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ATTEMPT TO EXHAUST REMEDIES UNDER THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUTILE, THEREFORE THE ARTICLE 78 PETITION PRESENTED AN ISSUE RIPE FOR COURT REVIEW.

The Third Department determined the action pursuant to the Civil Service Law was not precluded because an action based on the same facts was still pending under the grievance procedure of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA). The Civil Service Law action was not dependent in any way on the CBA action. The petition challenged the hiring of Walsh as a part-time university police officer (UPO) by the State University of New York (SUNY):

… [T]he petition before us does not challenge any grievance determination by SUNY, nor does it cite a breach of any provision of the CBA as a basis for relief … . Instead, it challenges the appointment of Walsh on the ground that it violated Civil Service Law § 64. Although the remedies sought include an award of back pay for lost overtime assignments, available only under the CBA, counsel for petitioner confirmed, at oral argument of this appeal, that petitioner was no longer seeking such an award. Because petitioner does not allege that SUNY violated the CBA, but instead alleges a statutory violation, it was not required to use the CBA’s grievance procedure … . Article 7 of the CBA limits the grievance process to three types of disputes: first, concerning the application and/or interpretation of the CBA [7.1 (a)]; second, concerning a term or condition of employment [7.1 (b)]; and third, concerning a claim of improper or unjust discipline [7.1 (c)]. None of these provisions can be reasonably viewed as applicable to an (alleged) unlawful appointment by SUNY. Since these provisions are inapplicable, use of the grievance process to challenge the appointment on statutory grounds would have been futile … . Given that the appointment of Walsh is final, is alleged to have resulted in an actual, concrete injury to petitioner and because the question presented is “purely legal,” we find that the matter is ripe for judicial review … . Matter of Police Benevolent Assn. of N.Y. State, Inc. v State of New York, 2017 NY Slip Op 03588, 3rd Dept 5-4-17

EMPLOYMENT LAW (ATTEMPT TO EXHAUST REMEDIES UNDER THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUTILE, THEREFORE THE ARTICLE 78 PETITION PRESENTED AN ISSUE RIPE FOR COURT REVIEW)/ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (ATTEMPT TO EXHAUST REMEDIES UNDER THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUTILE, THEREFORE THE ARTICLE 78 PETITION PRESENTED AN ISSUE RIPE FOR COURT REVIEW)/CIVIL SERVICE LAW (EMPLOYMENT LAW, ATTEMPT TO EXHAUST REMEDIES UNDER THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUTILE, THEREFORE THE ARTICLE 78 PETITION PRESENTED AN ISSUE RIPE FOR COURT REVIEW)/COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT (ATTEMPT TO EXHAUST REMEDIES UNDER THE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WOULD HAVE BEEN FUTILE, THEREFORE THE ARTICLE 78 PETITION PRESENTED AN ISSUE RIPE FOR COURT REVIEW)

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SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TERMINATION OF A CERTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION FOR RETIREES WAS NOT QUASI-LEGISLATIVE, THEREFORE MAILING THE NOTIFICATION LETTER DID NOT TRIGGER THE FOUR-MONTH STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR AN ARTICLE 78 CONTESTING THE ACTION.

The Fourth Department, reversing Supreme Court, over a concurrence and a two-justice dissent, determined the action by the respondent school district (re: terminating certain health insurance available to retirees) was not quasi-legislative. Therefore the four-month statute of limitations for petitioners’ Article 78 contesting the school district’s action did not start to run upon the mailing of the undated notification letter. The respondents, therefore, did not demonstrate the Article 78 proceeding was barred by the statute of limitations:

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A quasi-legislative-type administrative determination is one having an impact far beyond the immediate parties at the administrative stage… . Thus, where a quasi-legislative determination is challenged, “actual notice of the challenged determination is not required in order to start the statute of limitations clock” … . The policy underlying the rule is that actual notice to the general public is not practicable … . Instead, the statute of limitations begins to run once the administrative agency’s quasi-legislative determination of the issue becomes “readily ascertainable” to the complaining party… .

