Federal Experts No Longer Allowed to Interpret Ambiguous Laws

Federal Experts No Longer Allowed to Interpret Ambiguous Laws

This means future regulations will “become clearer” or “stuck in the courts” for years.

On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron doctrine in the case Loper Bright Enterprises et. al. v. Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, et. al.

The question the Supreme Court was looking to answer was: Who has the power to codify ambiguous laws? Judges or Federal experts?

For 40 years the Chevron doctrine deferred to Federal experts. Now, the Supreme Court rules that it should in fact be Judges who codify ambiguous laws.

Federal agencies, such as the Department of Transportation, will likely face more legal challenges to their rules and regulations or force the agencies to publish fewer regulations going forward.

So, what happened?

What is the Chevron doctrine?

Chevron is a foundational case in administrative law, in which the Supreme Court held that when a federal statute is “ambiguous or silent”, courts should defer to an agency’s interpretation of that law so long as it is reasonable.

This seems sensible and for 40 years, courts have applied Chevron as binding precedent, citing the landmark case in more than 19,000 federal court decisions.

The reason for this was so courts would not arbitrarily strike down regulations as a means of elevating a judge’s policy preferences.

With this new ruling, hundreds of federal statutes and thousands of regulations could be called into question—causing chaos in the courts, the marketplace, and the country.

So, how does this affect trucking?

Chevron doctrine and trucking

Here is an example from Landline Magazine about how the Chevron doctrine affects trucking.

Let’s say, for example, Congress passes a law requiring the testing and treatment of sleep disorders for CDL medical certification. The text of the bill does not clearly define “sleep disorder.” In its subsequent regulation, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration interpreted the term “sleep disorder” to include the occasional workday nap. Consequently, thousands of drivers are forced to undergo expensive sleep tests simply for taking naps. Sounds crazy, but this was attempted in 2013.

Concerned about the heavy and undue burden this puts on truckers, in this hypothetical, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association files a petition for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The petition argues that Congress intended to address significant health concerns like chronic insomnia, restless leg syndrome or narcolepsy, not the typical midday drowsiness that most people feel during the workday. Consequently, the court must vacate that loose interpretation of “sleep disorder.”

Per the Chevron doctrine, the federal court rules in favor of FMCSA. Specifically, the court states that, assuming it is reasonable, the federal agency holds the power to make that interpretation. The logic is that FMCSA, not some random judge, is more equipped and knowledgeable in making such decisions.

If the Chevron doctrine did not exist, then the court could possibly rule in favor of the truckers. The argument against Chevron is that such challenges to regulations are a matter of interpreting the law, which is under the jurisdiction of courts, not federal agencies. In our hypothetical, the court could decide that Congress intended to address severe disorders, using a list published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as guidance.

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