Opinion ID: 2177966
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Adoption of Regulations

Text: The administrative aspects of the collective bargaining law for the non-collegiate agencies are dealt with in SPP §§ 3-201 to 3-210. As noted, the law created the SLRB as a unit within DBM. SPP § 3-205 requires the Department to provide administrative support to SLRB. Section § 3-206 makes SLRB responsible for administering and enforcing the provisions of title 3 and authorizes it to establish guidelines for creating new bargaining units, establish standards for determining an appropriate bargaining unit, investigate and resolve disputes about appropriate bargaining units, establish procedures for and resolve disputes concerning elections for exclusive representatives, and investigate and take appropriate action in response to complaints of unfair labor practices and lockouts. § 3-206(b). Section 3-207 authorizes the Secretary of Budget and Management to adopt and enforce regulations, guidelines, and policies to carry out this title which: (1) define unfair labor practices; and (2) establish permissible labor-related activities on the work site. SPP § 3-207 does not, on its face, require the Secretary to adopt regulations, but states only that the Secretary may do so. That is true as well for the authority conferred on SLRB by SPP § 3-206(b); it provides that the SLRB may do those things. There are certain provisions in the State Administrative Procedure Act (State Government Article (SG), title 10, subtitles 1 and 3) that permit interested persons to prod agencies to adopt and interpret regulations. SG § 10-123 permits an interested person to submit to an agency a petition for the adoption of a regulation and requires the agency, within 60 days after the petition is submitted, to either, in writing, deny the petition and state the reasons for the denial, or initiate the procedures for adoption of the regulation. Section 10-123 is part of Part IV of subtitle 1 of title 10, which contains certain special provisions dealing with regulations. Section 10-122 of that Article requires each agency subject to the statute to adopt regulations to govern procedures under this Part IV of this subtitle, including the related forms that the unit requires and the instructions for completing the forms. Finally, SG § 10-304 allows an interested person to submit to an agency a petition for declaratory ruling as to how the agency would apply a regulation of the agency or a statute that the agency enforces to a person or property on the facts set forth in the petition. Section 10-304(b) requires the agencies to adopt regulations that set forth the form for a petition and the procedures for submission, consideration, and disposition of a petition. On April 18, 2002, the Executive Director of AFSCME wrote to the Secretary of Budget and Management, noting, among other things, that AFSCME was interested in the timetable for the promulgation of regulations for the State Labor Relations Board operations and for Unfair Labor Practices which are under the jurisdiction of your office and indicating concern about what procedure is in place prior to the implementation of these regulations. It does not appear that the Secretary ever answered that letter. Aside from that letter and one or more requests for information under the Public Information Act, there is nothing in the record to indicate that AFSCME ever filed or attempted to file with either the Department or SLRB a petition under SG § 10-123 for the adoption of a regulation or under SG § 10-304 for the interpretation of a statute or regulation. In its complaint, AFSCME alleged that SLRB had not carried out any of the tasks assigned by SPP § 3-206(b) and that the Department had failed both to provide administrative support to SLRB as required by § 3-205 or to adopt regulations under § 3-207. Those failures on the part of the Department, AFSCME complained, had prevented SLRB from carrying out its responsibilities. It asked that the court declare those failures to be contrary to law and to decree that the Secretary of Budget and Management and the State Labor Relations Board shall execute and perform their statutory obligations to draft, publish for public comment and promulgate regulations consistent with Md.Code Ann., State Gov't § 10-304(b); and Md.Code Ann., State Gov't § 3-207. In response to those allegations, the Circuit Court noted, first, that the law did not require the Department to adopt regulations under § 3-207 but merely authorized it to do so. The court also pointed out that, in conformance with the requirement of SG § 10-304, the Department had, in fact, adopted regulations governing petitions for the adoption of regulations. See COMAR 17.02.02.01 and 17.02.02.02. The court also concluded, however, that AFSCME's April, 2002 letter to the Secretary inquiring about a timetable for regulations sufficed as a petition under SG § 10-123 for the adoption of regulations and that [s]ince regulations were not adopted even though discretionary, it is not appropriate to bar AFSCME from proceeding in this litigation. AFSCME complains that the court's literal reading of § 3-207 as merely authorizing the adoption of regulations is too superficial. Absent regulations defining unfair labor practices, the union says, SLRB cannot effectively perform its statutory functions. AFSCME asks that we either construe the statute as mandatory or hold that the Secretary abused his/her discretion in refusing to adopt regulations. We find no merit in that argument. For one thing, the Legislature carefully cast the Secretary's adoption of regulations in this regard as discretionary, not mandatory. As we pointed out, in other statutes, the Legislature has directed agencies to adopt certain kinds of regulations by using the word shall. It knows how to fashion a true legislative mandate. Here, with full knowledge of its intended scheme of splitting responsibility between the Department and the SLRB, it used the word may. If the refusal of the Secretary to exercise his/her authority makes the implementation of the law more difficult, the Legislature is free to make the authority a duty or deal with the issue by statutorily defining unfair labor practices. We take issue as well with the Circuit Court's construction of AFSCME's April, 2002 letter as a petition under SG § 10-123. As the court noted, the Department had in place regulations governing the filing of petitions for both the adoption of regulations and for declaratory rulings. See COMAR 17.02.02.01 and 17.02.02.02. Those regulations set forth who may file a petition, the form of a petition, and the manner of submission. A petition for the adoption of a regulation must contain, among other things, a brief statement of the regulation or amendment the petitioner proposes.... COMAR 17.02.02.01.B. AFSCME's April, 2002 letter did not come close to complying with that requirement. It simply expressed interest in the timetable for the promulgation of regulations and inquired as to the procedure to be followed prior to the adoption of regulations. On this record, we fail to see what relief a court could properly order. JUDGMENT OF CIRCUIT COURT AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART; CASE REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO DISMISS COMPLAINT; COSTS TO BE PAID BY APPELLEE/CROSS-APPELLANT.