Administrative Law Commons^™

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Administrative Procedure, Charles H. Carrathers Iii.

University of Richmond Law Review

This article covers all changes made to the Virginia Administrative Process Act ("VAPA") during the 1990 session of the General Assembly. It also covers selected Supreme Court of Virginia cases dealing with administrative procedure, together with selected reported cases from the Court of Appeals of Virginia and Virginia circuit courts. Two cases decided by federal district courts sitting in Virginia that involve issues related to Virginia administrative procedure also are discussed. The cases reviewed in this article were decided between May 1989 and June 1990.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Administrative Procedure, James E. Ryan Jr., Renata Manzo Scruggs

University of Richmond Law Review

In 1989, the Virginia General Assembly made several relatively minor, but significant, changes to the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA). These amendments modified the manner in which agencies may promulgate regulations and conduct informal fact finding hearings. Two new exemptions to the VAPA were created: one for rules for the conduct of specific lottery games; and a second for orders condemning shellfish growing areas. In other changes, rulemaking proceedings conducted by the State Water Control Board (SWCB), certain decisions of the Board of Social Services, and amendments to standards for asbestos inspections became subject to different provisions of the VAPA.

What's Current In Asbestos Regulations, Janis L. Kirkland

University of Richmond Law Review

Asbestos, once valued as a superb insulator, is now recognized as a deadly carcinogen. The United States Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") estimates that 733,000 public and commercial buildings in the United States contain friable asbestos or asbestos-containing materials. Thus, it is not surprising that an avalanche of litigation has resulted from concerns over exposure to asbestos.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

University Of Richmond Law Review

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Administrative Procedure, Brian L. Buniva

University of Richmond Law Review

The express purpose of the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA) is to supplement present and future basic laws that confer authority on agencies to make regulations and decide cases, and to standardize court review thereof except where laws later enacted may otherwise expressly provide. VAPA does not supersede or repeal additional procedural requirements set forth in the basic laws. Instead, its purpose is to supplement the procedural requirements of existing laws. The "basic law" includes provisions in the constitution and statutes of the Commonwealth of Virginia which authorize a state government agency to make regulations or decide cases, or which …

Virginia State Corporation Commission: Responsible Regulation For The Commonwealth, Elizabeth B. Lacy

University of Richmond Law Review

The Virginia State Corporation Commission is probably the most powerful agency in the Commonwealth. The SCC has legislative, judicial, and administrative authority. Its jurisdiction includes regulation of railroads, and telephone, telegraph, water, gas and electric utilities, motor carriers, financial institutions, the insurance and securities industries, as well as administration of the laws governing all corporations doing business in Virginia. As such, SCC policies have a significant impact on the business and personal lives of many Virginians. In this article Commission Chairman Elizabeth Lacy provides a brief and insightful view of the SCC's structure, procedures, responsibilities and policies. Chairman Lacy also …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Administrative Procedure, John Paul Jones

University of Richmond Law Review

After three years of working major changes to the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA), the General Assembly paid scant attention to the Commonwealth's fundamental law of administrative procedure in 1987. During its most recent session, the legislature produced only three amendments to VAPA, inserting a regulation severability provision, modifying VAPA's impact on Voluntary Formulary changes, and narrowing the exemption enjoyed by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. In two other statutory changes affecting administrative procedure, the General Assembly expressly provided for agency subdelegation and specified the method for computing time for a rule of court. While severability has evolved into an …

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Administrative Procedure, John Paul Jones

University of Richmond Law Review

Since the last report, administrative law in Virginia has continued to develop on both the legislative and judicial fronts. This year's General Assembly enacted amendments to the state's administrative procedure statute which embody the third and final round of recommendations by the Governor's Regulatory Reform Advisory Board. The major changes were the standardization of procedures for obtaining judicial review of state agency action and the embodiment in statute of a corps of independent hearing officers.

Note: This submission also includes a small preface from the Law Review Editorial Staff.

Virginia Should Open Its Courthouse Doors To Review Administrative Decisions Involving Public Assistance, Christopher Allen Stump, Jill A. Hanken

University of Richmond Law Review

Virginia's courts interpret the Virginia Administrative Process Act (VAPA) to prohibit judicial review of administrative decisions that grant or deny public assistance funds. Virginia is therefore one of only three states which fail to provide judicial review of such decisions. This article advocates judicial review of public assistance hearing decisions on the basis of principles of statutory construction and constitutional law. The article concludes that Virginia's minority status indicates a failure to meet traditional notions of fairness.

