Opinion ID: 1862373
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: First District Caselaw

Text: After many years of discussion, the Legislature extensively revised Florida's Administrative Procedure Act (APA) in 1996. See ch. 96-159, Laws of Fla. (1996). One of the APA's most dramatic revisions occurred in section 120.52(8), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), [3] which provides: A grant of rulemaking authority is necessary but not sufficient to allow an agency to adopt a rule; a specific law to be implemented is also required. An agency may only adopt rules that implement, interpret, or make specific the particular powers and duties granted by the enabling statute. No agency shall have authority to adopt a rule only because it is reasonably related to the purpose of the enabling legislation and is not arbitrary or capricious, nor shall an agency have the authority to implement statutory provisions setting forth general legislative intent or policy. Statutory language granting rulemaking authority or generally describing the powers and functions of an agency shall be construed to extend no further than the particular powers and duties conferred by the same statute. (Emphasis added). In an important case, this revised rulemaking standard was recently construed by an appellate court for the first time. See St. Johns River Water Management Dist. v. Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co., 717 So.2d 72 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998). There, among other issues, the First District had to identify and define the kind of legislative delegation sufficient to support an administrative agency rule. Id. at 79. At the outset, the court found that the statute was ambiguous as to the degree of restrictions on an agency's rulemaking power. Id. That is, [t]he statute could mean that the powers and duties delegated by the enabling statute must be particular in the sense that they are identified (and therefore limited to those identified) or in the sense that they are described in detail. Id. The First District then disagreed with the administrative law judge's interpretation that the Legislature intended the words particular powers and duties as requiring the enabling statute to detail the powers and duties that will be the subject matter of the rule, instead concluding: In our view, the term particular in section 120.52(8) restricts rulemaking authority to subjects that are directly within the class of powers and duties identified in the enabling statute. It was not designed to require a minimum level of detail in the statutory language used to describe the powers and duties. We consider it unlikely that the Legislature intended to establish a rulemaking standard based on the level of detail in the enabling statute, because such a standard would be unworkable. The courts are bound to interpret ambiguous statutes in the most logical and sensible way. If possible, the court must avoid an interpretation that produces an unreasonable consequence. See Wakulla County v. Davis, 395 So.2d 540 (Fla. 1981). A standard based on the precision and detail of an enabling statute would produce endless litigation regarding the sufficiency of the delegated power. Section 120.52(8) provides that a rule can implement, interpret, or make specific, the powers and duties granted by the enabling statute. (Emphasis added.) It follows from this statement that the enabling statute can be, and most likely will be, more general than the rule. Just how general the statute can be is not explained. A standard based on the sufficiency of detail in the language of the enabling statute would be difficult to define and even more difficult to apply. Specificity is a subjective concept that cannot be neatly divided into identifiable degrees. Moreover, the concept is one that is relative. What is specific enough in one circumstance may be too general in another. An argument could be made in nearly any case that the enabling statute is not specific enough to support the precise subject of a rule, no matter how detailed the Legislature tried to be in describing the power delegated to the agency. Consequently, it is more likely that the Legislature used the term `particular' to mean that the powers and duties must be identifiable as powers and duties falling within a class. This interpretation of the term particular in section 120.52(8) is also consistent with other statutory provisions within the Administrative Procedure Act. Statutes are not construed in isolation. On the contrary, the court must interpret an ambiguous statute in the context of other statutes on the same general subject. See Florida Jai Alai, Inc. v. Lake Howell Water & Reclamation District, 274 So.2d 522 (Fla.1973). Here, we adopt the less restrictive of the two possible interpretations of section 120.52(8), because that is necessary to avoid potential conflicts with presumptive rulemaking provisions in the Administrative Procedure Act. Section 120.54(1)(a), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), states that [r]ulemaking is not a matter of agency discretion. This statute places an affirmative duty on the part of all state agencies to codify their policies in rules adopted in the formal rulemaking process. The term rule is defined broadly in section 120.52(15) to include an agency statement of general applicability. These sections suggest that rulemaking authority is not restricted to those situations in which the enabling statute details the precise subject of a proposed rule. The legislative command directing the agency to adopt rules carries with it an implication that the agencies have authority