A North Dakota-based truck stop, Corner Post, finds itself at the center of a potentially significant US Supreme Court case. The case may set a precedent, making federal regulations—which aim to protect public health and safety—vulnerable to legal challenges long after they’ve been put in place. This case, set for argument soon, has been largely overshadowed by two other disputes this term seeking to undercut the power of the federal bureaucracy.
“This is a sleeper case that could really destabilize the regulatory regimes of all the regulatory agencies if the plaintiff wins,” warns Daniel Jarcho, a partner in Alston & Bird’s litigation and trial practice group, and a former Justice Department trial attorney.
The justices must determine if the six-year statute of limitations for legal challenges to regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act starts when a rule is first adopted or when it first triggers legal harm. This aligns with another current case considerating the overturning of Chevron deference—a legal doctrine that sways courts in regulatory conflicts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation when the governing law is ambiguous.
If Chevron deference is removed and Corner Post triumphs, leading to an increase in companies challenging decades-old regulations, the implications could be extreme, Jarcho states. Decisions in the cases are expected before the end of June.
The lawsuit, originally launched in 2021, involves a dispute over a 2011 Federal Reserve rule which structured maximum fees banks can charge merchants for debit card transactions. The North Dakota Retailers Association and the North Dakota Petroleum Marketers Association, alongside the National Retail Federation, joined Corner Post to the party after their suit was threatened with dismissal by the federal government for exceeding the six-year statute of limitations.
This dispute is not only about debit card swipe fees, supporters argue, but about ensuring businesses get the chance to fight in court when they’ve received damage from a regulation. Critics, including the Justice Department and consumer advocate Public Citizen, warn that the ruling could enable businesses to present typically forbidden “stale, decades-old claims” against regulations.
The case is Corner Post, Inc. v. Bd. of Governors Federal Reserve System No. 22-1008.