The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. (Laura Olson/States Newsroom)
A recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court limiting the deference to regulators in courtroom disputes is likely to have widespread implications for farmers and ranchers in South Dakota.
The 6-3 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises vs. Raimondo overturned a 40-year precedent known as the Chevron doctrine. That doctrine directed courts to defer to federal agency expertise when the laws an agency is enforcing are ambiguous.
In practice, the doctrine created a high bar for individuals or companies who sought to challenge rules enacted by agencies like the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Labor and others.
The case stemmed from a dispute over who ought to pay for the on-vessel monitoring required under a rule from the National Marine Fisheries Service. The rule sought to force commercial fishing operations to pay the person doing the monitoring; a group of commercial fishermen sued.