ADMINISTRATNE AGENCY SCAVENGER HUNT Dealing with Administrative Law In this assignment, you will investigate administrative agencies. Whether you work for a large corporation or own a small business, you will be dealing with multiple aspects of administrative law. All federal, state. and local government administrative agencies create mics and regulations that have the force of law, As a business person or manager you probably will need to pay more attention to administrative rules and regulations than to laws passed by local. state. and federal state legislatures. An administrative agency is an ofcial governmental body empowered with the authority to direct and supervise the implementation of particular legislative acts. Administrative agencies are created by the federal Constitution. the U.S. Congress, state legislatures. and local lawmaking bodies. Federal administrative law derives from the President. agencies of the Executive Branch. and independent regulatory agencies. Agencies are given the authority to create administrative law through laws enacted by Congress. The law comes in the form of rules. regulations. procedures. orders, and decisions. Sometimes passing a law isn't enough to get results. The government can pass laws calling for, say. cleaner air or safer workplaces, but the law doesn't include every detail about how to get there. Administrative agencies the Social Security Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. the Occupational Safety and Health Administration translate the law into detailed regulations, which the agencies then adminismr. Administrative agencies exist on the federal. state and local levels. Administrative agencies make the specic rules and regulations that support a high- Ievel law. Making rules to enact the law is a core role of administrative agencies. These are the long, technical directives that might detail the legal denition of an exit, or how factories can scrub smoke or pollutants, or how to calculate overtime. Federal and state legislatures that impose new standards often don't have the time or expertise to cover every last detail. Agencies do. To carry out this function. agencies draw on scientic expertise and industry knowledge and then use it to detail how the law will be implemented Whatever rules they pass are subject to judicial review to ensure they're fair and comply with the relevant statutes. Federal versus State and Local Agency Regulations The three levels of government create three levels of rules and regulations through their respective administrative agencies At the federal level, these include the Food and Drug Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Similar agencies govern activities at the state and local level. For example, in New York. on the federal level. the US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charged with protecting human health and the environment. On the state level, the mission of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is to \"conserve, improve and protect New York's natural resources and environment and to prevent, abate and control water, land and air pollution, in order to enhance the health, safety and welfare of the people of the state and their overall economic and social well-being\". As a business person, you will have to learn about agency regulations that pertain to your business activities. It will be up to you as a manager, small business owner, or entrepreneur, to discern which of these regulations are the most important and could create the most liability if you violate themt Successful business persons make future plans by assessing potential risk. When Should You Participate in the Rulemaking Process? All federal agencies and many state agencies invite public commenm on proposed mles. Suppose that you manage a large oonstmction company and your state occupational safety agency proposes a new rule requiring every employee on a construction site to wear hearing protection. You believe that the rule will lead to a less safe environment because your employees will not be able to communicate easily with one another. You may decide to submit your comments on the bill in hopes of stopping the bill from going fonrvard. (See "The Rulemaking Process in New York State https:l/www.dos.ny.gov/infolgdfs/rulechrt.pdf). Be Prepared for Investigations All administrative agencies have investigatory powers. Agencies' investigations usually have the power to search business premises although normally they rst have to obtain a search warrant. As a business person, you may be faced with the choice of cooperating with agency investigators or providing just the minimum amount of assistance. If your business is routinely investigated, you will often opt for cooperation. In contrast. if your business is rarely investigated, you may decide that the on- site proposed inspection is oveneaching. Then you should contact your company's attorney for advice on how to proceed. If an administrative agency cites you for a regulatory violation, you will probably negotiate a settlement with the agency rather than take your case before an administrative law judge. Again, as a business person, you may have to weigh the cost of the negotiated settlement with the potential cost of ghting the enforcement action (See Elon Musk Can Stay Tesla CEO, but not Chairman, Under SEC Settlement https://www.bloomberg.comews/arlicles/201809-29/elon-musk-and- sec- reach-settlementon-fraud-charges). YOUR BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AGENCIES You've recently graduated from BMCC and decided to start your own business. You concluded that providing specialty items to new parents with young babies is where the money is (all those yuppie parents on the upper east side and west side with all that money to spend). You are working on starting a small business that will take advantage of that demand. (Jessica Alba's Honest Company has nothing on you!) You have found a large warehouse space in which you will build two small factories/production facilities. At one, workers will be making high end boutique baby fumiture and toys. At the other, workers will produce a line of baby foods and juices. You understand that building a business takes workand risks and understand that some risks are more dangerous than others As you are working on getting this business smrted. you have many questions. The questions below discuss a particular risk that your business might face. For each question below, identify the agency which is likely to have the answer to the question or whose rules or regulations will govern the question. Note. for questions 1-8, you d_o n_ot need to answer the questions; you o_nly need to Identlfy the relevant agency. (Question 9 requires you to present 5 additional potential risks that your company might face. Your answers should be presented in a format which is slmllar to those questions presented In 1-8.) For Questlons 1-8, you may choose from the following agencies: Consumer Product Safety Commission Environmental Protection Administration Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Federal Trade Commission Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Food and Drug Administration Occupational Safety and Health Administration Securities and Exchange Commission. Generally the agency's website will be the initials of the capitalized words of the agency's name followed by .gov (for instance www.ftc.gov for the Federal Trade Commission, www.cpscgov for the Consumer Product Safety Commission). The websites of most agencies can be found by You can also nd a list of agencies at httpszlibraryguides.law.pace.edu/c.ohg=319332&p=2134043. The link will take you to the website of that particular agency where you can learn additional information about issues that fall within that organization's powers. 1. There is a gas leak at one of your factories Are the workers required to wear respirators? 2. The animal waste from one of your farms pollules one of the local rivers due to all of the recent rains Are there regulations about how you must dispose of any waste products from your factories? 3. You want your baby food products to be advertised in a marketing campaign that will claim that eating your products will make babies healthier and smarter. Could any legal problems arise from this campaign? 4. Parents have brought a law suit against your company because their son went into anaphylactic shock while ingesting one of your baby food products. What kind of labeling must you put on your baby food products? 5. One of your furniture products is baby cribs. You are aware of a recent recall of Bassett cribs because the hardware on the cribs can become loose and detach. creating a gap where infants and toddlers can become trapped, posing risks of suffocation and strangulation. Are there any safety standards that you must follow in manufacturing and testing the cribs? 6. You've decided not to hire anyone who has ever been arrested or convicted of a crime. Could that policy cause a problem for the business? 7. If the business becomes successful, you are thinking about opening a megastore and having a store branded credit card. Statistics indicate that the credit card delinquency rate is higher than ever, with many cash strapped borrowers defaulting on their credit card debt. What issues do you need to consider? 8. Your company is facing financial hardship due to the impact of Covid-19. Although you are reluctant to give up some level of control, you decide to sell shares of stock in your new company to raise capital. Will you have to do some sort of ling with the government? 9. Risks are a part of life and running a business is an occupation that is fraught with many different types of risk. Discuss at least M additional risks that your company might face