HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION COMMISSION, PETITIONER,
v.
WILLIAM E. WILLIAMS, HEARING OFFICER FOR THE FLORIDA DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS, RESPONDENT
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The court held that the Administrative Procedure Act's uniform procedure provisions do not apply to agencies created by special legislative acts, thus the DOAH lacked jurisdiction.
[1] A writ of prohibition is granted to prevent an administrative agency from assuming jurisdiction over a local governmental entity created by special act of the legislature…
[2] A special act of the legislature creating a local governmental entity is not superseded by the general provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act unless explicitly st…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRichard Ireland petitioned the DOAH to challenge a noise rule adopted by the HCEPC, a local agency created by special act. The DOAH denied the HCEPC's…
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PER CURIAM.
The petitioner, Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission (HCEPC), having filed a petition for writ of prohibition, upon consideration it is ordered that the petition is hereby granted.
Richard Ireland had filed a petition with the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), respondent, pursuant to section 120.56, Florida Statutes (1981), challenging the noise rule as adopted by the HCEPC. See Rules of the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, chapters 1-10 (June 10, 1976, revised Apr. 13, 1978). The respondent, acting on Richard Ireland’s petition and pursuant to section 120.56, Florida Statutes, assigned the case to William E. Williams, hearing officer with the DOAH. Petitioner filed a motion to dismiss with the respondent alleging that Richard Ireland’s petition is not subject to the jurisdiction of the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 120, Florida Statutes (1981). After hearing arguments by counsel, the respondent denied petitioner’s motion to dismiss.1 The petitioner then requested this court to issue a writ of prohibition to prevent the respondent from assuming jurisdiction over it. We agree with the petitioner, and hereby grant the writ of prohibitin.
The petitioner is a local governmental agency created by special act of the legislature, Chapter 67-1504, Laws of Florida (1967), as amended. It is composed of members of the board of county commissioners and its jurisdiction is within the boundaries of Hillsborough County. The special act which created the petitioner incorporated by reference the Administrative Procedure Act, Chapter 120, Part III, Florida Statutes. Part III of the APA had dealt with judicial review of administrative orders and rules. In 1974, chapter 120, including part III, was repealed and replaced by a new chapter 120. See Chapter 74-310, Laws of Florida.
Section 120.72, Florida Statutes (1975), makes uniform the procedures used by the administrative agencies of the state. More specifically:
120.72 Legislative intent; prior proceedings and rules; exception.—
(1) The intent of the legislature in enacting this complete revision of chapter 120, Florida Statutes, is to make uniform the rulemaking and adjudicative procedures used by the administrative agencies of this state. To that end, it is the express intent of the legislature that the provisions of this act shall replace all other provisions in the Florida Statutes, 1973, relating to rulemaking, agency orders, administrative adjudication, or judicial review [of administrative action], except for marketing orders adopted pursuant to chapters 573 and 601.
As chapter 67-1504, in creating the petitioner, incorporated the administrative procedures relating to judicial review which were then extant, the issue before this court is whether the legislature, in enacting section 120.72, intended for it to apply to the petitioner. This court takes the position that section 120.72 is a savings clause and does not apply to the petitioner. The legislature enacted section 120.72 “to replace all other provisions in the Florida Statutes 1973, relating to rulemaking, agency orders, administrative adjudication, or judicial review [of administrative action].” The statute, by its terms, does not apply to special acts of the legislature. The term “Florida Statutes 1973” is used to designate the official Florida Statutes of 1973 and contains only statutes of general and permanent nature. § 11.2421, Florida Statutes (1973). Hence, as the petitioner, HCEPC, was created by a special act, section 120.72 will not apply to it. See Siddeeq v. Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, 364 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978).
In Siddeeq, the petitioner sought review of an order by the municipal hospital board of Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. The municipal board was created by special act of the legislature in Chapter 65-2299, Laws of Florida. The court held that because no general or special law mandates otherwise, the board is not an “agency” within the meaning of section 120.52(l)(c), Florida Statutes (1977).
Similarly, the petitioner is a commission created by special act and, in the absence of any general or special law mandating otherwise, it is not an agency within the meaning of the APA. Therefore, in accepting Richard Ireland’s petition and assuming jurisdiction over the HCEPC, the respondent is acting outside its authority as established by chapter 120.
Accordingly, the writ of prohibition is hereby GRANTED.
RYDER, A.C.J., and CAMPBELL and SCHOONOVER, JJ., concur. . The order cited to chapter 67-1504, sections 9 and 19(4), Laws of Florida.
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Booker Creek Pres., Inc. v. Pinellas Planning Council, 433 So. 2d 1306 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983)…de agency or even a regional, intercounty agency. Courts have found intracounty organizations created by special act, similar to the PPC, not to be agencies subject to the APA. See Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission v. Williams, 426 So. 2d 1285 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Siddeeq v. Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, 364 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). In those cases, as in the case at bar, no general or special law or existing judicial decision made the organization subject to the APA. While it is tr…
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State v. Martin Cnty. Env't Control Hearing Bd., 564 So. 2d 1227 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990)…ubinstein v. Sarasota County Public Hosp. Bd., 498 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986); Booker Creek Preservation, Inc. v. Pinellas Planning Council, 433 So. 2d 1306 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission v. Williams, 426 So. 2d 1285 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983). Nevertheless, appellee claims that the reference in section 12 of Chapter 78-560 for “review as provided under section 120.-68” confers on this court jurisdiction to review board action. With this we disagree. Section 120.68, Fl…
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Leonard A. Rubinstein, M.D. v. Sarasota Cnty. Pub. Hosp. Bd., 498 So. 2d 1012 (Fla. 2d DCA 1986)…ction to a statewide agency or even a regional, intercounty agency.” Id. Other courts have also declined to apply the APA to intercounty agencies created by special act. See, e.g., Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission v. Williams, 426 So. 2d 1285 (Fla. 2d DCA 1983); Siddeeq v. Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, 364 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). Similarly, the territorial jurisdiction of the hospital board in the present case is coextensive with the county in which it operates. The fact that the…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Muhammed Siddeeq v. Tallahassee Mem'l Hosp., 364 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978)