Opinion ID: 852409
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Indiana Administrative Orders and Procedures Act

Text: AOPA establishes the exclusive means for judicial review of an agency action. Id. § 4-21.5-5-1. AOPA exempts several agencies and agency actions from this provision, but neither IDEM nor the Agreed Order is among them. Ind.Code Ann. §§ 4-21.5-2-4, -5 (West Supp.2008). Accordingly, if IDEM is an agency and the Agreed Order is an agency action, AOPA is the exclusive means to review the order. As a preliminary matter, we address whether IDEM has preserved its claim that AOPA limits the remedies available to Raybestos. IDEM argued before the trial court that the Agreed Order is not enforceable by a claim for damages, but IDEM appears to have framed this argument specifically in terms of AOPA for the first time in its brief to the Court of Appeals. Generally, an appellate court will not review an issue that was not presented to the trial court. Cavens v. Zaberdac, 849 N.E.2d 526, 533 (Ind.2006). Raybestos briefed the issue and does not contend that IDEM waived the issue of whether AOPA precludes a claim for breach of contract. In any event, the issue challenges the jurisdiction of the trial court, and for this reason we address it. See State Bd. of Tax Comm'rs v. Ispat Inland, Inc., 784 N.E.2d 477, 482 (Ind. 2003) (Under Indiana law, if a party is required by the Administrative Orders and Procedures Act to exhaust its administrative remedies before an agency prior to obtaining judicial review of the agency decision, courts are completely ousted of subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case at all.); Town Council of New Harmony v. Parker, 726 N.E.2d 1217, 1223 n. 8 (Ind. 2000) (lack of subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived). IDEM is plainly an agency as defined by Indiana Code section 4-21.5-1-3, and the Agreed Order was an action by its Commissioner. AOPA defines agency action as the whole or part of an order, the failure to issue an order, or [a]n agency's performance of, or failure to perform, any other duty, function, or activity under this article. I.C. § 4-21.5-1-4. Both the Agreed Orderan administrative order entered pursuant to section 13-25-4-23and IDEM's communications with EPA are agency actions. If we view this claim as one for failure to comply with an implied provision of the Order, it seeks relief from an agency action because the order itself is by definition an agency action. If on the other hand the claim is for failure to carry out an obligation under the Order not to communicate with EPA, it is for failure to perform a duty, function, or activity under this article. Indeed, communication with EPA on enforcement matters and appropriate remedies is a duty or function mandated by federal law. E.g., 40 C.F.R. §§ 300.505 (2008) (requiring detailed annual consultation about activities), 300.515 (requiring communication about remedy selection); see also Superfund Memorandum of Agreement Between the State of Indiana and the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region V (1992) (outlining agencies' agreement to communicate regularly, include each other in settlement agreements, and permit changes in lead agency status). Pursuant to a statute specifically addressing review of IDEM's actions, the exclusive means for review of an agency action of the IDEM Commissioner is by petition to the Office of Environmental Adjudication. I.C. § 4-21.5-7-3. That administrative body must grant relief to a party who has been prejudiced by agency action that is, among other things, arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law, or unsupported by substantial evidence. Id. § 4-21.5-5-14. The forms of relief available are to set aside an agency action and: (1) remand the case to the agency for further proceedings; or (2) compel agency action that has been unreasonably delayed or unlawfully withheld. Id. § 4-21.5-5-15. Money damages are not authorized, presumably reflecting the General Assembly's policy judgment that specific performance is a more appropriate remedy for agency error than a damages award ultimately borne by the taxpayers. In sum, pursuant to AOPA, exclusive jurisdiction to review the Agreed Order and IDEM's obligations and functions under the order lies in the administrative procedure provided by these statutes, and a claim against the State or its agency for damages is not among the available remedies.