The Supreme Court ruled to overturn a decades-old precedent that allowed the executive branch and government agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency to interpret laws and set standards.
The Supreme Court voted 6-3 along ideological lines to overrule 1984’s so-called Chevron deference, which instructed lower courts to defer to executive branch agencies when laws passed by Congress are open to interpretation.
Though it may take some time to understand the full effect of the ruling, according to Axios, it’s likely challenges to rules established by the EPA to limit greenhouse gas emissions will be more common, and successful.
According to an AP story, a lawyer who argued the original Chevron deference ruling said the recent ruling would “free judges to be radical activists” who could “effectively rewrite our laws and block the protections they are supposed to provide.”
Greg Zimmerman is senior contributing editor for FacilitiesNet.com and Building Operating Management magazine