On the other hand, where the public at large is not impacted by a determination, actual notice, commonly in the form of receipt of a letter or other writing containing the final and binding determination, is required to commence the statute of limitations … . * * *

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… [I]nasmuch as respondents, in our view, failed to meet their burden to establish when the four-month statute of limitations commenced, the burden did not shift to petitioners to establish any particular date of individual receipt of the undated letter. In any event, respondents failed to establish any dates of receipt by petitioners in their moving papers. Matter of Knavel v West Seneca Cent. Sch. Dist., 2017 NY Slip Op 03416, 4th Dept 4-28-17

 

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TERMINATION OF A CERTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION FOR RETIREES WAS NOT QUASI-LEGISLATIVE, THEREFORE MAILING THE NOTIFICATION LETTER DID NOT TRIGGER THE FOUR-MONTH STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR AN ARTICLE 78 CONTESTING THE ACTION)/QUASI-LEGISLATIVE ACTION (ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TERMINATION OF A CERTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION FOR RETIREES WAS NOT QUASI-LEGISLATIVE, THEREFORE MAILING THE NOTIFICATION LETTER DID NOT TRIGGER THE FOUR-MONTH STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR AN ARTICLE 78 CONTESTING THE ACTION)/CIVIL PROCEDURE (ARTICLE 78, STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TERMINATION OF A CERTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION FOR RETIREES WAS NOT QUASI-LEGISLATIVE, THEREFORE MAILING THE NOTIFICATION LETTER DID NOT TRIGGER THE FOUR-MONTH STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR AN ARTICLE 78 CONTESTING THE ACTION)/ARTICLE 78 (STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, (SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TERMINATION OF A CERTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION FOR RETIREES WAS NOT QUASI-LEGISLATIVE, THEREFORE MAILING THE NOTIFICATION LETTER DID NOT TRIGGER THE FOUR-MONTH STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR AN ARTICLE 78 CONTESTING THE ACTION)/STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (ARTICLE 78, SCHOOL DISTRICT’S TERMINATION OF A CERTAIN HEALTH INSURANCE OPTION FOR RETIREES WAS NOT QUASI-LEGISLATIVE, THEREFORE MAILING THE NOTIFICATION LETTER DID NOT TRIGGER THE FOUR-MONTH STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR AN ARTICLE 78 CONTESTING THE ACTION)

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SUNY POTSDAM’S SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DETERMINATION ANNULLED, NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, IMPOSITION OF A HARSHER PENALTY AFTER STUDENT’S APPEAL CRITICIZED.

The Third Department, hearing an Article 78 petition, over an extensive two-justice dissent, annulled the determination of SUNY Postdam which found student petitioner guilty of sexual misconduct and expelled him. The court noted its discomfort with several procedural issues and with the punishment imposed. The Third Department held that the determination was not supported by substantial evidence:

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The complainant’s account was set forth by others who had conversed with her, with the Hearing Board considering written notes prepared by respondent Annette Robbins, SUNY’s director of student conduct and community standards, and the hearing testimony of a campus police officer. * * *

… [H]earsay must be “sufficiently relevant and probative [if it is] to constitute substantial evidence” … and, “when the hearsay evidence is seriously controverted, common sense and elemental fairness suggest that it may not constitute the substantial evidence necessary to support the [challenged] determination” … .

Petitioner testified at the hearing and, while the broad contours of his account matched those of the complainant, their accounts differed on the critical issue of consent. * * *

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… [W]e feel the need to comment on the circumstances leading to its imposition. Upon petitioner’s appeal from the decision of the Hearing Board, the Appellate Board, sua sponte and without any explanation, recommended enhancing the penalty to expulsion. …  While nothing in the student code of conduct expressly prohibits the Appellate Board from recommending, and SUNY’s president from ultimately imposing, a more severe sanction upon a disciplined student’s appeal, nor does the student code of conduct explicitly advise an appealing student that such a consequence may inure as a result of an appeal. We are troubled by the absence of any such clear articulation that an enhanced penalty may result from a student’s choice to appeal the underlying determination and believe that, in this context, fairness warrants a clear and conspicuous advisement to that effect. Matter of Haug v State Univ. of N.Y. At Potsdam, 2017 NY Slip Op 02708, 3rd Dept 4-6-17