Annual Survey Of Virginia Law: Administrative Procedure, John Paul Jones

University of Richmond Law Review

Both the General Assembly and the Supreme Court of Virginia have been active recently in administrative law. For the past three years, a broadly-based movement for bureaucratic reform has influenced the legislative and executive branches of state government. The instrument for formal expression of this reform has been the Governor's Regulatory Reform Advisory Board. In 1985, the General Assembly and the Governor responded obligingly to a second round of suggestions from the Board for amendment of the commonwealth's general administrative process act. These legislative changes involved the definition of regulation, i.e., the output of a statutorily controlled administrative rulemaking process, …

Stream Flow Maintenance In Virginia, Timothy Hayes, Jeter M. Watson

University of Richmond Law Review

Increasing and conflicting uses of water have been widely heralded as one of the major environmental crises facing society. Below average rainfall in recent years has caused municipal water shortages in Virginia, particularly in the rapidly growing areas of the southeastern part of the state, evidence that water quantity problems are no longer a phenomenon peculiar to the western states. Generally, those in Virginia who advocate reallocation of water to areas of the state experiencing such shortages feel that the state has enough water, just not all in the correct places.

Unfinished Business: The Regulation Of Uranium Mining And Milling, Elizabeth V. Scott

University of Richmond Law Review

In July of 1982, the Marline Uranium Corporation announced the discovery of a major deposit of commercially minable uranium in southside Virginia, the first major find east of the Mississippi River. Marline and the Union Carbide Corporation are planning a $200 million mining and milling complex to develop the deposit. The operation is projected to create 900 new jobs and bring $4.3 million in yearly tax revenues to Virginia and to Pittsylvania County.

Legislative Changes To Virginia Administrative Rulemaking, John Paul Jones

University of Richmond Law Review

The year 1983 was an active one for administrative law reform in Virginia. The Governor's Regulatory Reform Advisory Board completed its first full year of studying the state administrative process in Virginia, developing proposals for its improvement and drafting enabling legislation. The Board received a wide variety of suggestions from state employees, businesses, and the public at large in open hearings and through private correspondence. The result was the Board's first annual report, containing a series of proposed legislative reforms. The common thread of these reforms was an increased public involvement in bureaucratic decision-making creating broadly applicable regulations with the …

Agency "Capture": The "Revolving Door" Between Regulated Industries And Their Regulating Agencies, Edna Earle Vass Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

Public confidence in the integrity of our public officials is necessary for effective government. The independence of the federal regulatory process is a crucial element of that confidence. When this independence is examined, however, a major concern arises about the inherent appearance of impropriety and conflict of interest in the "revolving door" practice of federal agencies.

Effect Of Immigration & Naturalization Service V. Chadha On Executive Reorganization, Peter M. Mellette

University of Richmond Law Review

Three recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court, Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, Consumer Energy Council v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Consumers Union v. Federal Trade Commissions have altered the balance of power between Congress and the executive branch, invalidating a congressional check on executive power which had been in use for over fifty years. In an opinion in Chadha and by affirmance in the other cases, the Court held that under the separation of powers doctrine the legislative veto violated the presentment and bicameral requirements of the Constitution and thereby intruded on the province of the …

Executive Privilege: Historic Scope And Use In The Watergate And Environmental Protection Agency Hearings, Jean M. D'Ovidio

University of Richmond Law Review

Executive privilege is "a concept invoked by members of the executive branch of the government to justify withholding evidence and other communicative materials from the legislative and judicial branches." Since the presidency of George Washington, the executive has attempted to withhold information from the other two branches.

Counter Revolution In The Federal Courts Of Appeal - The Aftermath Of Vermont Yankee, Jon A. Mueller

University of Richmond Law Review

In recent years, there has been growing judicial concern about the fairness of action by administrative agencies and the ability of courts to effectively review this action. This concern stems from the increased use of informal procedures by agencies promulgating rules or orders, to accomplish the congressional objectives set out in their substantive statutes. In response, certain federal courts of appeal have begun to impose upon these agencies more procedural safeguards than are required by either the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) or substantive statutes. These judicially imposed safeguards are more commonly known as hybrid procedures.

Scrutiny Of Osha Regulations In The Courts: A Study Of Judicial Activism, Elizabeth C. Gay

University of Richmond Law Review

Little trace of the concept of judicial deference can be found in the Fifth Circuit's recent ruling in American Petroleum Institute v. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Against the background of a slowly emerging body of law regarding the scope of judicial review of Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations, the Fifth Circuit's decision represents a bold extension of the court's authority to define the parameters of OSHA's regulatory authority. Whether this case in fact signals a new wave of judicial activism will soon be determined by the United States Supreme Court. But regardless of the Supreme Court's ultimate resolution …

Ex Parte Communication In Informal Rulemaking: Judicial Intervention In Administrative Procedures, Michael E. Ornoff

University of Richmond Law Review

Over the past several years, a controversy has arisen, particularly among different panels of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, regarding the use of ex parte communications in informal administrative rulemaking. Numerous theories for extending such a prohibition beyond the express language of the Administrative Procedures Act have been advanced in recent judicial opinions.

Congressional Reaction To Tva V. Hill: The 1978 Amendments To The Endangered Species Act, John R. Walk

University of Richmond Law Review

The first comprehensive legislation for the protection of endangered species was the Endangered Species Conservation Act of 1966. It provided for "a program for the conservation, protection, restoration, and propagation of selected species of native fish and wildlife ... that are threatened with extinction."' In 1969, Congress expanded the Act in several important respects; however, it became apparent, as stated in 1972 by President Nixon, that the existing legislation "simply [did] not provide the kind of management tools needed to act early enough to save a vanishing species."'

