Chapter 23: "Administrative Agencies" Flashcards
Federal administrative agencies are created by:
enabling legislation passed by Congress.
When regulated groups oppose a rule adopted by an agency, they can bring a lawsuit arguing that the rule was not authorized by the enabling statute.
True
False
True
Types of Agencies
There are two basic types of administrative agencies:
executive agencies and independent regulatory agencies.
Examples of independent agencies include the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
All cabinet departments of the executive branch are included in independent regulatory agencies.
a. True
b. False
b. False
An independent regulatory agency is usually run by:
a commission or board made up of several members, one of whom serves as the agency’s chair.
legislative rules
An administrative agency rule that affects substantive legal rights and carries the same weight as a congressionally enacted statute.
interpretive rules
An administrative agency rule that simply declares a policy or explains the agency’s position and does not establish any legal rights or obligations.
delegation doctrine
A doctrine based on Article I, Section 8, of the U.S. Constitution, which has been construed to allow Congress to delegate some of its power to make and implement laws to administrative agencies. The delegation is considered to be proper as long as Congress sets standards outlining the scope of the agency’s authority.
bureaucracy
A large organization that is structured hierarchically to carry out specific functions.
The main difference between independent regulatory agencies and executive agencies is that:
a. executive agencies report only to Congress. b. independent regulatory agencies are subject only to the authority of Congress. c. executive agencies are subject to the authority of the president to a greater degree than are independent regulatory agencies.
c. executive agencies are subject to the authority of the president to a greater degree than are independent regulatory agencies.
Agency Powers and the Constitution
Executive Controls
The executive branch of government exercises control over agencies both through the president’s power to appoint federal officers and through the president’s veto power. The president may veto enabling legislation passed by Congress or congressional attempts to modify an existing agency’s authority.
Agency Powers and the Constitution
Legislative Controls
Congress exercises authority over agency powers through legislation. Congress gives power to an agency through enabling legislation and can take power away—or even abolish an agency altogether—through subsequent legislation. Legislative authority is required to fund an agency, and enabling legislation usually sets certain time and monetary limits on the funding of particular programs. Congress can always revise these limits.
In addition to its power to create and fund agencies, Congress has the authority to investigate the implementation of its laws and the agencies that it has created. Congress also has the power to “freeze” the enforcement of most federal regulations before the regulations take effect. (Another legislative check on agency actions is the Administrative Procedure Act, discussed shortly.)
Agency Powers and the Constitution
Judicial Controls
The judicial branch exercises control over agency powers through the courts’ review of agency actions. As you will read in the next section, the Administrative Procedure Act provides for judicial review of most agency decisions. Agency actions are not automatically subject to judicial review, however. The party seeking court review must first exhaust all administrative remedies under what is called the exhaustion doctrine.
In other words, the complaining party normally must have gone through the administrative process—which occurs from a complaint to a hearing to a final agency order—before seeking court review.
The law that specifies the procedural requirements that all federal agencies must follow in their rulemaking, adjudication, and other functions is the:
a. Administrative Procedure Act. b. Administrative Open Government Act. c. Occupational Safety and Health Act.
a. Administrative Procedure Act.
rulemaking
The process undertaken by an administrative agency when formally adopting a new regulation or amending an old one. Rulemaking involves notifying the public of a proposed rule or change and receiving and considering the public’s comments.
Notice-and-comment rulemaking
three basic steps
An administrative rulemaking procedure that involves the publication of a NOTICE OF A PROPOSED RULEMAKING in the Federal Register, a COMMENT PERIOD for interested parties to express their views on the proposed rule, and the publication of the agency’s FINAL RULE in the Federal Register.
The Arbitrary and Capricious Test
One of Congress’s goals in enacting the APA(Administrative Procedure Act) was to provide for more judicial control over administrative agencies. To that end, the APA provides that courts should “hold unlawful and set aside” agency actions found to be “arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.” Under this standard, parties can challenge regulations as contrary to law or as so irrational that they are arbitrary and capricious.
There is no precise definition of what makes a rule arbitrary and capricious, but the standard includes factors such as whether the agency has done any of the following:
- Failed to provide a rational explanation for its decision.
- Changed its prior policy without justification.
- Considered legally inappropriate factors.
- Entirely failed to consider a relevant factor.
- Rendered a decision plainly contrary to the evidence.
When an agency formally creates a new rule, its first step is to:
a. solicit public comment. b. publish a notice of the proposed rulemaking proceeding in the Federal Register. c. issue a subpoena.
b. publish a notice of the proposed rulemaking proceeding in the Federal Register.
The creation of a new rule is most commonly accomplished by the notice-and-comment process. That procedure requires that the administrative agency first publish a notice of the proposed rulemaking proceeding in the Federal Register. After the notice is given, the agency must allow time for interested parties to comment. See The Administrative Procedure Act.
Federal Register
a daily publication of the executive branch that prints (and offers online) government orders, rules, comments, and regulations.
Does an agency involved in rulemaking need to respond to all comments during the comment period?
The agency need not respond to all comments, but it must respond to any significant comments that bear directly on the proposed rule.
What happens when substantial changes occur to a proposed rule because of public comments?
The final rule may modify the terms of the proposed rule in light of the public comments, but if substantial changes are made, a new proposal and a new opportunity for comment are required. The final rule is later compiled along with the rules and regulations of other federal administrative agencies in the Code of Federal Regulations. Final rules have binding legal effect unless the courts later overturn them and for this reason are considered legislative rules.
If an agency failed to follow proper rulemaking procedures when it issued the final rule, the rule may not be binding.
a. True
b. False
a. True
initial order
In the context of administrative law, an agency’s disposition in a matter other than a rulemaking. An administrative law judge’s initial order becomes final unless it is appealed.
final order
The final decision of an administrative agency on an issue. If no appeal is taken, or if the case is not reviewed or considered anew by the agency commission, the administrative law judge’s initial order becomes the final order of the agency.
