Supreme Court’s Potential Overturn of Chevron Doctrine Threatens Decades of Environmental Legal Precedents and Regulations.

If the Supreme Court overturns the Chevron doctrine, it could potentially unravel decades of legal precedents that have influenced lawyers’ understanding of environmental statutes. Since establishing the doctrine in 1984, the high court has used the theory to uphold EPA’s reading of key terms in the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and the Interior Department’�s conclusions about the scope of its powers under the Endangered Species Act. All these rulings could be overturned if Chevron is overturned. Christopher Walker, a law professor at the University of Michigan, expressed concern about instability in regulations that have been on the books for years.