How Will the Chevron Ruling Impact Agriculture?
September 17, 2024 There’s little denying that over the past few years, lawsuits and regulations impacting the agricultural industry have become uncommonly common. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the sessions at the 2024 Mid America CropLife Association (MACA) meeting in early September looked at this area in-depth.
“There’s so much going on in the pesticide industry, particularly in the regulatory side and litigation space,” said Harrison Pittman, Director for the National Ag Law Center, during his presentation on the topic to MACA attendees. “There have been many significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions that could change how federal agencies such as EPA do business going forward.”
According to Pittman, one of the most significant of these involves the so-called Chevron Doctrine. “Chevron could see a decades-long shift for everyone,” he said.
As a refresher, the Chevron Doctrine was originally established in 1984 by the Supreme Court in the case Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. This ruling stated that in cases of judicial review principle, courts were to defer to federal agencies and their interpretation of statures when the stature in question was ambiguous.
Harrison Pittman, Director for the National Ag Law Center.
“This has been one of the most cited cases in American history,” said Pittman of the 1984 Chevron ruling. “Basically, it said that agencies were allowed to interpret the rule, write the rule, and enforce the rule. And if the agencies actions were reasonable – and Congressional intent was not clear – the courts were to defer to the agencies in any dispute.”
However, this past June, the Chevron Doctrine decision was overturned. In the case of Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo, the current Supreme Court ruled against the Chevron Doctrine in a 6-3 decision. Now, judges in such court cases are free to provide their own interpretations of laws/rules to decide if an agency has acted within its statutory authority.
According to Pittman, the implications of Chevron being overturned could be profound for the entire regulatory landscape. “Courts are now more unshackled in what they can rule in these cases,” he said. “Courts used to have to defer to agencies under Chevron. Now, the balance of power has shifted back into the court system and away from the agency level. This is a massive change for every industry. This will be a world where agency authority will have a much brighter light shined on it than ever before. And the burden for clarifying laws will be back on Congress, to be more specific.”
Loading ...Pittman reiterated to MACA attendees that the ripples from June’s Chevron decision will continue for some time to come. “It will take decades to sort this out,” he said.
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