, 67 S.Ct. 1146, 91 L.Ed. 1447 (1947)). In this latter context, “federal law occupies an entire field of regulation.” Wachovia Bank, N.A. v. Burke, 414 F.3d 305, 313 (2d Cir.2005). A(2). The Atomic Energy Act and Pacifíc Gas The domestic nuclear power industry had its genesis in the Atomic Energy Act of 1946, in which Congress “contemplated that the development of nuclear power would be a Government monopoly.” Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Envtl. Study Grp., Inc., 438 U.S. 59, 63, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 57 L.Ed.2d 595 (1978). This view changed with the passage of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2011-2281, which “stemmed from Congress’ belief that the national interest would be served if the Government encouraged the private sector to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes under a program of federal regulation and licensing.” English v. Gen. Electric Co., 496 U.S. 72, 80-81, 110 S.Ct. 2270, 110 L.Ed.2d 65 (1990). “The Act implemented this policy decision by providing for licensing of private construction, ownership, and operation of commercial nuclear power reactors.” Pacific Gas, 461 U.S. at 207, 103 S.Ct. 1713. The Atomic Energy Commission, the predecessor to the present-day NRC, “was given exclusive jurisdiction to license the transfer, delivery, receipt, acquisition, possession and use of nuclear materials. Upon these subjects, no role was. left for the states.” Id. (internal citations omitted). “Congress’ decision to prohibit the states from regulating the safety aspects of nuclear development was premised on its belief that the [Atomic Energy] Commission was more qualified to determine what type of safety standards should be enacted in this complex area.” Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U.S. 238, 250, 104 S.Ct. 615, 78 L.Ed.2d 443 (1984). Indeed, the congressional findings supporting the Atomic Energy Act affirm that the “processing and utilization of source, byproduct, and special nuclear material must be regulated in the national interest,” and that the regulation of such materials “by the United States ... is necessary in the national interest to assure the common defense and security and to protect the health and safety of the public.” 42 U.S.C. § 2012(c)-(e). Radiological safety therefore represents an arena of field preemption that “Congress, acting within its proper authority, has determined must be regulated by its exclusive governance,” thus precluding any regulation by the states. Arizona v. United States, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 2492, 2501, 183 L.Ed.2d 351 (2012); see also Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians v. Nielson, 376 F.3d 1223, 1242 (10th Cir.2004) (“[S]tate laws within ‘the entire field of nuclear safety concerns’ are preempted, even if they do not directly conflict with federal law.” (quoting Pacific Gas, 461 U.S. at 212, 103 S.Ct. 1713)). Nonetheless, “[t]here is little doubt that under the' Atomic Energy Act of 1954, state public utility commissions or similar bodies are empowered to make the initial decision regarding the need for power.” Vt. Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Res. Def. Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519, 550, 98 S.Ct. 1197, 55 L.Ed.2d 460 (1978). The Atomic Energy Act also contains two savings clauses reserving certain regulatory powers not related to nuclear safety to the states. The first clause states that the Atomic Energy Act does not limit state authority regarding regulation of the “generation, sale, or transmission of electric power produced through the use of nuclear facilities licensed by the Commission.” 42 U.S.C. § 2018. The second clause provides that the Atomic Energy Act shall not “be construed to affect the authority of any State or local agency to regulate activities for purposes other than protection against radiation hazards.” Id. § 2021(k). It was against this background that the Supreme Court issued its 1983 decision in Pacific Gas, which concerned whether the Atomic Energy Act preempted a California state statute, the Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act (the “Warren-Alquist Act”). 