Cassidy Law
MONTH-IN-BRIEF (Sep 2024)
Chevron Deference Has Died
By Margaret M. Cassidy, Cassidy Law PLLC
Since 1984, federal courts have had to defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute, rule, or regulation when that agency’s interpretation was “reasonable.” This canon of interpretation is known as “Chevron Deference” after the Supreme Court case Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Counsel, 467 U.S. 837 (1984).
Chevron Deference died in June 2024 when the Supreme Court decided Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 144 S. Ct. 2244 (2024). In Loper, the Supreme Court held that courts must exercise their independent judgment when evaluating if a federal agency acted within its statutory authority when creating and interpreting regulations or rules implementing a statute. In other words, courts should no longer defer to the federal agency on how to apply or interpret a statute.
The issue that brought the Chevron Deference to the Supreme Court arose over a dispute on a rule implementing the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which required certain fishing businesses to pay fees for observers responsible for monitoring fishing. The National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, implemented the rule requiring the fees be paid. Fishing businesses challenged the requirement, and the lower courts ruled in favor of Commerce, applying Chevron Deference.
