Administrative Procedure Act
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is the United States federal law that governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the United States may propose and establish regulations. The APA also sets up a process for the United States federal courts to directly review agency decisions. It is one of the most important pieces of United States administrative law. The Act became law in 1946.
The APA applies to both the federal executive departments and the independent agencies. U.S. Senator Pat McCarran called the APA "a bill of rights for the hundreds of thousands of Americans whose affairs are controlled or regulated" by federal government agencies. The text of the APA can be found under Title 5 of the United States Code, beginning at Section 500.
Historical background
The APA was enacted to regulate and standardize federal agency procedures during a period of expanding federal governmental power, following the Great Depression and World War II. Beginning in 1933, Roosevelt and the Democratic Congress enacted several statutes that created new federal agencies. The statutes were part of Roosevelt's New Deal legislative plan designed to deliver the United States from the social and economic hardship of the Great Depression.
In a law journal article on the history of the APA,[1] professor George Shepard discusses the content…