United States Supreme Court
City of Arlington v. Federal Communications Commission, 11-1545
Courts must apply the Chevron framework to an agency's interpretation of a statutory ambiguity that concerns the scope of the agency's statutory authority (i.e. jurisdiction), and here: 1) the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Declaratory Ruling that the phrase "reasonable period of time" under section 332(c)(7)(B) of The Communications Act of 1934 is presumptively, but rebuttably, 90 days to process an application to place a new antenna on an existing tower and 150 days to process all other applications; and 2) the preconditions to deference under Chevron are satisfied because Congress has unambiguously vested the FCC with general authority to administer the Communications Act through rulemaking and adjudication, and the agency interpretation at issue was promulgated in the exercise of that authority.
Appellate Information
- Decided 05/20/2013
- Published 05/20/2013
Judges
- SCALIA
Court
- United States Supreme Court