to adopt rules, at least within the class of powers conferred by the applicable enabling statute. Id. at 79-80 (emphasis added). Several months prior to deciding Consolidated-Tomoka Land, the First District considered the conflict case wherein Commissioner of Education Frank T. Brogan filed a petition for declaratory statement with the Division of Elections regarding whether certain new statutory language precluded the certification of candidates for public campaign financing. See Chiles, 711 So.2d at 153-54. The Governor and Comptroller intervened in the case, arguing that the issue should not be determined by a declaratory statement because it could be applied to any candidate running for a statewide office. Id. at 154. The Division of Elections subsequently issued the statement, concluding that it could not certify Commissioner Brogan for receipt of public campaign funds because the authorizing statute no longer allowed an encumbrance of funds from a terminated trust fund. Id. The Governor and Comptroller appealed both the issuance of the statement and the merits therein to the First District. On appeal, the First District began its analysis by considering whether Commissioner Brogan's petition was the proper subject of a declaratory statement. The court ultimately concluded that it was, reasoning: Prior versions of the Administrative Procedure Act support the Governor and Comptroller's position that a declaratory statement must be based on a unique set of facts. Section 120.565, Florida Statutes (1995), provided in part that [a] declaratory statement shall set out the agency's opinion as to the applicability of a specified statutory provision or of any rule or order of the agency as it applies to the petitioner in his or her particular set of circumstances only  (emphasis added). This statute limited the use of a declaratory statement to an issue that could only apply to the party seeking the declaration. See, e.g., Florida Optometric Association v. Department of Professional Regulation, Board of Opticianry, 567 So.2d 928 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) (interpreting identical language in an earlier statute). However, the present case is subject to a less restrictive provision in the Administrative Procedure Act, as revised in 1996. Section 120.565(1), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), states that [a]ny substantially affected person may seek a declaratory statement regarding an agency's opinion as to the applicability of a statutory provision, or any rule or order of the agency, as it applies to the petitioner's particular set of circumstances. The deletion of the word only signifies that a petition for declaratory statement need not raise an issue that is unique. While the issue must apply in the petitioner's particular set of circumstances, there is no longer a requirement that the issue apply only to the petitioner. A declaratory statement may not be employed in place of a rule to require compliance with general agency policy. See Regal Kitchens Inc. v. Florida Department of Revenue, 641 So.2d 158 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Tampa Electric Company v. Florida Department of Community Affairs, 654 So.2d 998 (Fla. 1st DCA 1995). If an agency is presented with a petition for a declaratory statement requiring a response that amounts to a rule, the agency should decline to issue the statement and initiate rulemaking. See Florida Optometric Association; Agency for Health Care Administration v. Wingo, 697 So.2d 1231 (Fla. 1st DCA 1997). However, a declaratory statement is not transformed into a rule merely because it addresses a matter of interest to more than one person. The purpose of a declaratory statement is to address the applicability of a statutory provision or an order or rule of the agency in particular circumstances. See § 120.565, Florida Statutes (1996). A party who obtains a statement of the agency's position may avoid costly administrative litigation by selecting the proper course of action in advance. Moreover, the reasoning employed by the agency in support of a declaratory statement may offer useful guidance to others who are likely to interact with the agency in similar circumstances. Another party can expect the agency to apply the rationale for its declaratory statement consistently, or to explain why a different application is required. Section 120.565(2), Florida Statutes (Supp.1996), requires the agency to give notice of the filing of each petition for declaratory statement in the Florida Administrative Law Weekly. This provision accounts for the possibility that a declaratory statement may, in a practical sense, affect the rights of other parties. 1 Note 1: The notice provision in section 120.565, Florida Statutes, (1996) suggests that a declaratory statement, although not binding as precedent, has at least some precedential significance. See Arthur J. England, Jr., L. Harold Levinson, and Johnny C. Burris, Florida Administrative Practice Manual, § 10.01(d) (Supp.1997). Any substantially affected party can intervene in a declaratory statement proceeding before the agency, just as the Governor and Comptroller did in the present case. These principles lead us to conclude that Commissioner Brogan had a right to seek a declaratory statement from the Division of Elections. He was a substantially affected party and the issue he presented was applicable to him in the particular circumstances of his case. The Division was authorized to reach the merits of the issue raised by the petition even though other statewide candidates might have also raised the same issue. Chiles, 711 So.2d at 154-55 (emphasis added).