WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S.

House of Representatives have asked all federal agencies to

begin reviews of regulations that could be affected by a recent

Supreme Court ruling overturning a legal precedent known as

"Chevron ( CVX ) deference," in letters released on Wednesday.

Three House committees - Agriculture, Oversight, and

Education and Workforce - targeted agencies including the

Environmental Protection Agency, the Securities and Exchange

Commission and Department of Labor in what the chamber's No. 2

Republican, Steve Scalise, called a "fight to free the American

people from the power-hungry administrative state."

The letters follow a Supreme Court ruling in June that

struck down the so-called Chevron ( CVX ) deference. The latter refers

to a 1984 precedent involving oil company Chevron ( CVX ) that

gave government experts the final say in how laws passed by

Congress should be interpreted.

Conservatives have insisted for decades that the ruling gave

too much power to government bureaucrats over elected lawmakers.

The letters from the three committees' chairs requested

lists of existing regulations that were challenged in court and

upheld based on the Chevron ( CVX ) deference, as well as pending rules

that could have been defended using the Chevron ( CVX ) deference.

The chairs also asked for a list of rules that could have an

annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more, a "major

increase in costs or prices for consumers," or "significant

adverse effects" on competition and employment, among other

factors.

The requests could provide a road map for conservative

activists to sue agencies over specific regulations.

Michael Regan, the administrator of the Environmental

Protection Agency, told the House Oversight Committee on

Wednesday that the court's decision "hits the EPA extremely

hard."