Question 1
The Environmental Protection Agency was created through an executive order by President Richard Nixon. The Federal Agency was created for the purposes of enforcing the environmental statutes enacted by the Congress. Just like any other federal agency, the Environmental Protection Agency has the powers associated with the three arms of the government. It can legislate, administer and adjudicate. The regulations promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency have to be published in the Federal Register. If they are positively receipted they gain the force of law after 90 days. The Agency uses fines and sanctions to enforce environmental regulations.
Agents from EPA can arrest Skywalker. If they find him running his coffee table business, however, they lack the legal mandate to jail him. The Agency has a legal mandate to impose a fine or subject him to sanction. As stated in the NEP Act, the Agency has the power to arraign him before an adjudication board. If it is proved that he contravened the Environmental regulations set by the EPA, he will be fined depending on the amount of tables, and he has produced. The Adjudication Department of the Environmental Protection Agency is not a competently constituted court of law and, therefore, cannot pass a prison sentence of Skywalker.
Question 2
First and foremost, Skywalker will present his complaint to the Adjudication Department. The Environmental Appeals Board will view the challenge to the regulation. The board is the final dispute resolving organ in the Environmental Protection Agency. It the panel of decision makers consists of three judges. Currently, there are eight lawyers who serve on the panel. Their work is to help complainants navigate through the complicated environmental litigation process. The Environmental Appeals board will review all the issues brought out in the case. If Skywalker convinces the panel of judges that the regulation is unconstitutional, the regulation will be reviewed. The change of regulation will be communicated to the public. However, the Board constituted to hear the case can decide to uphold the legality of the regulations. This would mean that Skywalker would be liable for punishment. The punishment can either be through the imposition of a fine depending on the number of coffee tables that are in circulation after the regulations became law. Consequently, Skywalker’s store will be closed, and he would be barred from conducting the same business.
Skywalker has an option of appealing the decision held by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Environmental Board of Appeals’ decision can be appealed to the Federal Courts. In the Federal Court will follow the normal appeals process. According to the Administrative Procedure Act, agency regulations can only be scrapped if it is a court holds that the regulations are arbitrary, capricious or not consistent with the law. Another reason for abolishing the law is that if the law is an abuse of discretion or does not follow the due process. The new regulations on the glass tops are unconstitutional. The Act gives the courts an opportunity to determine whether the Agency follows the due process before regulations came into force. The regulations did not follow the due process set out in the, in the Administrative Procedure Act. According to the Administrative procedure Act, Federal Agencies must provide for public participation in the process of rule making. The Rules of all proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register. After the regulations are published the agency waits for 60 days for the public to comment. After that, the Environmental Agency is supposed to take 30 days to respond to the Comments. The regulations were first published on August first 2013. According to the Federal Register, they are supposed to come into effect on August thirteen 2013.
This is a clear manifestation of the breach of the rule making process. The Environmental Agency did not follow the set out the procedure set in the Administrative Procedure Act. The regulations are expected to gain the force of law after 90 days after they are published in the federal register. The Agency is required by law to five the public sixty days to comment. After that the public would spend 30 days responding to a comment. According to the Attorney General’s Administrative procedure Manual Act, federal agencies are supposed to give interested parties enough time to respond to the new regulations. The regulations banning the manufacture and sale of glass top coffee tables are planned to take effect after 12 days. The Administrative Procedure Act gives the Agency a leeway of creating emergency regulations that come into effect within a comparatively short period. In a reasonable mans point of view, the regulations banning the production of glass top coffee table do not amount to emergency regulations. The Environmental Protection Agency has not expressly declared the regulation to be emergency regulations. This proves the point that the regulations did not follow the procedure stated in the Administrative procedure act, hence are draconian in nature. It is unconstitutional for citizens to be subjected to corrupted regulations.
