| Administrative Procedure Act |
Article Index for Administrative |
Website Links For Administrative |
Information AboutAdministrative Procedure Act |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURE ACT | |
| new deal agencies | |
| united states administrative law | |
| united states federal government administration legislation | |
| 1946 in law | |
|
The APA applies to both Independent Agencies and Executive Department agencies, and their subdivisions. U.S. Senator Pat McCarran called the APA "a bill of rights for the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose affairs are controlled or regulated" by Federal Government Agencies . The text of the APA can be found under Title 5 of the United States Code , beginning at Section 500. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: GROWTH OF FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES 's New Deal legislation. This postage stamp commemorates some federal agencies formed as part of the New Deal.]] The APA was enacted during a period of expanding Federal governmental power, following the Great Depression and World War II . Beginning in 1933 , Roosevelt and the Democratic Congress enacted several statutes that created new Federal Agencies . The statutes were part of Roosevelt’s New Deal legislative plan designed to deliver the United States from the social and economic hardship of the Great Depression . In a law journal article on the history of the APA, ''Fierce Compromise: The Administrative Procedure Act Emerges from New Deal Politics'', 90 Nw. Univ. L. Rev. 1557 (1996), professor George Shepard discusses the contentious political environment from which the APA was born. Shepard claims that Roosevelt’s opponents and supporters fought over passage of the APA "in a pitched political battle for the life of the New Deal " itself. (''Ibid'' at 1562.) Shepard does note, however, that a legislative balance was struck with the APA, expressing "the nation’s decision to permit extensive government, but to avoid Dictatorship and Central Planning ." (''Ibid'' at 1559.) A 1946 U.S. House Of Representatives report discusses the 10-year period of "painstaking and detailed study and drafting" that went into the APA. (See ''Administrative Procedure Act'', Report of the House Judiciary Committee, No. 1989, 79th Congress, 1946, at 8). Because of rapid growth in the administrative regulation of private conduct, Roosevelt ordered several studies of administrative methods and conduct during the early part of his four-term presidency. (''Ibid.'') Based on one study, Roosevelt commented that the practice of creating Administrative Agencies with the authority to perform both legislative and judicial work "threatens to develop a fourth branch of government for which there is no sanction in the Constitution ." In 1939, Roosevelt requested that Attorney General Frank Murphy form a committee to investigate practices and procedures in American Administrative Law and suggest improvements. That committee's report, ''The Final Report of the Attorney General's Committee on Administrative Procedure'' (Senate Document No. 8, 77th Congress, First Session, 1941) (see external link to the ''Final Report's'' text below), contains detailed information about the development and procedures of the Federal Agencies . The ''Final Report'' defined a Federal Agency as a governmental unit with "the power to determine . . . private rights and obligations" by Rulemaking or Adjudication . (''Ibid'' at 7.) The ''Final Report'' applied that definition to the largest units of the federal government, and identified "nineteen Executive Departments and eighteen Independent Agencies ." (''Ibid.'') If various subdivisions of the larger units were considered, the total number of Federal Agencies at that time increased to 51. In reviewing the history of U.S. government agencies, the ''Final Report'' noted that almost all Agencies had undergone changes in name and political function. Of the 51 Federal Agencies discussed in the ''Final Report,'' 11 were created by statute in the period prior to the Civil War . In the period from 1865 to 1900 , six new agencies were created. Most notable was the formation of the Interstate Commerce Commission , created in 1887 in response to widespread criticism of the Railroad industry. The period of 1900 to 1940 , however, saw the greatest expansion of federal administrative power - with 35 new agencies created by statute. 18 of these were created during the 1930s , from statutes enacted as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal legislative agenda. The ''Final Report'' made several recommendations about standardizing administrative procedures, but Congress delayed action because the U.S. entered World War Two . BASIC PURPOSES OF THE APA Agencies create a unique situation because, as governmental bodies, they exercise powers characteristic of all three branches of government: judicial, legislative and executive. As recognized by President Roosevelt and others, this raises issues regarding the concept of Separation Of Powers Under The United States Constitution . As a result, the APA provides a structured framework for regulating agencies and their unique role. According to the ''Attorney General's Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act'' (1947) (see external link to the ''Manual's'' text below), drafted after the 1946 enactment of the APA, the basic purposes of the APA are: (1) to require agencies to keep the public informed of their organization, procedures and rules; (2) to provide for public participation in the rulemaking process; (3) to establish uniform standards for the conduct of formal rulemaking and adjudication; (4) to define the scope of judicial review. The APA includes a broad view of Agencies , which means its provisions apply pervasively throughout many federal governmental institutions. The APA in section 551(1) defines an "agency" as "each authority of the Government of the United States, whether or not it is within or subject to review by another agency," with the exception of several enumerated authorities, including the U.S. Congress , U.S. Courts , and governments of territories or possessions of the United States. Courts have also held that the U.S. President is not an agency under the APA. ''Franklin v. Mass.'', 505 U.S. 788 (1992). The ''Final Report'' organized federal administrative action into two parts: Adjudication and Rulemaking . (p. 5) Agency Adjudication was broken down further into two distinct phases of formal and informal adjudication. (''Ibid.'') Formal adjudication involved a Trial -like hearing with witness testimony, a written record and a final decision. Under informal adjudication, however, agency decisions are made without formal trial-like procedures, using "inspections, conferences and negotiations" instead. (''Ibid.'') Because formal adjudication produces a record of proceedings and a final decision, it may be subject to Judicial Review . As for rulemaking resulting in agency rules and regulations, the ''Final Report'' noted that many agencies provided due process through hearings and investigations, but there was a need for well-defined, uniform standards for agency adjudication and rulemaking procedures. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|