State v. Union Tank Car Co.

Decision Date25 March 1983
Docket NumberNo. 82-WA-1008,82-WA-1008
Citation439 So.2d 377
Parties13 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,472 STATE of Louisiana v. UNION TANK CAR COMPANY.
CourtLouisiana Supreme Court

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., Ossie Brown, Dist. Atty., Kay Kirkpatrick, Warren J. Hebert, Aubrey Ward, Asst. Dist. Attys., for plaintiff-appellant.

Frank S. Craig, III, Frank J. Gremillion, Baton Rouge, for defendant-appellee.

BLANCHE, Justice.

Union Tank Car Company is a corporation engaged in the sale, lease and repair of tank cars. In the spring of 1981, a tank car was sent to the Union Tank Car facilities in East Baton Rouge Parish for repairs and cleaning. While Union Tank Car personnel were steam-cleaning the car, the steam interacted with residual chemicals in the interior of the car, causing an extremely offensive smell to escape into the atmosphere.

As a result of this activity, Union Tank Car was charged by grand jury indictment with violation of the Louisiana Environmental Affairs Act in that it "willfully and knowingly discharged, emitted and disposed of an air contaminant in violation of Sections 4.4, 4.23, 4.74, 17.10, 17.11, and 8.2 of the Air Quality Regulations." Union Tank Car filed a motion to quash the indictment on two grounds. First, Union Tank Car alleged that Part III of the Environmental Affairs Act, the Louisiana Air Control Law, represents an unconstitutional delegation of the legislature's crime defining authority to an administrative agency (the Environmental Control Commission), as a violation of any regulation adopted by the Commission may result in criminal sanctions under La.R.S. 30:1073(F). Secondly, Union Tank Car alleged that the statutes and regulations of the Louisiana Air Control Law are unconstitutionally vague.

Following a hearing on the motion, the trial judge quashed the indictment against Union Tank Car Company. In doing so, the judge ruled that the Louisiana Air Control Law represents an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority and that the statutes and regulations of the Air Control Law are unconstitutionally vague. The State has appealed this ruling under Article V, § 5 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, which provides that a case shall be appealable to this court if a law or ordinance has been declared unconstitutional.

Union Tank Car Company is charged in this case with the release of an extremely offensive smell in violation of the Louisiana Environmental Affairs Act. 1 La.R.S. 30:1085 and 1087 are the applicable prohibitory sections of Part III of that act, the Louisiana Air Control Law. La.R.S. 30:1085 provides that "[n]o person shall conduct any activity which results in the discharge of air contaminants without the appropriate permit or license as required under the regulations of the commission adopted pursuant to this Part." La.R.S. 30:1087 also states that "[n]o person shall: (A) Discharge air contaminants into the air of this state in violation of the regulations of the commission or the terms of any permit, license, or variance issued hereunder. (B) Violate any rule or regulation adopted by the Commission under this Part." As part of the general enforcement scheme for the entire Environmental Affairs Act, La.R.S. 30:1073(F)(2) provides that "[a]ny person who willfully or knowingly discharges, emits, or disposes of any substance in contravention of any provision of this Chapter, of the regulations, or of the permit or license terms and conditions in pursuance thereof, when the substance does not endanger or could not endanger human life or health, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than twenty five thousand dollars per day of violation and costs of prosecution, or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both."

Through the above-quoted statutes, the legislature has made discharging air contaminants into the atmosphere a crime, punishable by the penalties prescribed under La.R.S. 30:1073(F). The question which is presented for our resolution is whether, consistent with constitutional principles, these statutes can form the basis of a criminal prosecution.

I.

Union Tank Car Company first contends that the Louisiana Air Control Law is unconstitutional because it delegates legislative power to the Environmental Control Commission without specifying sufficient standards or guidelines within which the Commission may act.

La.R.S. 30:1084(B) provides:

The commission shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) To adopt and promulgate rules and regulations consistent with applicable state and federal law, and the general intent and purposes of this Part for the maintenance of air quality within the state of Louisiana.