Regulation Of Consumer Credit In Virginia: A Suggestion For Legislative Improvement, Douglas P. Rucker Jr., William C. French

University of Richmond Law Review

The American economic system is the most successful yet developed, and consumer credit has played a vital role in that economy. Consumer credit has experienced tremendous growth, and has adjusted to the demands of changing life-styles, economic needs, and geographic distinctions, as well as to the different types of consumer goods which have become available with a minimal amount of government intervention. What government intervention there has been has involved restraint and restriction. There now exists the need to improve the consumer credit industry to enable the citizens of Virginia to continue to be able to obtain both the necessities …

Understanding Judicial Review Of Federal Agency Action: Kafkaesque And Langdellian, Gary C. Leedes

University of Richmond Law Review

This article identifies the key factors that are taken into consideration by federal judges empowered to apply and give doctrinal content to the rules governing judicial review. The original inspiration was more modest. The article, as conceived, was to be simply an attempt to clarify the concept of reviewability. After some thinking about the topic, the close relationship between the concept of reviewability and other concepts of judicial review became clearer to me, and I decided that a useful antidote to the customary analysis, which emphasizes distinctions among these various concepts, is to emphasize their similarities.

Securing A Valid Annexation In Virginia: State And Federal Requirements

University of Richmond Law Review

Municipal expansion by the annexation of surrounding territory involves two separate and distinct procedures in Virginia. Due to the Commonwealth's coverage under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, municipalities seeking annexation must obtain federal approval in addition to satisfying the requirements of state law. Compliance with the Act requires an affirmative showing that the expansion is nondiscriminatory in both its purposes and effects with regard to minority voting strength. Failure to meet these fed- eral requirements will invalidate the annexation, irrespective of its compliance with state law. This note will first examine the law of annexation in Virginia, highlighting its …

Administrative Law-Incompleted Title Vii Administrative Proceedings Not-Terminated By Judicial Review- Federal Employee May Present New Evidence In Court

University of Richmond Law Review

The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (EEOA) extended certain provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to federal employees. One such provision extended is contained in § 717(c) . Under this section a federal employee alleging employment discrimination is granted access to a United States district court in two situations: when administrative relief is not provided within 180 days after the filing of the original complaint; or, upon final action being taken by either the agency involved or the Civil Service Commission.

The "Elaborate Interweaving Of Jurisdiction:" Labor And Tax Administration And Enforcement Of Erisa And Beyond, John W. Lee

University of Richmond Law Review

On Labor Day 1974, President Ford signed into law~the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, commonly known by its acronym ERISA. The genesis of ERISA is found in a study released in 1965 by the President's Committee on Corporate Pension Fund and Other Private Retirement and Welfare Programs, titled "Public Policy and Private Pension Programs-A Report to the President on Private Employee Retirement Plans." The Committee had been established in 1962 by President Kennedy in recognition of the growth of the pension industry and the need for reform. The report made recommendations as to vesting; funding; termination insurance and …

Federal Regulation Of Home Closings- The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Of 1974, Edward S. Hirschler

University of Richmond Law Review

Many years ago, the licensing of lawyers in Virginia was the direct obligation of the Supreme Court of Appeals. As part of the procedure, the applicant presented himself to the Court for examination. One hopeful was unable to define a tort, could not give the basic requirements of a contract and had no idea of what was meant by fee simple.

Regulation Of Television Program Content By The Federal Communications Commission, Walter H. Sweeney

University of Richmond Law Review

On Thursday, September 20, 1973, from 9:00 p.m. to 11:15 p.m., the Columbia Broadcasting System presented "Bonnie and Clyde," a film featuring extraordinary portrayals of violence, including close-ups of participants being shot in the face. This movie was scheduled by CBS to counteract the highly publicized tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King being shown by the American Broadcasting Company. The following Saturday, during prime time, ABC aired "Rosemary's Baby," a horror film involving the possession of a pregnant woman by Mephistopheles leading to the birth of a devil. This program followed the children-oriented "Patridge Family" show. While …

Written Evidence In Administrative Proceedings: A Plea For Less Talk, Roger J. Corber

University of Richmond Law Review

The notion that talk is the absence of thought is more poetry than analysis. Nevertheless, lawyers know that all talk is not thought and that there is at least a grain of truth in the poet's logic. Some of the same logic may mercifully be applied to the proceedings of ad- ministrative agencies to test whether all the talk in such proceedings is necessary to a rational result and sound implementation of public policy.

Recent Legislation, J. Rodney Johnson

University of Richmond Law Review

The 1972 session of the General Assembly was especially active in the areas of wills, trusts, and estates. Much of this legislation deals with fine points not affecting the average lawyer in his practice. However, the following items of legislation should be of general interest to the attorney whose practice involves probate work or estate planning, even though he does not hold himself out as a specialist in these areas.