 

EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW (SUNY POTSDAM’S SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DETERMINATION ANNULLED, NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, IMPOSITION OF A HARSHER PENALTY AFTER STUDENT’S APPEAL CRITICIZED)/ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW, SUNY POTSDAM’S SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DETERMINATION ANNULLED, NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, IMPOSITION OF A HARSHER PENALTY AFTER STUDENT’S APPEAL CRITICIZED)/EVIDENCE (EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW,  (SUNY POTSDAM’S SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DETERMINATION ANNULLED, NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, IMPOSITION OF A HARSHER PENALTY AFTER STUDENT’S APPEAL CRITICIZED)/COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (MISCONDUCT, SUNY POTSDAM’S SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DETERMINATION ANNULLED, NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, IMPOSITION OF A HARSHER PENALTY AFTER STUDENT’S APPEAL CRITICIZED)/HEARSAY (EDUCATION-SCHOOL LAW, ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, SUNY POTSDAM’S SEXUAL MISCONDUCT DETERMINATION ANNULLED, NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE, IMPOSITION OF A HARSHER PENALTY AFTER STUDENT’S APPEAL CRITICIZED)

DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIR’S DETERMINATION WAS AFFECTED BY AN ERROR OF LAW WHICH RESULTED IN A MISINTERPRETATION OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, DETERMINATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN ANNULLED.

The Second Department determined that the imposition of a fine by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) was improper because the fine was based upon a misinterpretation of a provision of the NYC Administrative Code. The Article 78 petition seeking annulment of the DCA’s determination should have been granted:

Here, the DCA’s determination was affected by an error of law, since its interpretation of the Administrative Code provision which the petitioner was charged with violating was unreasonable … . The Administrative Code provision at issue provides, in relevant part: “Any person requesting application information from a prospective tenant or tenants shall post a sign . . . in any location at which the principal purpose is conducting business transactions pertaining to the rental of residential real estate properties” (Administrative Code § 20-809[a]). It was undisputed by the respondents that the petitioner’s business concerned sales of real estate properties, although the petitioner admitted to handling one or two residential rentals per year. Under these circumstances, the petitioner correctly argued that the Administrative Code provision was inapplicable to it because it did not have a “location at which the principal purpose is conducting business transactions pertaining to the rental of residential real estate properties” (id.). Matter of Arash Real Estate & Mgt. Co. v New York City Dept. of Consumer Affairs, 2017 NY Slip Op 02416, 2nd Dept 3-29-17

 

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STATE’S RULING SCHOOL DISTRICT VIOLATED INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES ACT NOT FINAL, ARTICLE 78 PROCEEDING CHALLENGING RULING PROPERLY DISMISSED.

The Court of Appeals determined the petitioner school district could not bring an Article 78 proceeding to challenge the state’s finding that the district’s dispute resolution practices for placing students with disabilities violated federal (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA]) and state law because the state’s decision was not final:

In 2012, the State found that the District’s dispute resolution practices violated federal and state law and directed the District to take corrective action. Although the State informed the District that failure to comply could result in further enforcement actions, including withholding federal funds, the State did not make a final decision to withhold funds.

A proceeding under CPLR article 78 “shall not be used to challenge a determination which is not final or can be adequately reviewed by appeal to a court or to some other body or officer” … . Likewise, this Court has recognized that “[t]o challenge an administrative determination, the agency action must be final and binding upon the petitioner” … . In addition, in the absence of injury, there is no standing to bring an article 78 proceeding … .

