Interior Alaska News

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan from Alaska expressed approval of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council ruling. The court's decision ends the 'Chevron' doctrine, which allowed courts to defer to federal agencies when their interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes were considered "reasonable."

Senator Sullivan stated, "The Supreme Court’s ruling today, overturning Chevron vs. NRDC, is welcome news for Alaska and all Americans." He highlighted his long-standing interest in the topic since his time as a judicial law clerk on both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Fairbanks and the Alaska Supreme Court in Anchorage.

Sullivan criticized how federal agencies have handled laws relating to Alaska, citing what he described as abuses of Chevron deference with negative impacts on Alaskans and their economy. He pointed to recent cases like Sturgeon and decisions by the Department of Interior as examples where he felt agency actions undermined state rights.

He emphasized that "today’s Supreme Court ruling begins the long overdue need to ensure that federal courts do not continue to provide such deference to federal agencies that abuse or ignore the law." Sullivan expressed optimism about potential benefits for Alaska following this legal change.