Cite as: 505 U. S. 144 (1992)
Opinion of White, J.
achieving a means of waste disposal, and has not taken title to the waste, no low-level radioactive waste may be shipped out of the State of New York. See, e. g., Hodel, 452 U. S., at 288. As the legislative history of the 1980 and 1985 Acts indicates, faced with the choice of federal pre-emptive regulation and self-regulation pursuant to interstate agreement with congressional consent and ratification, the States decisively chose the latter. This background suggests that the threat of federal pre-emption may suffice to induce States to accept responsibility for failing to meet critical time deadlines for solving their low-level radioactive waste disposal problems, especially if that federal intervention also would strip state and local authorities of any input in locating sites for low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities. And should Congress amend the statute to meet the Court's objection and a State refuse to act, the National Legislature will have ensured at least a federal solution to the waste management problem.
Finally, our precedents leave open the possibility that Congress may create federal rights of action in the generators of low-level radioactive waste against persons acting under color of state law for their failure to meet certain functions designated in federal-state programs. Thus, we have upheld 42 U. S. C. § 1983 suits to enforce certain rights created by statutes enacted pursuant to the Spending Clause, see, e. g., Wilder v. Virginia Hospital Assn., 496 U. S. 498 (1990); Wright v. Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, 479 U. S. 418 (1987), although Congress must be cautious in spelling out the federal right clearly and distinctly, see, e. g., Suter v. Artist M., 503 U. S. 347 (1992) (not permitting a § 1983 suit under a Spending Clause statute when the ostensible federal right created was too vague and amorphous). In addition to compensating injured parties for the State's failure to act, the exposure to liability established by such suits also potentially serves as an inducement to compliance with the program mandate.
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