Environmental Regulation After Loper Bright and Corner Post: Agency Rulemaking, Judicial Review, Increased Litigation

Description

Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Corner Post Inc. v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, will have a significant impact on federal agency rulemaking, rule implementation, and legal challenges to federal rules. Environmental counsel should understand the implications these decisions may have on the EPA, environmental regulatory rulemaking and interpretation, and how their clients may be affected including whether and/or how these decisions may affect project development decisions.

Loper Bright overruled the Chevron doctrine which, for 40 years, has served as the two-step framework for federal courts in deciding disputes between federal agencies and private parties challenging agency regulations. Under Chevron, courts would first determine whether the statute at issue was ambiguous. If so, the courts were required to defer to the agency's interpretation as long as it was reasonable. Loper Bright has now put the task of interpreting statutory provisions into the hands of federal courts.

Corner Post has potentially increased agency exposure to suits by redefining when the statute of limitations period begins during which rules may be challenged. The Court held that the six-year statute of limitations for suits against the federal government begins to run only once the plaintiff experiences an injury, a significant change from the prior stance that the six-year period began once the rule was published.

Listen as our expert panel guides practitioners through the recent Loper Bright and Corner Post decisions and discusses the impact on environmental regulation where new challenges to longstanding regulations may be brought, even if they had previously been upheld. The panel will also discuss potential client impact.