Court Opinion

ID: 9683467
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 13:29:20.191489+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:17:48.062266
License: Public Domain

MINGE, Judge
(concurring specially).
I join in the opinion of the court and write to express additional views on the authority of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to include an enforcement mechanism in its order.
It is well accepted that, although administrative agencies have only the authority granted to them by law, that authority includes the incidental powers necessary to accomplish the duties conferred on them. See State ex rel. RR & Warehouse Comm’n v. Mees, 235 Minn. 42, 46, 49 N.W.2d 386, 389 (1951); cf Lenihan v. Tri-State Telephone & Telegraph Co., 208 Minn. 172, 184, 293 N.W. 601, 607 (1940). There is little or no caselaw extending this principle to the type of sanctions at issue here. See generally 2 Am.Jur.2d Administrative Law §§ 52-98 (1994). Lacking either a legislative grant of a specific power to sanction or clear caselaw granting that power, the question of an agency’s power to sanction is a legal issue of first impression. However, some guidance exists. The larger question of agency discretion to define its mandate in the course of its rulemaking was addressed in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984). This landmark case has been cited and analyzed in several settings. See, e.g., Note, A Pragmatic Approach to Chevron, 112 Harv. L.Rev. 1723 (1999). Although the power to define enforcement and sanctions is a different area of administrative activity than the rule-making considered in Chevron, our task is analogous.
Here, it is clear that the PUC has pervasive authority to regulate local telephone service. See Minn.Stat. § 237.16 (2002). The state and federal governments have also decided that competition in providing local telephone service should be promoted. See, e.g., 47 U.S.C. § 261(c); Minn. Stat. § 237.16. The challenging task of establishing a framework for a competitive market falls partly on the MPUC. The use of scheduled penalties, principally payable to the firms injured by violations of the order, is a creative way to streamline enforcement of the new MPUC rule. The consequences of violations are predictable. The process is simple. In this newly competitive market of local telephone service, such qualities may be important to maintaining the level playing field that the marketplace requires. Although the enforcement mechanism may be new, it is not inherently irrational. By looking at the variety of ways in which an incumbent local exchange carrier (relator Quest in *68this case) may fail to meet standards of service, it is innovative. By tying the size of penalty to the benchmark standard which is violated, the penalty is flexible. It is unreasonable to tie the hands of an agency that is attempting to handle its broad responsibilities in a prudent fashion by requiring it to obtain specific legislative authority for each enforcement step it takes in every new setting. I conclude that the MPUC’s efforts are a rational approach to fulfilling its mandate and are within the implied authority of the MPUC to meet its responsibilities.
Relator has challenged the sanction on the ground that the size of the penalties is inappropriate. But the size of the penalties is very difficult to evaluate on this record in a pre-enforcement proceeding and would be best determined in an enforcement proceeding.