Assuming, without deciding, that a school district may bring an article 78 proceeding to challenge a final determination by the State under the IDEA, here, the State has not made a final determination, the District has not shown that it has exhausted its administrative remedies, and the District is unable to articulate any actual, concrete injury that it has suffered at this juncture. Accordingly, the District’s petition was properly dismissed. Matter of East Ramapo Cent. Sch. Dist. v King, 2017 NY Slip Op 02360, CtApp 3-28-17

 

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NYC BOARD OF HEALTH PROPERLY ISSUED REGULATION REQUIRING CERTAIN RESTAURANTS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEVEL OF SODIUM IN THE RESTAURANT FOOD.

The First Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Gesmer, determined the NYC Board of Health properly issued a regulation requiring certain restaurant to provide factual information about the level of sodium in the restaurant food. The decision is comprehensive and cannot fairly be summarized here. Applying the Boreali factors, the First Department held the rule was well within the board’s rule-making authority. In addition, the court found the rule did not violate the First Amendment (commercial speech):

Salt is both an essential ingredient of our diet and, when consumed in excess, a significant health hazard. Excess consumption of sodium, the primary ingredient of salt, can cause high blood pressure, which is in turn correlated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, congestive heart failure and kidney disease, according to the overwhelming consensus among scientists and the federal agencies charged with protecting the nation’s health. To address this issue, defendant New York City Board of Health (the Board) adopted a rule requiring certain restaurants to provide factual information to consumers on this issue. That rule is challenged in this appeal by the National Restaurant Association (NRA). We affirm the trial court’s rejection of that challenge, since the Board acted legally, constitutionally and well within its authority in adopting this limited yet salutary rule. National Rest. Assn. v New York City Dept. of Health & Mental Hygiene. 2017 NY Slip Op 01140, 1st Dept 2-10-17

MUNICIPAL LAW (NYC BOARD OF HEALTH PROPERLY ISSUED REGULATION REQUIRING CERTAIN RESTAURANTS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEVEL OF SODIUM IN THE RESTAURANT FOOD)/ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (NYC BOARD OF HEALTH PROPERLY ISSUED REGULATION REQUIRING CERTAIN RESTAURANTS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEVEL OF SODIUM IN THE RESTAURANT FOOD)/SODIUM (NYC BOARD OF HEALTH PROPERLY ISSUED REGULATION REQUIRING CERTAIN RESTAURANTS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEVEL OF SODIUM IN THE RESTAURANT FOOD)/RESTAURANTS (NYC BOARD OF HEALTH PROPERLY ISSUED REGULATION REQUIRING CERTAIN RESTAURANTS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LEVEL OF SODIUM IN THE RESTAURANT FOOD)

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COUNTY’S INTERPRETATION OF REGULATION WAS RATIONAL AND COULD NOT, THEREFORE, BE DISTURBED BY THE COURT; TIME LIMITS APPLICABLE TO ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS ARE DISCRETIONARY.

The Fourth Department determined Supreme Court properly determined the respondent county had timely notified petitioner of the denial of petitioner’s request for Medicaid overburden expenditures. If the denial had been deemed untimely, petitioner argued, the county would be required to pay. The court noted that the county’s interpretation of the relevant time limits was rational and therefore could not be disturbed by a court. The court further noted that, even if the time limits had been exceeded, denial of the claim would still have been proper because the time limits are discretionary in this context:

It is well settled that “the interpretation given to a regulation by the agency which promulgated it and is responsible for its administration is entitled to deference if that interpretation is not irrational or unreasonable” … . * * *

… [I]t is well settled that, “[a]bsent an express limitation upon the power of a particular agency to act after the expiration of the relevant statutory period, the time limits within which an administrative agency must act generally are construed as discretionary” … . As the Court of Appeals noted, ” [a] rule that rendered every administrative decision void unless it was determined in strict literal compliance with statutory [or regulatory] procedure would not only be impractical but would also fail to recognize the degree to which broader public concerns, not merely the interests of the parties, are affected by administrative proceedings’ ” … . Matter of County of Oneida v Zucker, 2017 NY Slip Op 00785, 4th Dept 2-3-16

MEDICAID (OVERBURDEN EXPENDITURES, COUNTY’S INTERPRETATION OF REGULATION WAS RATIONAL AND COULD NOT BE DISTURBED BY THE COURT, TIME LIMITS APPLICABLE TO ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS ARE DISCRETIONARY)/ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (COUNTY’S INTERPRETATION OF REGULATION WAS RATIONAL AND COULD NOT BE DISTURBED BY THE COURT, TIME LIMITS APPLICABLE TO ADMINISTRATIVE DECISIONS ARE DISCRETIONARY)

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FINDING THAT LIQUOR LICENSEE WAS AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF DRUGS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE; RARE DISCUSSION OF THAT ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING STANDARD OF PROOF.

