Opinion ID: 378861
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the implementing regulation

Text: 52 Alternatively, appellants argue that wholly apart from the dictates of the statute, the pertinent regulation promulgated thereunder, 45 C.F.R. § 185.44(d) (3), sets forth a legal duty on the part of waiver applicants to rectify the effects of prior discrimination in teacher assignments. HEW contends that the regulation is legislative rather than merely interpretive, and as such, is binding upon the courts. It is presumed that the provision must be read in the manner suggested by the appellant. We disagree on all points. 53 Recent opinions of the Supreme Court, see, e. g., Chrysler Corp. v. Brown, 441 U.S. 281, 99 S.Ct. 1705, 1717-1725, 60 L.Ed.2d 208 (1979); Batterton v. Francis, 432 U.S. 416, 424-26, 97 S.Ct. 2399, 53 L.Ed.2d 448 (1977); General Electric Co. v. Gilbert, 429 U.S. 125, 140-45, 97 S.Ct. 401, 50 L.Ed.2d 343 (1976), and the enactment of Section 4 of The Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 553, have reinforced the distinction first enunciated in Skidmore v. Swift & Co., 323 U.S. 134, 65 S.Ct. 161, 89 L.Ed. 124 (1944), between legislative and interpretive regulations. The former are issued pursuant to a lawful, express delegation of authority from Congress to the administrative agency to formulate rules having the force or effect of law. As the primary source of legal obligation, they are entitled to more than mere deference or weight, Batterton v. Francis, supra, 432 U.S. at 426, 97 S.Ct. 2399, 2406, they are subject to judicial revision only if they are promulgated in excess of the granted power or in contravention of proper procedure, or are utterly capricious and arbitrary. Interpretive rules are administrative regulations issued pursuant to a lesser degree of delegated authority, and in such cases the statute remains the basis for the imposition of liability. The deference which interpretive regulations are accorded depends on such factors as the circumstances of their promulgation, the consistency with which the agency has adhered to the position announced, the evident consideration which has gone into its formulation and the nature of the agency's expertise. Batterton v. Francis, supra, 432 U.S. at 425 n.9, 97 S.Ct. at n.9; Skidmore v. Swift & Co., supra, 323 U.S. at 140, 65 S.Ct. 161. 54 Thus, legislative rules are reviewed only in terms of validity, while interpretive rules are considered in the more expansive light of their reasonableness, or their rational relationship to their statute's objective. The dividing line is found in the nature of the delegation: always, the question is whether Congress intended to confer upon the agency the power to issue rules having the force and effect of law. See, e. g., National Nutritional Foods Association v. Weinberger, 512 F.2d 688, 696-97 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 827, 96 S.Ct. 44, 46 L.Ed. 445 (1975); see also Joseph v. United States Civil Service Commission, 180 U.S.App.D.C. 281, 293-295, 554 F.2d 1140, 1152-54 (D.C.Cir.1977). 55 The grant of rulemaking authority involved herein is set forth in 20 U.S.C. § 1605(d)(1), which empowers the Secretary to require in the waiver application such information as may be deemed necessary to the decision, and in section 1605(d)(5) which provides: 56 All determinations pursuant to this subsection shall be carried out in accordance with criteria and investigative procedures established by regulations of the Secretary for the purpose of compliance with this subsection. 57 This delegation of authority is hardly of the same order as that found in Batterton v. Francis, supra (definition of unemployed in 42 U.S.C. § 607(a) to be determined in accordance with standards prescribed by the Secretary). The grant here is simply a procedural assurance that decisions will be made on the basis of standards publicly elaborated by the Secretary: it does not expressly indicate that those standards themselves shall have the force and effect of law. 58 Furthermore, the regulation in issue lacks the hallmarks of a legislative rule. Appellants do not assert that it was promulgated in compliance with 5 U.S.C. § 553, requiring notice and opportunity for written comments. Also, HEW has never before asserted that the regulation is of the legislative variety, and the District of Columbia Circuit, in its review of a forerunner provision, proceeded on the implicit assumption, apparently without the agency's objection, that it was an interpretive rule only. Kelsey v. Weinberger, supra. 59 Having reached this conclusion, we need say little more about 45 C.F.R. § 185.44(d)(3). Insofar as it has been interpreted to require a waiver applicant to prove that the effects of past discriminatory teacher assignments have been remedied, it is invalid as not being rationally related to the objectives of the ESAA program. Moreover, to the extent that its administrative construction reflects upon Congress' intent, it tends to discredit appellant's position, since the Secretary previously understood a predecessor provision not to require the eradication of discriminatory effects, and the present regulation and its interpretation have only recently been adopted, 12 see Califano II, supra, 464 F.Supp. at 1122-24. 60 In light of the foregoing conclusion, we need not reach the question of whether HEW's interpretation of the regulation as requiring immediate and complete remedy of the effects of past misconduct is correct. Although an administrative agency's construction of its own regulation is normally binding upon a reviewing court, United States v. Larionoff, 431 U.S. 864, 872, 97 S.Ct. 2150, 53 L.Ed.2d 48 (1977), quoting Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410, 414, 65 S.Ct. 1215, 89 L.Ed. 1700 (1945), we note that the interpretation espoused by the Secretary is in no way compelled by the plain language of the regulation. 13 Our reservations are further heightened by the fact that companion provisions explicitly require the amelioration of the effects of prior discrimination, see, e. g., 45 C.F.R. § 185.44(f), and consequently, it is at least arguable that the Secretary deliberately omitted such a condition from the regulation at issue in recognition of the fact that teachers' rights are often established by contract and are not amenable to overnight change.