Supreme Court dumps 40-year precedent in major blow to federal regulators

A small group of New Jersey herring fishermen landed a huge catch at the Supreme Court.Chief Justice John Roberts on Friday, writing for a 6-3 majority, significantly reeled in the power of federal regulators, tossing out a 40-year precedent on agency authority and a Commerce Department rule that the fishermen said could drive them out of business.The opinion -- officially overturning a 1984 decision known as "Chevron" -- creates a big splash, making it much easier for businesses and other interests to challenge rules touching every aspect of American life from food inspections, workplace safety, tax collection, environmental regulation and more.The case involved a regulation by the National Marine Fisheries Service ordering some commercial herring fishermen to pay the salaries of government observers federal law requires they carry aboard their vessels.The law -- the Magnuson-Stevens Act -- does not spell out how the observers, who collect scientific data on the nation's fisheries, should be funded.The agency had argued the law's ambiguity supported its interpretation that the boat operators must pay in some instances.MORE: Fishermen's Supreme Court fight against government monitors could make big splashLower courts upheld the regulation citing the Supreme Court's decision in Chevron v.

National Resources Defense Council, which held, in part, that courts should defer to the scientific and health experts at agencies when a law isn't clear, so long as their regulations are reasonable.Roberts said that holding was an error and that judges, not bureaucrats, should interpret what an ambiguous law does or does not allow."Chevron is overruled," he wrote."Courts must exercise their independent judgment in deciding whether an agency has acted within its statutory authority, as the [Administrative Procedures Act] requires.""Careful attention to the judgement of the Executive Branch [agency] may inform that inquiring.

And when a particular statute delegates authority to an ...