The First Department, over an extensive two-justice dissent, determined the evidence did not support the finding, by the New York State Liquor Authority, the licensee was aware of the presence of illegal drugs on the licensed premises. The decision is instructive about the “substantial evidence” standard of proof in administrative proceedings. The majority held the “substantial evidence” standard was not met:

The dissent points to the testimony of petitioner’s head of security that when security guards were on patrol they would sometimes have a staff member, who was not trained to pat people down, watch the door, as allowing an inference to be drawn that lax security measures led to the presence of drugs at the scene. This however, is purely speculative and not based on the record. The quantity of drugs recovered was very small. The uncontroverted police testimony was that the drugs could easily been have secreted on an individual. There was no evidence that the patrons entering the premises were not subjected to a patdown or that given the packaging, a patdown would have detected drugs. Substantial evidence, which has been characterized as a “minimal standard” or as comprising a “low threshold,” must consist of such relevant proof, within the whole record, “as a reasonable mind may accept as adequate to support a conclusion or ultimate fact” … , it does not, however, “rise from bare surmise, conjecture, speculation or rumor” … . Matter of Home Run KTV Inc. v New York State Liq. Auth., 2016 NY Slip Op 05834, 1st Dept 8-18-16

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (FINDING THAT LIQUOR LICENSEE WAS AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF DRUGS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE; RARE DISCUSSION OF THAT ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING STANDARD OF PROOF)/EVIDENCE (ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, FINDING THAT LIQUOR LICENSEE WAS AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF DRUGS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE; RARE DISCUSSION OF THAT ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING STANDARD OF PROOF)/NYS LIQUOR AUTHORITY (ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, FINDING THAT LIQUOR LICENSEE WAS AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF DRUGS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE; RARE DISCUSSION OF THAT ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING STANDARD OF PROOF)/LIQUOR LICENSE (ADMINISTRATIVE LAW, FINDING THAT LIQUOR LICENSEE WAS AWARE OF THE PRESENCE OF DRUGS NOT SUPPORTED BY SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE; RARE DISCUSSION OF THAT ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEEDING STANDARD OF PROOF)

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TOWN’S ISSUANCE OF A POSITIVE DECLARATION WITH THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE LANDOWNER SUBMIT A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DID NOT RAISE A JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERY WHICH COULD BE REVIEWED BY A COURT.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Rivera, determined the town board's issuing a positive declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and imposing a DEIS (draft environmental impact statement) requirement on a landowner seeking a nonconforming use did not raise a justiciable controversy.   Although the creation of a DEIS imposes a financial cost on the landowner, it is only the initial step in the SEQRA review process and is not, therefore, ripe for review. The landowner relied on Matter of Gordon v Rush, 100 NY2d 236, to argue review was appropriate. The court explained why Gordon did not apply:

This Court [in Gordon] concluded that the Board's administrative action was ripe for judicial review because the Board's SEQRA declaration imposed an obligation on the petitioners to prepare and submit a DEIS, after they “had already been through the coordinated review process and a negative declaration had been issued by the DEC as lead agency,” and where no apparent further proceedings would remedy the injury caused by the unnecessary and unauthorized expenditures associated with conducting a DEIS … . Thus, Gordon's analysis and its import must be considered in light of the Court's recognition that the administrative action in that case was potentially unauthorized because “the Board may not have had jurisdiction to conduct its own SEQRA review,” given the existence of a prior negative declaration by a facially appropriate lead agency … . Matter of Ranco Sand & Stone Corp. v Vecchio, 2016 NY Slip Op 02477, CtApp 3-31-16