The Attorney General’s Administrative Procedure Manual Act requires public participation before a regulation comes into effect. The public made no comments on the regulations. The regulations affect businesses that have been running for a long period. Families rely on the glass top coffee table business to generate income. The glass coffee table businesses across the United States of America are a source of employment to people who are produced in the manufacturing and the selling of the coffee tables. People like Skywalker are entitled to be listened to as it is outlined in the Attorney General’s Administrative procedure Manual’s Act.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act was signed by the president into law to benefit small businesses like Skywalker is not put into a disadvantage by the regulations set out by federal agencies. The Act requires agencies to balance the needs of federal regulations with the capabilities of small businesses. The law requires federal agencies to give a rationale for their actions. In addition, The Regulatory Flexibility Act requires the agencies to consider the views of the small business entities before making regulations. The Agency was supposed to collect the views of the small businesses and also consider the views of the Small Businesses Association Office. The Environmental protection Agency did not collect the views of small businesses before publishing the rules. The Agency did not consider the view of the SBA Agency before publishing the new regulation.
It will only be fair if the Federal Courts reviews the regulations concerning the glass top coffee tables. The Environmental Protection Agency faulted the rules and regulations that should be followed. It contravened the Administrative procedure Act, the Attorney General’s Administrative Procedure Manual and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. These laws were signed into law to ensure the powers that are granted to the Federal Agencies are not misused. Federal Agencies are independent bodies that exercise the powers and duties of the congress, the executive and the judicial duties exercised by the courts. These regulations are set in place to ensure that the laws enacted by the agencies are not oppressive and unconstitutional. The rules enacted by any parliamentary body or agency without consulting the citizens are draconian in nature. Such laws should not be allowed to inconvenience hardworking citizens as Skywalker.
The courts should consider that Skywalker has invested his time and energy in building Tablemania. His quality service has earned him an international reputation; from a small business making thousands of dollars in profit he has created a business that is earning him a six figure income. Skywalker and other business people operating glass top businesses should have been given a fair chance to express themselves in the Federal Register before the Regulation became law. Since that did not happen, the law should be reviewed before American citizens their sources of income.
Question 3
The Environmental Protection Agency has been assigned with the responsibility of implementing laws passed by congress to ensure that the Environment is shielded from danger for the sake of future generations. The process of passing a new regulation by the Environmental Protection Agency followed the due procedure required by the law. Coffee tables made of glass are subject to breakage. Glass is a hard substance that takes millions of years to decompose. Breakages from glass tables pollute the environment. Thousands of tones of glass are driven into landfills every year as waste. Broken glass is dangerous to people and the environment. Broken glass reduces the productivity of the land if it is not properly disposed.
The Environmental Protection Agency aims at preserving the environment for the future generations. By banning the glass top coffee table, it not only keeps the environment safe, but also ensures that the safety of the coffee drinkers is taken into consideration. Broken glass from the coffee table can cause grievous harm to coffee drinkers. Excessive bleeding can arise, especially if the glass is broken, such as the one produced by Tablemania. The Environmental Protection Agency is to inspect all glass top coffee tables to ensure that they are safe from breakages by inspecting the tables to ensure that they are safer when the customer is using them, than before the regulation was enacted.
Constitutionalism refers to the mechanisms and procedures set in place to control the exercise of power to ensure that the liberties of the citizens are protected. The Environmental Protection Agency followed all the steps and procedures required by the Administrative Procedure Act. The Act required the Agency to publish the new regulations in the Federal Register. Skywalker, whose business is directly affected by the new rules, did not give his comment in the Federal Register. Had he commented in the Federal Register, the Agency would have at least responded to a comment. Skywalker is also given a chance by the challenge the new regulations before the Environmental Board of Appeals. The Environmental protection Agency was created for the purpose of protecting and safeguarding the human health and securing the environment from pollution and degradation. Skywalker’s Tablemania jeopardizes the health of coffee users and puts the environment in danger of pollution from the debris of glass.
References
Bell, S., McGillivray, D., & Pedersen, O. (2013). Environmental Law. London: Oxford University Press.
Dimento, J. (2008). Environmental Law and American Business: Dilemmas of Compliance. New York: Springer.
Lazurus, R. (2008). The Making of Environmental Law. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McLlwain, C. (2005). Constitutionalism: Ancient and Modern. New York: The Lawbook Exchange.
Nath, B., Compton, P., & Luc, H. (2009). Environmental Management in Practice: Instruments for environmental management. New York: Psychology Press.
