Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo

Questions presented

SCOTUS records, cert granted 1 May 2023

1. The Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) governs fishery management in federal waters and provides that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) may require vessels to "carry" federal observers onboard to enforce the agency's myriad regulations. Given that space onboard a fishing vessel is limited and valuable, that alone is an extraordinary imposition. But in three narrow circumstances not applicable here, the MSA goes further and requires vessels to pay the salaries of the federal observers who oversee their operations-although, with the exception of foreign vessels that enjoy the privilege of fishing in our waters, the MSA caps the costs of those salaries at 2-3% of the value of the vessel's haul. The statutory question underlying this petition is whether the agency can also force a wide variety of domestic vessels to foot the bill for the salaries of the monitors they must carry to the tune of 20% of their revenues. Under well-established principles of statutory construction, the answer would appear to be no, as the express grant of such a controversial power in limited circumstances forecloses a broad implied grant that would render the express grant superfluous. But a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit answered yes under Chevron on the theory that statutory silence produced an ambiguity that justified deferring to the agency. The questions presented are:
2. Whether, under a proper application of Chevron, the MSA implicitly grants NMFS the power to force domestic vessels to pay the salaries of the monitors they must carry.
3. Whether the Court should overrule Chevron or at least clarify that statutory silence concerning controversial powers expressly but narrowly granted elsewhere in the statute does not constitute an ambiguity requiring deference to the agency.

Opinion summary

Etalia.ai summary of the majority opinion

The case addressed whether the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) had the authority to require fishing vessels to pay for at-sea monitors under the Magnuson-Stevens Act. Loper Bright Enterprises, a group of commercial fishermen, challenged this requirement arguing it exceeded NMFS's statutory authority and imposed undue financial burdens on small businesses. The Supreme Court evaluated if such mandates were permissible without explicit congressional authorization. Ultimately, the Court ruled that NMFS overstepped its bounds by imposing these costs on fishermen without clear legislative backing, emphasizing that significant economic regulations need direct approval from Congress.