WASHINGTON (AP) – The Supreme Court opened the door Monday to broad new challenges to regulations long after they took effect, the third blow in a week for federal agencies.
The justices ruled 6-3 in favor of a North Dakota truck stop that wants to sue over a debit card fee regulation that the federal appeals court in Washington upheld 10 years ago.
Federal law sets a six-year deadline for broad challenges to regulations. In this case, Federal Reserve regulations governing the fees merchants must pay banks whenever customers use a debit card went into effect in 2011.
The deadline for legal action on the regulation ended in 2017.
Corner Post, a truck stop in Watford City in western North Dakota, only opened its doors in 2018.
Still, a federal appeals court rejected the challenge as too late.
The company appealed to the Federal Supreme Court. The Biden administration urged the court to uphold the dismissal because otherwise government agencies would be subject to endless challenges.
The decision could take on new meaning following last week’s decision that overturned the 1984 Chevron decision this made it easier to comply with regulations across a wide swath of American life. The court also stripped the Securities and Exchange Commission an important tool to combat securities fraud.
Chief Justice John Roberts captured the dilemma facing the court when the Corner Post case was argued in February. Agencies could face repeated challenges “10 years later, 20 years later” and “kind of having to create the universe, you know, over and over again.”
On the other hand, Roberts said, “You have an individual or entity that is harmed by something the government is doing, and you are saying, well, that’s too bad, you can’t do anything about it because other people have had six years. to do something about it.”
The legal principle that everyone is entitled to a day in court, Roberts said, “doesn’t say unless someone else gets a day in court.”
