Justices' Ruling Boosting Agency 'Interpretive' Policies May Limit Deference

摘要

The Supreme Court's ruling allowing EPA and other agencies to revise their interpretations of rules without public notice and comment could have the effect of limiting the deference courts give to agencies on rulemakings if the new interpretations create too much regulatory confusion or are too far-reaching, says a former EPA general counsel. Raymond B. Ludwiszewski, who served as EPA's general counsel during the George H.W. Bush administration, said at a recent law conference in Washington, D.C., that the high court's decision on "interpretive" rules "will be bad for the private sector, and ultimately bad for the agencies themselves, and the first casualty of the decision will be the value of the interpretive rules. Frankly, now, in my view, they are borderline worthless."