Difference between revisions of "Administrative Procedure Act"

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Attempts  to  regularize  federal  administrative  procedures  go  back  at  least  to  the  1930s.  Early  in  1939,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  attorney  general,  President  Roosevelt  asked  the  attorney  general  to  appoint  a  distinguished  committee  to  study  existing  administrative  procedures  and  to  formulate  recommendations.  The  Attorney  General’s  Committee  on  Administrative  Procedure,  chaired  by  Dean  Acheson,  produced  a  series  of  monographs  on  agency  functions  and  submitted  its  Final  Report  to  the  President  and  the  Congress  in  1941.  These  materials,  plus  extensive  hearings  held  before  a  subcommittee  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  in  1941,  are  primary  historical  sources  for  the  Administrative  Procedure  Act.  The  Administrative  Procedure  Act  was  signed  into  law  by  President  Truman  on  June  11,  1946.  In  the  months  that  followed,  the  Department  of  Justice  compiled  a  manual  of  advice  and  interpretation  of  its  various  provisions.  The  Attorney  General’s  Manual  on  the  Administrative  Procedure  Act,published  in  1947  (and  reprinted  in  the  Appendix),  remains  the  principal  guide  to  the  structure  and  intent  of  the  APA.  The  Manual  (page  9)  states  the  purposes  of  the  Act  as  follows:   
 
Attempts  to  regularize  federal  administrative  procedures  go  back  at  least  to  the  1930s.  Early  in  1939,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  attorney  general,  President  Roosevelt  asked  the  attorney  general  to  appoint  a  distinguished  committee  to  study  existing  administrative  procedures  and  to  formulate  recommendations.  The  Attorney  General’s  Committee  on  Administrative  Procedure,  chaired  by  Dean  Acheson,  produced  a  series  of  monographs  on  agency  functions  and  submitted  its  Final  Report  to  the  President  and  the  Congress  in  1941.  These  materials,  plus  extensive  hearings  held  before  a  subcommittee  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  in  1941,  are  primary  historical  sources  for  the  Administrative  Procedure  Act.  The  Administrative  Procedure  Act  was  signed  into  law  by  President  Truman  on  June  11,  1946.  In  the  months  that  followed,  the  Department  of  Justice  compiled  a  manual  of  advice  and  interpretation  of  its  various  provisions.  The  Attorney  General’s  Manual  on  the  Administrative  Procedure  Act,published  in  1947  (and  reprinted  in  the  Appendix),  remains  the  principal  guide  to  the  structure  and  intent  of  the  APA.  The  Manual  (page  9)  states  the  purposes  of  the  Act  as  follows:   
  
(1)To  require  agencies  to  keep  the  public  currently  informed  of  theirorganization,  procedures,  and  rules.   
+
* (1) To  require  agencies  to  keep  the  public  currently  informed  of  theirorganization,  procedures,  and  rules.   
(2)To  provide  for  public  participation  in  the  rulemaking  process.   
+
* (2)To  provide  for  public  participation  in  the  rulemaking  process.   
(3)To  prescribe  uniform  standards  for  the  conduct  of  formal  rulemakingand  adjudicatory  proceedings  (i.e.,  proceedings  required  by  statute  to  be  made  on  the  record  after  opportunity  for  an  agency  hearing).   
+
* (3)To  prescribe  uniform  standards  for  the  conduct  of  formal  rulemakingand  adjudicatory  proceedings  (i.e.,  proceedings  required  by  statute  to  be  made  on  the  record  after  opportunity  for  an  agency  hearing).   
(4)To  restate  the  law  of  judicial  review.
+
* (4)To  restate  the  law  of  judicial  review.

Revision as of 18:19, 28 June 2018

Citations

5 U.S.C. §§ 551–559, 701–706, 1305, 3105, 3344, 5372, 7521 (2012); originally enacted June 11, 1946, by Pub. L. No. 404, 60 Stat. 237, Ch. 324, §§ 1–12. The Administrative Procedure Act (APA), as originally enacted, was repealed by Pub. L. No. 89-554, 80 Stat. 381 (September 6, 1966), as part of the general revision of title 5 of the United States Code. Its provisions were incorporated into the sections of title 5 listed above. Although the original section numbers are used sometimes, it is actually an error to use the original section numbers unless one is referring to the APA prior to its codification in 1966. In this volume all references to the Act are to sections of title 5. Section 552 has been revised significantly since 1946 and is commonly known as the Freedom of Information Act. Section 552a (the Privacy Act) was added to the APA in 1974 and has been amended several times since. Section 552b (the Government in the Sunshine Act) was added in 1976 and amended once. These sections and sections 701–706 pertaining to judicial review are discussed and set forth separately in this book. Two significant laws relating to rulemaking and adjudication were enacted in 1990—the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 571-584) and the Negotiated Rulemaking Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 561–570), which are discussed separately below, as well as in separate chapters in this book.

Overview

Attempts to regularize federal administrative procedures go back at least to the 1930s. Early in 1939, at the suggestion of the attorney general, President Roosevelt asked the attorney general to appoint a distinguished committee to study existing administrative procedures and to formulate recommendations. The Attorney General’s Committee on Administrative Procedure, chaired by Dean Acheson, produced a series of monographs on agency functions and submitted its Final Report to the President and the Congress in 1941. These materials, plus extensive hearings held before a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in 1941, are primary historical sources for the Administrative Procedure Act. The Administrative Procedure Act was signed into law by President Truman on June 11, 1946. In the months that followed, the Department of Justice compiled a manual of advice and interpretation of its various provisions. The Attorney General’s Manual on the Administrative Procedure Act,published in 1947 (and reprinted in the Appendix), remains the principal guide to the structure and intent of the APA. The Manual (page 9) states the purposes of the Act as follows:

  • (1) To require agencies to keep the public currently informed of theirorganization, procedures, and rules.
  • (2)To provide for public participation in the rulemaking process.
  • (3)To prescribe uniform standards for the conduct of formal rulemakingand adjudicatory proceedings (i.e., proceedings required by statute to be made on the record after opportunity for an agency hearing).
  • (4)To restate the law of judicial review.