461 U.S. at 197, 103 S.Ct. 1713. Under thef Warren-Alquist Act, a utility seeking to build' a new nuclear power plant in California was first required to obtain permission from the California State Energy Resources and Conservation Commission (the “State Energy Commission”). Id. Section 25524.2 of the Warren-Alquist Act imposed a moratorium on the construction of new power plants until the State Energy Commission determined that a viable long-term spent nuclear fuel disposal method had been developed. Id. at 197-98, 103 S.Ct. 1713. The State Energy Commission was also required to report this determination to the California Legislature, which could override it. Id. at 198, 103 S.Ct. 1713. The Supreme Court noted that laws similar to the Warren-Alquist Act had been enacted in response to two emerging societal concerns about nuclear waste management: [FJirst, if not properly stored, nuclear wastes might leak and endanger both the environment and human health; second, the lack of a long-term disposal option increases the risk that the insufficiency of interim storage space for spent fuel will lead to reactor-shutdowns, rendering nuclear energy an unpredictable and uneconomical adventure. Id. at 196-97,103 S.Ct. 1713. The Court then considered whether the Warren-Alquist Act was preempted because “it regulates construction of nuclear plants and because it is allegedly predicated on safety concerns.” Id. at 204, 103 S.Ct. 1713. The Court reviewed the legislative history of the Atomic Energy Act and concluded that while the “federal government maintains complete control of the safety and ‘nuclear’ aspects of energy generation,” “the states exercise their traditional authority over the need for additional generating capacity, the type of generating facilities to be licensed, land use, ratemaking, and the like.” Id. at 211-12, 103 S.Ct. 1713. Examples of sole federal authority include the “construction and operation of any production or utiliza-, tion facility,” and the disposal of “byproduct, source or special nuclear material ... because of the hazards or potential hazards thereof.” Id. at 209, 103 S.Ct. 1713 (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 2021(c)). However, states retain authority over “the economic question [of] whether a particular plant should be built”; indeed, “utility financial qualifications are only of concern to the NRC if related to public health and safety.” Id. at 207, 103 S.Ct. 1713. Examples of exclusive state authority therefore include “ratemaking and plant-need questions.” Id. at 208, 103 S.Ct. 1713. The Court then examined the purposes underlying section 25524.2, emphasizing that a state statute that seeks to “regulate the construction or operation of a nuclear powerplant ... even if enacted out of non-safety concerns, would nevertheless directly conflict with the NRC’s exclusive authority over plant construction and operation.” Id. at 212, 103 S.Ct. 1713. The Court focused on the state legislative committee report that accompanied section 25524.2, which articulated a purely economic rationale for the bill. The’ committee report noted that in the absence of “a federally approved method of waste disposal,” a “ ‘clog’ in the nuclear fuel cycle” would emerge because “[s]torage space was limited while more nuclear wastes were continuously produced.” Id. at 213, 103 S.Ct. 1713. This scenario could lead to “unpredietably high costs to contain the problem or, worse, shutdowns in reactors.” Id. at 213-14, 103 S.Ct. 1713. Because section 25524.2 was “concerned not with the adequacy of the method [of spent nuclear fuel storage], but rather its existence,” the Court concluded that it was not preempted by the Atomic Energy Act. Id. at 214, 103 S.Ct. 1713 (quoting Pac. Legal Found. v. State Energy Res. Conservation & Dev. Comm’n, 659 F.2d 903, 925 (9th Cir.1981)). A(3). The Evolution of the Wholesale Energy Market After Pacific Gas Critical to appreciating the Supreme Court’s concern in Pacific Gas about the prospect of state responsibility for rising nuclear energy costs is an understanding of the structure of the retail energy market in the 1970s and-1980s. In that era, electric utilities were typically vertically integrated entities that sold the power they generated directly to in-state retail consumers. State regulatory agencies would focus on the “retail rates charged directly to the public.” Pub. Util. Dist. No. 1 of Snohomish Cnty. Wash. v. FERC, 471 F.3d 1053, 1062 (9th Cir.2006) (“PUD No. 1 ”), vacated on other grounds, 547 F.3d 1081 (9th Cir.2008). These state agencies would determine the rates at which power could be sold by the electric utility to ensure that such rates were reasonable. See, e.g., Consol. Edison Co. of N.Y., Inc. v. Pataki, 292 F.3d 338, 343 (2d Cir.2002). Federal agencies, on the other hand, would regulate the “wholesale rates charged among businesses involved in providing” power. PUD No. 1, 471 F.3d at 1Ó62 (internal quotation marks omitted). Nonetheless, prior to the 1980s, the dominance of retail utilities ensured that “arms-length transactions on wholesale markets were relatively few.” David B: Spence & Robert Prentice, The Transformation of American Energy Markets