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (TOWN'S ISSUANCE OF A POSITIVE DECLARATION WITH THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE LANDOWNER SUBMIT A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DID NOT RAISE A JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY WHICH COULD BE REVIEWED BY A COURT)/LAND USE (TOWN'S ISSUANCE OF A POSITIVE DECLARATION WITH THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE LANDOWNER SUBMIT A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DID NOT RAISE A JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY WHICH COULD BE REVIEWED BY A COURT)/ADMINISTRATIVE LAW (STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT, TOWN'S ISSUANCE OF A POSITIVE DECLARATION WITH THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE LANDOWNER SUBMIT A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DID NOT RAISE A JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY WHICH COULD BE REVIEWED BY A COURT)/STATE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY REVIEW ACT (SEQRA) (TOWN'S ISSUANCE OF A POSITIVE DECLARATION WITH THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE LANDOWNER SUBMIT A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DID NOT RAISE A JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY WHICH COULD BE REVIEWED BY A COURT)/ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (TOWN'S ISSUANCE OF A POSITIVE DECLARATION WITH THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE LANDOWNER SUBMIT A DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DID NOT RAISE A JUSTICIABLE CONTROVERSY WHICH COULD BE REVIEWED BY A COURT)

NYS OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION DID NOT EXCEED ITS AUTHORITY WHEN IT PROHIBITED SMOKING IN SOME SMALL PARKS WITHIN NEW YORK CITY AND ON A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE 330,000-ACRE PARK SYSTEM.

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Fahey, determined the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) did not exceed its authority when it prohibited smoking in seven small parks in New York City and in less than five percent of the 330,000-acre state park system. The court went through the factors outlined in Boreali v Axelrod, 71 NY2d 1, which were described as follows:

… [Under Boreali] the circumstances to be considered are whether (1) “the agency did more than balanc[e] costs and benefits according to preexisting guidelines,' but instead made value judgments entail[ing] difficult and complex choices between broad policy goals' to resolve social problems” … ; (2) “the agency merely filled in details of a broad policy or if it wrote on a clean slate, creating its own comprehensive set of rules without benefit of legislative guidance' ” …; (3) “the legislature has unsuccessfully tried to reach agreement on the issue, which would indicate that the matter is a policy consideration for the elected body to resolve” …; and (4) “the agency used special expertise or competence in the field to develop the challenged regulation[]” … .

Our statement of the relevant principles of law does not end with the articulation of the Boreali factors. Those considerations, we have observed, are not to be applied rigidly … . In fact, they “are not mandatory, need not be weighed evenly, and are essentially guidelines for conducting an analysis of an agency's exercise of power” … . Indeed, “we treat the circumstances as overlapping, closely related factors that, taken together, support the conclusion that an agency has crossed th[e] line [into legislative territory]” … . We also “center [any Boreali analysis] on the theme that it is the province of the people's elected representatives, rather than appointed administrators, to resolve difficult social problems by making choices among competing ends' “… . Matter of NYC C.L.A.S.H., Inc. v New York State Off. of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preserv., 2016 NY Slip Op 02479, CtApp 3-31-16

ADMINSITRATIVE LAW (NYS OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION DID NOT EXCEED ITS AUTHORITY WHEN IT PROHIBITED SMOKING IN SOME SMALL PARKS WITHIN NEW YORK CITY AND ON A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE 330,000-ACRE PARK SYSTEM)/STATE PARKS (NYS OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION DID NOT EXCEED ITS AUTHORITY WHEN IT PROHIBITED SMOKING IN SOME SMALL PARKS WITHIN NEW YORK CITY AND ON A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE 330,000-ACRE PARK SYSTEM)/SMOKING PROHIBITION (NYS OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION DID NOT EXCEED ITS AUTHORITY WHEN IT PROHIBITED SMOKING IN SOME SMALL PARKS WITHIN NEW YORK CITY AND ON A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE 330,000-ACRE PARK SYSTEM)

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