Com. v. Beam

• Decision Date: 25 January 2002
• Citation: 788 A.2d 357,567 Pa. 492
• Parties: COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Appellant, v. Troy BEAM, Appellee.
• Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

788 A.2d 357

567 Pa. 492

COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation, Appellant, v. Troy BEAM, Appellee.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued November 13, 2001.

Decided January 25, 2002.

Andrew S. Gordon, Robert John Shea, James M. Sheehan, Harrisburg, Steven I. Roth, Philadelphia, for Department of Transportation.

Lee A. Stivale, Springfield, for Troy Beam.

Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN and SAYLOR, JJ.

OPINION

SAYLOR, Justice.

The issue presented is whether the Department of Transportation may seek to enjoin the operation of an unlicensed airport where this is not specifically authorized by the controlling statute.

Appellee Troy Beam ("Beam") used a portion of his property in Hopewell Township, Cumberland County, to take off in, land, and house his private airplane. In 1999, the state Department of Transportation (the "Department") filed a complaint in equity and petition for a preliminary injunction, alleging that Beam was operating an airport without a license in violation of Section 471.3 of Title 67 of the Pennsylvania Code, 67 Pa.Code § 471.3, and after refusing the Department's invitation to apply for a license.¹ In response, Beam denied that he maintained or operated an airport and asserted further that the Department lacked the authority to seek an injunction against him.

Following a hearing, the common pleas court denied the request for preliminary injunction and, on Beam's motion, granted summary judgment in his favor and dismissed the Department's complaint. The Department appealed, and the Commonwealth Court affirmed. See Commonwealth, Dep't of Transp. v. Beam, 756 A.2d 1179 (Pa.Cmwlth.2000). In their reasoning, the reviewing courts focused on the Department's capacity to seek injunctive relief in a judicial forum. While recognizing that the Department's enumerated powers included the authority to issue airport licenses, see 74 Pa.C.S. § 5301(b)(1), and that its regulations establish procedures for license revocation and suspension, see 67 Pa.Code § 471.3(g), the courts nevertheless found no statute or regulation conferring authority to commence a civil action.² Stressing the precept that an agency charged with the administration of a statute can act only within the strict confines of that statute, and therefore can seek to enforce compliance only with specific legislative authorization, the Commonwealth Court and the common pleas court concluded that the Department bore airport licensing enforcement responsibility but presently lacked the means by which to compel compliance. See id. at 1181-82. We allowed appeal to consider this conclusion.³ Presently, the Department argues that the reviewing courts construed too narrowly the authority conferred upon it by the Legislature, as they failed to acknowledge that a statutory grant of authority consists not only of that which is expressly granted, but also of authority which is necessarily implied. One such aspect of implied authority, the Department asserts, is the capacity to institute judicial proceedings where necessary to the execution of its statutory responsibilities. The Department also maintains that a violation of the law is tantamount to a public nuisance, which is enjoinable at common law regardless of whether such an injunction is statutorily authorized. Beam contends that, to the contrary, the courts cannot ignore the Legislature's omission of a mechanism for enforcing the prohibition against operation of an unlicensed airport from the Aviation Code. As the General Assembly has elected to provide such mechanisms in other statutes and in other provisions of the Aviation Code, Beam argues, it must be presumed that the omission at issue was intentional;⁴ thus, it would be an inappropriate expansion of the courts' equitable jurisdiction to seek to remedy that omission. Nor, in Beam's view, is his airport enjoinable as a public nuisance, as it poses no danger to the public.⁵

This Court has long adhered to the precept that the power and authority exercised by administrative agencies must be conferred by legislative language that is clear and unmistakable. See United Artists' Theater Circuit, Inc. v. City of Phila., 535 Pa. 370, 389, 635 A.2d 612, 622 (1993) ("A doubtful power does not exist." (citations omitted)); Commonwealth, Dep't of Envtl. Resources v. Butler County Mushroom Farm, 499 Pa. 509, 513, 454 A.2d 1, 3 (1982). At the same time, we recognize that the General Assembly has prescribed that legislative enactments are generally to be construed in such a manner as to effect their objects and promote justice, see 1 Pa.C.S. § 1928(c), and, in assessing a statute, courts are directed to consider the consequences of a particular interpretation, as well as other factors enumerated in the Statutory Construction Act. See Butler County Mushroom Farm, 499 Pa. at 516-17,454 A.2d at 5-6 (citing 1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(a))(observing that "[s]tatutory construction is not an exercise to be undertaken without considerations of practicality, precept and experience[,]" as ignoring such considerations may result in a forced and narrow interpretation that does not comport with legislative intent). Based upon such considerations, the rule requiring express legislative delegation is tempered by the recognition that an administrative agency is invested with the implied authority necessary to the effectuation of its express mandates. See Butler County Mushroom Farm, 499 Pa. at 513,454 A.2d at 4; St. Joe Minerals, 476 Pa. at 310, 382 A.2d at 736; Day v. Public Service Comm'n (Yellow Cab Co.), 312 Pa. 381, 384, 167 A. 565, 566 (1933). See generally 2 AM.JUR.2D ADMINISTRATIVE LAW § 62 (1994) (explaining that "[t]he reason for implied powers is that, as a practical matter, the legislature cannot foresee all the problems incidental to carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the agency").⁶

