Opinion ID: 201338
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Esso's appeals to the Puerto Rico Circuit Court

Text: 13 As noted, Esso filed two appeals in the Puerto Rico Circuit Court of Appeals during the course of the hearings, one in May 2002 dealing with a discovery matter and the other in September 2002 urging dismissal of the penalty hearings on statute of limitations grounds. The court dismissed both appeals, ruling that it did not have authority to review interlocutory decisions of an administrative agency. Esso Standard Oil Co. v. Junta De Calidad Ambiental, Nos. OA-01-AG-26 and OA-99-AG-109, 2002 WL 31122179 (P.R. Ct.App. Sept. 13, 2002); Esso Standard Oil Co. v. Junta De Calidad Ambiental, Nos. OA-01-AG-26 and OA-99-AG-109, 2002 WL 1438761 (P.R. Ct.App. May 1, 2002). Both decisions note that under 3 L.P.R.A. § 2172, the court may review only final agency orders, and may do so only after the petitioning party has exhausted all available administrative remedies. In both cases, the court concluded that the only recognized exception to the finality requirement, lack of agency jurisdiction to adjudicate a case, was inapplicable and thus it could not consider Esso's appeal.