United States Administrative Law - Scope of Administrative Authority

Scope of Administrative Authority

The authority of administrative agencies stems from their organic statute, and must be consistent with constitutional constraints and legislative intent. Generally speaking, therefore, agencies do not have the power to enact a regulation where:

1. The regulation is an unconstitutional delegation of power (under current caselaw, courts almost never invalidate a regulation on this ground);
2. The organic statute explicitly denies authority (but note that failure to grant authority in later legislative efforts is not dispositive);
3. The regulation is not based on factual findings;
4. The regulation is not pursuant to serving the "public convenience, interest, or necessity"; or
5. The regulation is outside the agency's statutory purpose as articulated in its organic statute.