Loper Bright/Relentless and the Future of Administrative Law

April 2024
Citation:
54
ELR 10281
Issue
4
Author
H. Jordan Diamond, David Doniger, Holly Doremus, Kevin Poloncarz, and Steph Tai

On January 17, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce. These cases discuss the National Marine Fisheries Service’s interpretation of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and will decide “[w]hether the Court should overrule Chevron or at least clarify that statutory silence concerning controversial powers expressly but narrowly granted elsewhere in the statute does not constitute an ambiguity requiring deference to the agency.” The potential overruling or limiting of Chevron deference would have major consequences for environmental and regulatory law. On January 29, 2024, the Environmental Law Institute hosted a panel of experts who discussed these cases, takeaways from oral argument, and predictions for how the Court might rule. This Dialogue presents a transcript of that discussion, which has been edited for style, clarity, and space considerations.

H. Jordan Diamond (moderator) is President of the Environmental Law Institute. David Doniger is Senior Attorney and Strategist, Climate and Energy Department at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Holly Doremus is Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Research and the James H. House and Hiram H. Hurd Professor of Environmental Regulation at Berkeley Law School. Kevin Poloncarz is a Partner at Covington & Burling. Steph Tai is Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Associate Dean for Education and Faculty Affairs at the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

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