The House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 240-171 in favor of a bill that would eliminate the so-called Chevron deference, a judiciary practice by which courts defer to the interpretation of a government agency in cases of ambiguous statutory meaning.
The Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016 would leave it up to judges to decide the meaning of ambiguous statutes.
Opponents of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which sets carbon emissions standards for existing coal-fired power plants, argue in a federal lawsuit that EPA lacks the authority to regulate carbon from such facilities under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act because existing coal-fired power plants are already regulated for different pollutants under Section 112. The Clean Air Act says a source cannot be regulated under both sections.
The EPA has interpreted the Clean Air Act to mean a source cannot be regulated for the same pollutant under both sections, not that the source itself cannot be regulated under both sections, and argues that the court should accept its interpretation under the Chevron deference.
It is unclear at this time whether the bill, should it be signed into law, would apply to the Clean Power Plan case.
However, that very well might not matter, as the White House has already issued a veto threat for the bill. “The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 4768, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act of 2016, because it would unnecessarily overrule decades of Supreme Court precedent, it is not in the public interest, and it would add needless complexity and delay to judicial review of regulatory actions,” according to the June 22 statement of administration policy.
The bill had been scheduled to come to a vote the week before the July 4 House recess, but the process was derailed on June 22 when Democrats staged a sit-in on the floor of the House in an attempt to force a vote on gun-control measures. The demonstration was motivated by the June 12 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., which was perpetrated by a man who had been investigated by the FBI for suspected terror ties.
Trying to take back control, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) pushed through two votes and in the early morning hours of June 23 and released the House for recess early.
