In a 6-3 decision, the US Supreme Court rejected a 40-year-old legal doctrine known as the Chevron deference, effectively reducing the power of executive branch agencies such as the EPA and shifting it to the courts.
Jeff Holmstead, a partner in Bracewell’s environment, lands and resources group and a former EPA division chief under President George W. Bush, said that the decision now leaves it to federal agencies to “decide what Congress actually wanted them to do.”