ANALYSIS: Why Companies Hope to Overturn Chevron Deference

The US Supreme Court heard arguments in mid-January in two conjoined cases involving small fishing companies disputing a federal agency rule requiring them to pay the costs of a government observer on their vessels.

The cases go to the heart of a legal doctrine established by the high court’s 1984 ruling in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. Under the Chevron doctrine, courts defer to a federal agency’s reasonable interpretation of ambiguous laws.

However, a Supreme Court decision would be felt well beyond the fishing community. Corporate interests in the case abound: If the court overturns the Chevron ...