US seafood industry leaders are fighting a new plan by Congressional Democrats to reinstate a doctrine that fishermen say could silence them.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) led several other Democrats in introducing the Stop Corporate Capture Act (SCCA) on Tuesday, which Warren said aims to stop corporations from “taking over” government.
The bill would codify the so-called “Chevron doctrine,” a legal doctrine established in the 1980s that says courts should defer to agency expertise when federal regulations are challenged.
The Supreme Court overturned that principle last month in a lawsuit brought by fishermen against the government for imposing regulations on the fishing industry that Congress had not authorized. Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the Chevron deference “allows the executive branch to exercise powers that it has not granted.”
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Fisherman David Goetel sorts cod and haddock while fishing off the coast of New Hampshire on April 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
The new threat of making the Chevron Doctrine permanently part of federal law has New England fishermen complaining it’s unfair, citing the recent offshore wind disaster on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, as an example of why lawmakers should not give “technical bureaucrats” power over fishing.
“So-called technocratic bureaucrats approved the Vineyard wind turbines that collapsed in Senator Warren’s hometown, scattering debris from Nantucket to Cape Cod. Fishermen have known for a long time that offshore wind would wreak havoc on the ocean. But the alphabet-heavy government agencies that approved Chevron… “It’s a tribute to silence us,” Jerry Lehman, CEO of the New England Fisheries Management Association (NEFSA), told Fox News Digital.
“So-called technocratic bureaucrats approved the Vineyard wind turbines that are collapsing in Senator Warren’s hometown and scattering debris from Nantucket to Cape Cod,” said NEFSA CEO Jerry Lehman. (Courtesy of Jerry Lehman)
“Without Chevron, fishermen will finally have a chance to protect their jobs, traditions, communities and marine environment from regulators and developers who are industrializing our oceans.”
Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between Avangrid, a foreign company that built the wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
Earlier this month, a blade the length of a football field broke off from a wind turbine, sending debris and fibreglass pieces flying into the ocean, much of it washing up on the shores of Nantucket Island.
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Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks on Capitol Hill in an interview with Bloomberg TV on July 12, 2023. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
NEFSA and other groups, including the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), have opposed the Biden administration’s offshore wind development, but so far to no avail.
Notably, Vineyard Wind qualifies for a 30% tax credit created by the Inflation Control Act, which extends and increases tax credits for wind projects whose construction begins before January 1, 2025.
The concern about codifying the Chevron Principles into law is that fishermen who, like Lehman, claim to be the true experts in their industry, would be overwhelmed by the government agencies that regulate them if their case ends up in court.
“Senator Warren’s attacks on America’s small and family-owned businesses know no bounds,” said Steve Forbes. “She’s trying to put the responsibility for small businesses back in the hands of bureaucrats, even though the Supreme Court rightfully freed them from big government.”
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Maine lobstermen are landing their latest catch off the state’s coast. (Maine Lobstermen’s Association/Marketing Collaboration)
“The new bill introduced by Senator Warren and far-left members of Congress to codify the Chevron Doctrine is an attempt to circumvent the Supreme Court’s recent rulings to rein in unaccountable federal agencies,” said Elaine Parker of the Job Creators Network Foundation.
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“Senator Warren and her allies are trying to outsource legislative work to bureaucrats, making it easier to expand the size and scope of the federal government at the expense of Main Street,” Parker said, adding that the bill is “likely unconstitutional.”
“this [bill] “It shows once again that Democrats are siding with regulators over ordinary Americans,” she said.
Warren’s office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