and the Prob lew, of Market Power, 53 B.C. L.Rev. 131, 146 (2012). As a result of this market structure, “electricity generation, transmission, and distribution for a particular geographic area were generally provided by and under the control of a single regulated utility.” Midwest ISO Transmission Owners v. FERC, 373 F.3d 1361, 1363 (D.C.Cir.2004) (Roberts, J.). “Although there were some interconnections among utilities, most operated as separate, local monopolies subject to state or local regulation.” New York v. FERC, 535 U.S. 1, 5, 122 S.Ct. 1012, 152 L.Ed.2d 47 (2002). This concentration of market power meant that if a local utility’s operating costs rose — due to the expense associated with long-term storage of spent nuclear fuel, for example — then consumers would likely experience direct increases in prices as well. As a result, the Pacific Gas Court accepted California’s argument that the spent nuclear “waste disposal problem was largely economic or the result of poor planning, not safety related.” Pacific Gas, 461 U.S. at 213, 103 S.Ct. 1713 (internal quotation marks omitted). The national marketplace for power began to evolve in the late 1970s. First, Congress passed the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), 16 U.S.C. §§ 2601 et seq., which sought “to promote the development of new generating facilities and to conserve the use of fossil fuels.” New York, 535 U.S. at 9, 122 S.Ct. 1012. To do so, PURPA “directed FERC to promulgate rules requiring utilities to purchase electricity from ‘qualifying cogeneration and small power production facilities.’ ” Id. (quoting FERC v. Mississippi, 456 U.S. 742, 751, 102 S.Ct. 2126, 72 L.Ed.2d 532 (1982)). Even more significant, Congress enacted the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which “authorized FERC to order individual utilities to provide transmission services to unaffiliated wholesale generators (ie., to ‘wheel’ power) on a case-by-case basis.” Id. (citing 16 U.S.C. §§ 824j-824k). FERC exercised this authority in 1996 by promulgating Orders 888 and 889, which require “all public utilities owning and/or controlling transmission facilities to offer non-discriminatory open access transmission service.” Transmission Access Policy Study Grp. v. FERC, 225 F.3d 667, 682 (D.C.Cir.2000) (per curiam), aff'd sub nom., New York, 535 U.S. 1, 122 S.Ct. 1012. By the late 1990s, the structure of the power industry had changed dramatically. Many integrated utilities had divested their generating assets, and new participants entered the market “in the form of both independent and affiliated power marketers and generators as well as independent power exchanges.” Regional Transmission Organizations, Order No. 2000, 89 F.E.R.C. ¶ 61,285, at *7 (Dec. 20, 1999). Many formerly retail utilities became independent “merchant generators,” selling the power they generated wholesale across state lines. The emergence of merchant generators placed a significant strain on existing power grids. In response, FERC sought to organize owners of transmission lines into “independent system operators” (ISOs) and “regional transmission organizations” (RTOs) “to help manage the grid, ensure system reliability, and guard against discrimination and the exercise of market power in the provision of transmission services.” Spence & Prentice, supra, at 148. These ISOs and RTOs gave rise to several large regional electricity trading hubs, including the California ISO, the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) ISO, the New York ISO, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) ISO, and ISO New England. The development of merchant generators had two effects on the marketplace for power that are relevant here. First, consumers gained access to new sources of power, which meant that they were no longer captive to a single in-state provider. See Transmission Access, 225 F.3d at 683. Correspondingly, “[l]ocal energy utilities, could, rather than producing their own power to sell to the public, choose between various competing producers and then transfer the expected savings from this competition to the public.” PUD No. 1, 471 F.3d at 1065. The development of large regional power grids gave consumers access to power generated by out-of-state merchant generators. As the Supreme Court has noted, it is now “possible for a customer in Vermont [to] purchase electricity from an environmentally friendly power producer in California or a cogeneration facility in Oklahoma.” New York, 535 U.S. at 8, 122 S.Ct. 1012 (internal quotation marks omitted). Indeed, Vermont Yankee presently supplies only one-third of the power consumed by Vermont residents; the rest is purchased by Vermont electrical