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City attorneys brief board on Supreme Court Chevron ruling and implications for Fort Smith consent decree
Summary
City legal staff told the Fort Smith Board of Directors on Jan. 14 that a recent Supreme Court decision limiting Chevron deference changes how courts review federal agency interpretations but does not immediately alter the city's existing consent decree with the DOJ and EPA.
City legal staff briefed the Fort Smith Board of Directors on Jan. 14 about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision limiting Chevron deference to agency interpretations and explained how that ruling affects ongoing negotiations under the city’s consent decree with the Justice Department and EPA.
The city attorney explained the difference between statutory ambiguities and contract interpretation and said the core obligations under the Clean Water Act and the city’s NPDES permits are not, in themselves, ambiguous: “The city's basic position was we understand our problems; we understand them better than you understand them,” the city attorney said, describing the long negotiations that preceded the…
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