Difference between revisions of "Administrative Procedure Act"

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The  Act  imposes  upon  agencies  certain  procedural  requirements  for  two  modes  of  agency  decision  making:  rulemaking  and  adjudication.  In  general,  the  term  “agency”  refers  to  any  authority  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  whether  or  not  it  is  within  or  subject  to  review  by  another  agency—  but  excluding  the  Congress,  the  courts,  and  the  governments  of  territories,  possessions,  or  the  District  of  Columbia.1  Definitions  of  other  terms  may  be  found  in  section  551.  
 
The  Act  imposes  upon  agencies  certain  procedural  requirements  for  two  modes  of  agency  decision  making:  rulemaking  and  adjudication.  In  general,  the  term  “agency”  refers  to  any  authority  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  whether  or  not  it  is  within  or  subject  to  review  by  another  agency—  but  excluding  the  Congress,  the  courts,  and  the  governments  of  territories,  possessions,  or  the  District  of  Columbia.1  Definitions  of  other  terms  may  be  found  in  section  551.  
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'''Structure  of  the  Administrative  Procedure  Act.'''  The  Administrative  Procedure  Act  has  two  major  subdivisions:  sections  551  through  559,  dealing  in  general  with  agency  procedures;  and  sections  701  through  706,  dealing  in  general  with  judicial  review.  In  addition,  several  sections  dealing  with  administrative  law  judges  (§§  1305,  3105,  3344,  5372,  and  7521)  are  scattered  through  title  5  of  the  United  States  Code.  The  sections  pertaining  to  judicial  review  are  discussed  in  Chapter  2  of  this  volume.  As  noted,  sections  552,  552a,  and  552b  are  also  discussed  in  separate  chapters,  as  are  the  new  sections  added  by  the  Administrative  Dispute  Resolution  and  Negotiated  Rulemaking  Acts.
 
'''Structure  of  the  Administrative  Procedure  Act.'''  The  Administrative  Procedure  Act  has  two  major  subdivisions:  sections  551  through  559,  dealing  in  general  with  agency  procedures;  and  sections  701  through  706,  dealing  in  general  with  judicial  review.  In  addition,  several  sections  dealing  with  administrative  law  judges  (§§  1305,  3105,  3344,  5372,  and  7521)  are  scattered  through  title  5  of  the  United  States  Code.  The  sections  pertaining  to  judicial  review  are  discussed  in  Chapter  2  of  this  volume.  As  noted,  sections  552,  552a,  and  552b  are  also  discussed  in  separate  chapters,  as  are  the  new  sections  added  by  the  Administrative  Dispute  Resolution  and  Negotiated  Rulemaking  Acts.

Revision as of 18:21, 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.

The Act imposes upon agencies certain procedural requirements for two modes of agency decision making: rulemaking and adjudication. In general, the term “agency” refers to any authority of the government of the United States, whether or not it is within or subject to review by another agency— but excluding the Congress, the courts, and the governments of territories, possessions, or the District of Columbia.1 Definitions of other terms may be found in section 551.

Structure of the Administrative Procedure Act. The Administrative Procedure Act has two major subdivisions: sections 551 through 559, dealing in general with agency procedures; and sections 701 through 706, dealing in general with judicial review. In addition, several sections dealing with administrative law judges (§§ 1305, 3105, 3344, 5372, and 7521) are scattered through title 5 of the United States Code. The sections pertaining to judicial review are discussed in Chapter 2 of this volume. As noted, sections 552, 552a, and 552b are also discussed in separate chapters, as are the new sections added by the Administrative Dispute Resolution and Negotiated Rulemaking Acts.