Court Opinion

ID: 9602638
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 01:58:07.095257+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:05.456945
License: Public Domain

BILLINGS, Presiding Judge
(concurring in the result):
Judge Russon and I concur in the result. I write separately to articulate the holding of the court on the analysis of the standard of review.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
We agree with the main opinion’s statement there is “no explicit statutory grant of discretion to the Commission to interpret the statutory language in question.” However, as noted in King v. Industrial Commission, 850 P.2d 1281 (Utah App.1993), the term explicit grant of discretion should be viewed more broadly. We believe that view is both mandated by Morton International, Inc. v. Auditing Division, 814 P.2d 581 (Utah 1991), and supported by cases from this court. See King, 850 P.2d at 1286-91. As set forth in King, the analysis requires the court to first
determine whether the legislature explicitly granted discretion to the agency to interpret or apply statutory language at issue. As Judge Bench has rightly noted, we can find an explicit grant of discretion in specific statutory language directing the agency to define a statutory term by regulation. Additionally, a statute directing the agency to interpret or apply specific statutory language should be interpreted as an explicit grant of discretion. If we find such a grant, we review under section 63-46b-16(4)(h)(i) for abuse of discretion. That is, we afford the agency some deference and assess whether its action is within the bounds of reasonableness.
Id. at 1291 (emphasis added). Judge Bench apparently misunderstands what is meant by applying specific statutory language. We do not refer to the general act of applying the facts to the law. As he correctly notes, that is done in every case. Rather, as King attempted to demonstrate, we refer to specific statutory directives regarding application of particular statutory terms. For example, in Department of Air Force v. Swider, 824 P.2d 448 (Utah App.1991), this court found statutory language permitting a denial of benefits if a termination was for “just cause ... if so found by the commission ” constituted the requisite grant of discretion for us to review the Industrial Commission’s determination of just cause under an abuse of discretion standard. Id. at 451. Many other cases have used this analysis. See Albertsons, Inc. v. Department of Employment Sec., 854 P.2d 570, 573 (Utah App. 1993); Gibson v. Department of Employment Sec., 840 P.2d 780, 783 (Utah App. 1992); Bhatia v. Department of Employment Sec., 834 P.2d 574, 577 (Utah App. 1992); Robinson v. Department of Employment Sec., 827 P.2d 250, 252 (Utah App.1992); Wagstaff v. Department of Employment Sec., 826 P.2d 1069, 1072 (Utah App.1992); Tasters Ltd. v. Department of Employment Sec., 819 P.2d 361, 364 (Utah App.1991).
*655We agree with Judge Bench that there are two kinds of explicit grants of discretion, discretion to interpret statutory language and discretion to apply statutory language. It is his vigorous effort to build an impenetrable wall between the two with which we differ. Such an analysis is needlessly mechanistic and does not follow the direction of our supreme court. See Morton, 814 P.2d at 589, 592 (not differentiating between “statutory construction or application” in applying analysis). See also Uintah Oil Assoc, v. County Bd. of Equalization, 853 P.2d 894, 896 (Utah 1993) (finding discretion on basis of agency expertise because it indicates either “an explicit or implicit grant of discretion” and reviewing for abuse of discretion based on “interpretation or application” of a statutory term). When the legislature focuses on a specific statutory term and delegates to the agency the duty to either interpret or apply the term, i.e. its charge to the commission to find “just cause”, the agency necessarily is required to interpret the statutory language. Thus, an agency’s acts pursuant to such a statutory directive should be reviewed for reasonableness.
The cases we cite follow the example given in Morton regarding an explicit grant of discretion to an agency. The Morton example relates to the Tax Commission deciding whether a piece of equipment qualifies for an exemption from the sales and use tax. Morton, 814 P.2d at 588 n. 40. The statute allows the exemption if the equipment is a “normal operating replacement ... as determined by the commission.” Utah Code Ann. § 59-12-104(15) (1992) (emphasis added). This statutory directive requires the Tax Commission to interpret and apply a particular statutory term. The main opinion attempts to draw a distinction between the operative impact of the statutory language in Morton and that in the other cases we cite. We believe there is no basis for such a distinction. In the case we resolve today there is no statutory directive to interpret or apply the specific language in question.
The main opinion also asserts, as a proposition of cause and effect, because we can resolve ambiguity in the statute by traditional rules of statutory construction there is no implicit grant of discretion. As noted in King, we do not agree with the strict linearity of that analysis. However, there is no significant difference between the implicit grant analysis articulated in the main opinion and the one we reaffirm today. As noted in King, “statutory construction is used as a tool in ascertaining whether an implicit grant of discretion exists.” King, 850 P.2d at 1290. Thus, King expressly recognizes the requirement that statutory construction be applied when assessing the issue of an implicit grant.
Rephrasing the analysis set forth in King demonstrates the only distinction between what we hold today is proper and what Judge Bench advocates is that the court’s analysis is articulated in slightly less constrictive terms. If examination of the statute and the statutory framework using the rules of statutory interpretation or in the light of its legislative history provides us with a clear legislative intent, we will not defer to the agency. If, on the other hand, the language is broad and expansive without a clear legislative intent or subject to numerous permissible interpretations which cannot be resolved by normal rules of statutory construction, we will defer to the agency. This is because it is “particularly appropriate” to defer to the agency’s knowledge and experience concerning the wisdom of a specific policy in cases where legislative intent is not clear. Morton, 814 P.2d at 589.
Because we believe the main opinion correctly applies the rules of statutory construction and finds the one permissible interpretation of the statute in question, we concur in the result.
RUSSON, J., concurs.