companies from other sources. See In re Entergy Nuclear Vt. Yankee, LLC, 2006 WL 1418626, at *12. Second, because states may obtain power from energy plants located in other states, there is less public support for continued operation of in-state nuclear power plants and greater opposition to such local plants on safety as well as non-safety grounds. With the advent of merchant generators, the challenge of identifying a long-term spent nuclear fuel storage solution has grown even more pressing. After a useful life of four-to-six years, spent nuclear fuel rods are thermally hot when removed from reactors and emit substantial amounts of radiation. New York v. NRC, 681 F.3d 471, 474 (D.C.Cir.2012) (citing Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, Report to the Secretary of Energy 10-11 (2012)). The rods are transferred to deep, water-filled pools for cooling; they may then be transferred to large concrete and steel “casks” for storage, even though they will continue to emit dangerous radiation “for time spans seemingly beyond human comprehension.” Id. (quoting Nuclear Energy Inst., Inc. v. EPA, 373 F.3d 1251, 1258 (D.C.Cir.2004) (per curiam)). Nonetheless, despite the continued production of nuclear waste, and despite “years of ‘blue ribbon’ commissions, congressional hearings, agency reports, and site investigations, the United States has not yet developed a permanent solution.” Id. Most recently, plans to develop a federally-sponsored storage site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada were abandoned when the Department of Energy withdrew its license application for the facility. See Nat'l Ass’n of Regulatory Util. Comm’rs v. U.S. Dep’t of Energy, 680 F.3d 819, 822-23 (D.C.Cir.2012). “At this time, there is not even a prospective site for a repository, let alone progress toward the actual construction of one.” New York v. NRC, 681 F.3d at 474. A(4). Act 160 With this general background in mind, we begin our preemption analysis of Act 160, the most recent of Vermont’s legislative enactments at issue. The proper place to begin the analysis of a statute is its text. See, e.g., United States v. Am. Trucking Ass’ns, 310 U.S. 534, 543, 60 S.Ct. 1059, 84 L.Ed. 1345 (1940) (“There is, of course, no more persuasive evidence of the purpose of a statute than the words by which the legislature undertook to give expression to its wishes.”). As described previously, Act 160 adds three new sections to the Vermont Statutes: sections 248(e)(2), 248(m), and 254 of title 30. Section 248(e)(2) requires the Vermont Legislature to determine whether an extension of the Vermont Yankee operating lease should be granted (that is, to determine whether the lease advances the “general welfare”) before the Board can issue a new CPG. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 30, § 248(e)(2). Section 248(m) requires that the evaluation of a new CPG be conducted using current cost-benefit assumptions, rather than those that informed the issuance of the previous CPG. Id. § 248(m). Section 254 requires that an application to operate Vermont Yankee past March 21, 2012, be submitted at least four years in advance, and that the Department engage in extensive fact-finding to support the legislative determination that the lease advances the general welfare. Id. § 254(a). The statute requires that the Department “identify, collect information on, and provide analysis of long-term environmental, economic, and public health issues, including issues relating to dry cask storage of nuclear waste and decommissioning options.” Id. § 254(b)(2)(B) (emphasis added). These are factors that the Board “shall consider” in “acting on a petition” subject to the statute, id. § 254(b)-(c), and the Board’s conclusions are reported to the Vermont Legislature to inform its own determination regarding the status of Vermont Yankee, id. § 254(a)(2)-(3). As an initial matter, we must consider whether it is appropriate to consider a facial challenge to Act 160. In this regard, we find it important that Act 160, through the operation of section 248(e)(2), transfers the process for determining whether to approve a new operating license for Vermont Yankee from the Board to the Vermont Legislature. Before the passage of Act 160, the Board’s decision regarding whether to approve the continued operation of Vermont Yankee would have been subject to review by the Vermont Supreme Court. Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 30, § 12. Such a review likely would have encompassed legal questions regarding whether Act 160 was preempted by federal law. See, e.g., Petition of E. Ga. Cogeneration Ltd. P’ship, 614 A.2d 799, 804-05 (Vt.1992). After the passage of Act 160, if the Vermont Legislature chose not to act, the operating license for Vermont Yankee would lapse on March 21, 2012, and that decision would not be subject to judicial review. See Bd. of Educ. of Kiryas Joel Vill. Sch. Dist. v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687, 703, 114 S.Ct. 2481, 129 L.Ed.2d 546 (1994) (“[Ujnlike an administrative agency’s denial of an exemption from a generally applicable law, which would be entitled to a judicial audience, a legislature’s failure to enact a special law is itself unreviewable.” (internal citations and quotation marks omitted)). Because a “state moratorium” on the operation of Vermont Yankee “grounded in safety concerns falls squarely within the prohibited field,” Pacific Gas, 461 U.S. at 213, 103 S.Ct. 1713, a law enacted for that purpose would facially lack any “plainly legitimate sweep.” Wash. State Grange v. Wash. State Republican Party, 552 U.S. 442, 449, 128 S.Ct. 1184, 170 L.Ed.2d 151 (2008) (internal quotation marks omitted). We also note several other reasons why it is appropriate to consider Entergy’s facial challenge to the validity of Act 160. First, because of the extensive legislative record accompanying Act 160 and the detailed inquiry conducted by the district court below, it “is not the case ... that the Court today is premature in interpreting [Act 160] on the basis of a factually barebones record.’ ” Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310, 130 S.Ct. 876, 894, 175 L.Ed.2d 753 (2010) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted). Second, because Act 160 shifts the decision regarding whether to approve the operation of Vermont Yankee into the unreviewable province of the Vermont Legislature’s “failure to enact a special law,” Grumet, 512 U.S. at 703, 114 S.Ct. 2481, we will not otherwise have any “occasion to construe the law in the context of actual disputes.” Wash. State Grange, 552 U.S. at 450, 128 S.Ct. 1184. Lastly, we believe that “the issues before the court are concrete and sharply presented” so as to permit meaningful review. Dickerson v. Napolitano, 604 F.3d 732, 741 (2d Cir.2010) (quoting Thibodeau v. Portuondo, 486 F.3d 61, 71 (2d Cir.2007)). It is therefore “necessary to determine whether there is a non-safety rationale” for Act 160 by considering whether the decision to effectively shut down Vermont Yankee serves the policy interests articulated in the statute. Pacific Gas, 461 U.S. at 213,103 S.Ct. 1713. The legislative policy and purpose section of Act 160 sets forth several rationales for the statute. Section 1(a) states that “a nuclear energy generating plant may be operated in Vermont only with the explicit approval of the General Assembly expressed in law,” and that legislative approval requires a “public deliberation” of such factors as “the state’s need for power, the economics and environmental impacts of long-term storage of nuclear waste, and choice of power sources among various alternatives.” Act 160 § 1(a). The statute later states that the issue of long-term spent fuel storage should be framed as a part of the larger societal discussion of broader economic and environmental issues relating to the operation of a nuclear facility in the state, including an assessment of the potential need for the operation of the facility and its economic benefits, risks, and costs; and in order to allow opportunity to assess alternatives that may be more cost-effective or that otherwise may better promote the general welfare. Id. § 1(d). Drawing on the language in sections 1(a) and 1(d), Vermont argues that Act 160 advances two policy interests: (1) increased use of a diverse array of renewable power sources; and (2) promotion of energy sources that are more cost-effective. Although Vermont’s asserted policy interests would not necessarily interfere with the preempted concern of radiological safety, our inquiry does not end at the text of the statute. We do not blindly accept the articulated purpose of [a state statute] for preemption purposes. If that were the rule, legislatures could “nullify nearly all unwanted federal legislation by simply publishing a legislative committee report articulating some state interest or policy — other than frustration of the federal objective — that would be tangentially furthered by the proposed state law.” Greater N.Y. Metro. Food Council, Inc. v. Giuliani, 195 F.3d 100, 108 (2d Cir.1999) (quoting Gade v. Nat’l Solid Wastes Mgmt. Ass’n, 505 U.S. 88, 106, 112 S.Ct. 2374, 120 L.Ed.2d 73 (1992)) (internal citation omitted), abrogated on other grounds by Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly, 533 U.S. 525, 121 S.Ct. 2404, 150 L.Ed.2d 532 (2001). As a result, “we have refused to rel