According to the dictionary, a phrase is "ambiguous"
if it has more than one meaning. Chevron1 is
frequently cited for the proposition that the presence of
"ambiguity" gives an agency the authority to interpret
the statute to eliminate the ambiguity. A better view of
Chevron is that only the Courts may resolve
statutory ambiguity through interpretation. When faced with
statutory terms that may be given more than one meaning, courts
must determine, applying canons of statutory construction, what
Congress has resolved, what Congress has given the Agency
discretion to resolve, and what ascertainable standards have been
established by Congress to govern the exercise of discretion by the
Agency. In other words, Chevron contemplates that the
Court declare what the law requires, including the scope of
discretion afforded an agency to make policy choices that give
content to broad statutory terms.