It is a well-established rule of constitutional jurisprudence that although the legislature may not delegate purely legislative power, it may declare its will, and, after fixing a primary standard, devolve upon administrative officers the power to "fill up the details" by prescribing administrative rules and regulations. United States v. Shreveport Grain and Elevator Co., 287 U.S. 77, 53 S.Ct. 42, 77 L.Ed. 175 (1932). In other words, although the legislature may not delegate the legislative power to determine what the law shall be, it may delegate to administrative boards and agencies of the state the power to ascertain and determine the facts upon which the laws are to be applied and enforced. State v. Rodriguez, 379 So.2d 1084 (La.1980); State v. Guidry, 142 La. 422, 76 So. 843 (La.1917). As explained by this court in the case of Schwegmann Brothers Giant Super Markets v. McCrory, Commissioner of Agriculture, 237 La. 768, 112 So.2d 606, 613 (La.1959):

So long as the regulation or action of the official or board authorized by statute does not in effect determine what the law shall be, or involve the exercise of primary and independent discretion, but only determines within prescribed limits some fact upon which the law by its own terms operates, such regulation is administrative and not legislative in its nature.

Consistent with this principle, Louisiana courts have upheld the constitutionality of statutes delegating broad powers to administrative officers to determine the details of a legislative scheme where those statutes express a clear legislative policy, and contain sufficient standards for the guidance of the administrative official empowered to execute the law. 2 Of course, the standards which must accompany such a grant of power must not be unlimited, unreasonable, or permit arbitrary action by the administrative body. This requirement is implicit in the general rule prohibiting the delegation of legislative power, and is affirmed in numerous cases decided by this court. State v. Rodriguez, 379 So.2d 1084 (La.1980); State v. Morgan, 238 La. 829, 116 So.2d 682 (La.1960); National Bank of Commerce v. Louisiana State University, 206 La. 913, 20 So.2d 264 (1944); City of Baton Rouge v. Shilg, 198 La. 994, 5 So.2d 312 (1941).

As announced by this court in the case of State v. Broom, 439 So.2d 357 (La.1983), authored by Justice Calogero and handed down this date, the determination of whether the delegation of legislative authority to an administrative agency adequately protects against the exercise of arbitrary power by the administrative body and therefore effects a constitutional delegation of legislative authority involves a two prong inquiry. Not only must we consider the sufficiency of the standards which accompany such a delegation, but we must also look for the presence of adequate procedural safeguards to protect against an abuse of discretion by those to whom the power is delegated.

Accordingly, the determination of whether the Louisiana Air Control Law effects a constitutional delegation of legislative power depends upon whether that statute contains a clear expression of legislative policy coupled with sufficient standards to guide in the execution of that policy, and is accompanied by adequate procedural safeguards to protect against abuse of discretion by the Environmental Control Commission.

The policy provision of the Louisiana Air Control law is found at La.R.S. 30:1082. That statute provides:

The legislature finds and declares that the purity of the air in the environment is a matter of vital concern to the welfare of the people of the state and to promote an environment free from pollution that jeopardizes the health and welfare of the citizens of the state, consistent with sound policies for employment and industrial development, it is necessary to establish an efficient method for the regulation and control of discharge of contaminants.

The policy provision of the Louisiana Air Control Law is quite clear in its intention. Its goal is to promote an environment free from pollution that jeopardizes the health and welfare of the citizens of the state. We consider this to be a reasonable governmental policy established in the interest of public health, safety, and welfare. We are furthermore of the opinion that this statement of purpose and intent establishes a definite policy of the State which permits an administrative body to make rules and regulations necessary for the administration and enforcement of that policy.

The policy provision in this case is analogous to that challenged and upheld in Johnson v. Pearce, 313 So.2d 812 (La.1975), a case in which the legislature had delegated authority to the Livestock Sanitary Board to promulgate rules and regulations necessary to combat the spread of brucellosis among cattle. In Johnson, we held that the control and eradication of a disease among animals was a proper legislative goal. We also noted that "[o]nce the legislature has defined its policy ... the State, acting under its police power to protect the health, welfare and safety of the people, may confer upon administrative officers or bodies the power to adopt the rules and regulations to effectuate the legislative will." Johnson v. Pearce, supra at p. 819.

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