In Loper Bright Enterprises v.
Raimondo handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 28, 2024, a majority
of the justices overruled Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council,
which had been the precedent giving regulatory agencies considerable discretion
in coming up with specific regulations, given the penchant of the Congress to
write vague laws. In the overturning case, a group of fishermen had objected to
having to pay for government observers to board the fishing boats to monitor
the fishing. On the merits, it does seem unfair for regulatory agencies to
charge the regulated to be regulated. In overturning Chevron, however, Loper
has much broader implications, chief among them being in terms of
separation of powers—specifically in reining in the expanding power of the
executive branch, here at the expense of the judiciary.
The full essay is at "The U.S. Supreme Court on Regulatory Agencies."
