Unlike the relatively straightforward de novo standard of review of the legal determinations of a court, judicial review of an administrative agency’s legal determinations is more complex, especially with respect to an agency’s interpretation of a statute or regulation.

In the seminal decision of Chevron U.S.A. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, 467 U.S. 867 (1984), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed the level of deference owed to a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute that it administers. Chevron adopted a two-step framework. First, the reviewing court must determine whether the statute is unambiguous, (Step One). “If the intent of Congress is clear, that is the end of the matter; for the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress.” At Step One, the court must “employ traditional tools of statutory construction” to ascertain Congress’ intent. Second, “if the statute is silent [as to the intent of Congress] or ambiguous, the question for the court is whether the agency’s answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute.” (Step Two). At Step Two, “considerable weight should be accorded to an executive department’s construction of a statutory scheme it is entrusted to administer,” and “if this choice represents a reasonable accommodation of conflicting policies that were committed to the agency’s care by the statute, [the court] should not disturb it unless it appears from the statute or its legislative history that the accommodation is not one that Congress would have sanctioned. This is known as “Chevron deference.”

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