As noted, the Aviation Code contains the core authorization for the Department's regulation of airport operations. Section 5301(a) defines the Department's general aviation-related powers in pertinent part as follows:

(a) General powers.—The department shall administer the provisions of this part [Part III (Aviation) of Title 74 (Transportation) ] and, for that purpose, shall promulgate and enforce regulations as necessary to execute the powers vested in it by this part and other laws relating to aviation, airports and air safety within this Commonwealth. The secretary shall have the powers and perform the functions provided by this part.

74 Pa.C.S. § 5301(a). Section 5301(b) grants to the Department certain powers, the first of which is to "[p]rovide for the examination, rating and licensing of airports." 74 Pa.C.S. § 5301(b)(1). Section 5301(e) specifies several limitations, including the requirement that any license for an airport shall be effective for a period of not less than two years, with the proviso that the Department may revoke such a license upon proof of any violation of aviation-related laws or regulations. See 74 Pa. C.S. § 5301(e)(2).⁷ Section 6103(a) authorizes the Department to establish fees for aviation services, including, inter alia, the issuance of private airport licenses. See 74 Pa.C.S. § 6103(a)(3). As the Commonwealth Court and the common pleas court observed, these provisions, representing the sum total of the General Assembly's directives to the Department regarding the licensing of airports, do not specifically authorize the Department to seek, or preclude it from seeking, injunctive relief against the operation of an unlicensed airport.⁸ Nevertheless, it is evident from the Aviation Code that the Legislature intended to confer upon the Department an ability to secure compliance with the statutory requirements.⁹ Indeed, such conclusion not only flows from the statutory framework but is bolstered by the character of the enactment, which involves the substantial public safety and welfare implications of aircraft and airport operations. Cf. City of Columbia v. Board of Health and Envtl. Control, 292 S.C. 199, 355 S.E.2d 536, 538 (1987)("The delegation of authority to an administrative agency is construed liberally when the agency is concerned with the protection of the health and welfare of the public."); 2 AM.JUR.2D ADMINISTRATIVE LAW § 58 (same). Moreover, as this Court has explained in discussing the allied but distinct concept of agency standing,

when the legislature statutorily invests an agency with certain functions, duties and responsibilities, the agency has a legislatively conferred interest in such matters. From this it must follow that, unless the legislature has provided otherwise, such an agency has an implicit power to be a litigant in matters touching upon its concerns. In such circumstances the legislature has implicitly ordained that such agency is a proper party litigant, i.e., that it has "standing."

Commonwealth, Pa. Game Comm'n v. Commonwealth, Dep't of Envtl. Resources, 521 Pa. 121, 128, 555 A.2d 812, 815 (1989).¹⁰ We also observe that pursuit of injunctive relief in a judicial forum represents a restrained and supervised form of administrative action, as compared, for example, to the issuance of some form of direct agency mandate, restraint, or sanction. Compare Scheble v. Missouri Clean Water Comm'n, 734 S.W.2d 541, 556 (Mo.App.1987)(determining that a state commission possessed implied authority to issue a mandatory injunction requiring a subdivision developer to utilize a centralized sewer system). Finally, we credit the Department's argument that a continuing violation of the legislatively authorized proscription here involved is injurious to the public interest and is therefore enjoinable by the proper authorities. Cf. Pennsylvania Soc'y for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. Bravo Enterprises, Inc., 428 Pa. 350, 360, 362, 237 A.2d 342, 348, 349 (1968).¹¹

We hold, therefore, that the General Assembly has implicitly conferred upon the...