Waterkeeper Alliance Responds to U.S. Supreme Court’s Overturning of the Chevron Doctrine

The Supreme Court issued its opinion today in the case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, explicitly overturning the decades-old Chevron doctrine—a long-standing legal precedent that gave judicial deference to federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), allowing them to reasonably interpret statutes, make sound policy decisions based on their expertise, and promulgate regulations to address numerous issues, including water quality, climate change, and public health.

In response, Marc Yaggi, CEO of Waterkeeper Alliance released the following statement:

“The Court’s decision today to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron framework is just the latest in a series of recent decisions that reveal a gross disrespect for precedent and will make doing society’s business much more difficult and unpredictable for a wide range of stakeholders, from regulators to businesses to nonprofits to ordinary people. This development underscores the importance of continuing our vital work to protect our communities and aquatic ecosystems from pollution and climate change. We will closely monitor how this decision may impact environmental policy and continue to advocate for science-based, sustainable solutions.”

This latest decision follows a previous setback to the essential protections afforded by the Clean Water Act (CWA) in Sackett v. EPA. In that 2023 decision, the Court ruled in favor of the Sacketts and their corporate polluter allies, which significantly narrowed the range of waters that the CWA protects, and opened the door for thousands of damaging projects to move forward without any water quality protections.