House GOP looks at transportation regulations in light of Chevron doctrine ruling

• In the wake of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that undermines federal agencies’ rulemaking authority, two U.S. House Republicans are requesting information on Biden administration-era actions that could be affected by the court’s decision.
• House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., outlined their requests in July 10 letters to leaders at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Department of Homeland Security and Environmental Protection Agency. The Congress members asked for a response by July 24.
• The Supreme Court’s June ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ended a decades-long precedent of the Chevron doctrine, under which courts deferred to federal agencies’ interpretation of laws. The recent ruling says that “agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do.”

Dive Insight:

The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the Chevron doctrine is expected to significantly curtail federal agencies’ ability to interpret the laws they administer, with wide effects on environmental and other regulations.

Among the most contentious of the Biden administration’s regulations is the DOT’s rule requiring states and metropolitan planning organizations to establish declining targets for transportation-related CO2 emissions. The rule was immediately contested by a group of 21 states and Texas. In March, a Texas court found that the transportation department did not have congressional authority to issue the rule.

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