Darrell Castle talks about the meaning of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency.

Transcription / Notes

THE SUPREME COURT LIMITS THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

Hello, this is Darrell Castle with today’s Castle Report. This is Friday the 8th of July in the year of our Lord 2022. I will be talking about the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. SCOTUS, in effect, reversed the long-standing rule known as Chevron Deference which permitted agencies formed by Congress such as the EPA to formulate their own policy decisions even when those decisions were not made by congress and even when they affected whole industries or entire states. In effect, Congress delegated its law-making responsibility to unelected and unaccountable bureaucratic agencies.

The doctrine of Chevron Deference came from the 1984 case of Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. Congress amended the Clean Air Act in 1977 to address states that had not attained air quality standards set by the EPA. The amendment placed onerous standards on those non-attainment states. Lawsuits were filed, decided, and appealed until the matter finally reach SCOTUS.

 The issue before the Court was what standard of review should be applied by a court to a government agency’s own reading of a statute that it is charged with administering. The Court upheld the EPA’s interpretation of its power and from that emerged the doctrine that became the Chevron deference. The court’s two-part test: First, has congress directly spoken to the precise question at issue. If congress made its intent clear, then that is the answer. Second, if congress has not spoken then the court defers to the Agency’s interpretation if it is based on a permissible interpretation of the statute.

The Chevron case went on to become the most cited case in administrative law. The ruling that the judiciary should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of language in Congressional legislation, or the Chevron deference has been the law from 1984 until now. Many regulatory decisions have been based on it and various regulatory agencies seem to think it makes the agency into a kind of super legislature.

That all changed with the decision last Thursday in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency which originated during the Obama Administration’s efforts to destroy the coal industry especially effecting the economy of the entire state of West Virginia. The EPA formulated regulations that required energy producers to transition coal-fired power plants to natural gas. The state applied to the Supreme Court for a stay pending litigation which was granted in 2016.Very unusual for SCOTUS to grant a stay before a review by the Court of Appeals.

The Court was probably trying to prevent significant damage to the State of West Virginia during the long years of appeal. If the agency in the litigation ultimately loses it just says oh, I’m sorry and goes right on despite the damage suffered by the victims. When Donald Trump took office the EPA’s previous regulations were replaced with one that required coal fired plants to burn coal more efficiently but did not order them to stop using coal. The D.C. Court of Appeals struck down Trump’s regulation and Joe Biden was inaugurated the next day.

West Virginia asked the Supreme Court to overturn the D.C. Court of Appeals ruling under the idea that the regulation was so substantial that it effected the entire coal industry and therefore was a violation of the major questions doctrine under the Chevron case. It further alleged a violation of the non-delegation clause of the constitution. The 6-3 decision was authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, and I quote briefly from his conclusion:

“Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force a nationwide tra...