Cosponsored with Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, Health and Environmental Funders Network, and Chesapeake Bay Funders Network
A funder-only webinar was held to explore the impacts of one of the most significant legal developments in recent years: the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo. This ruling has profound implications for the regulatory interpretation of major legislation such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Farm Bill.
Chevron deference required judges to defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous statutory language. A bedrock of administrative law stemming from the 1984 case Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., the principle was grounded in the idea that agencies have technical and subject-matter expertise that judges and politicians do not. This decision, combined with that in Corner Post, Inc. v. Bd. of Governors of the Fed. Reserve System, which expands the statute of limitations the Administrative Procedure Act grants for challenging agency regulations, redefines the relationship between agencies and the judiciary.
During this webinar, leaders from the field addressed food, agriculture, and public health regulations that could be affected, potential impacts on both the way Congress legislates and agencies conduct rulemaking, and how this ruling may change the way funders conduct policy advocacy. Speakers included Radhika Fox, former Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water, Anne Knapke, former Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the Secretary at USDA, Julia McCarthy of New York Health Foundation, Skye Perryman of Democracy Forward, and Rebecca Riley of NRDC.