Organic statute
Administrative State |
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Organic statute or organic act, in the context of administrative law, refers to legislation that creates government agencies and defines the original scope of their authority. It is a type of enabling statute.[1][2][3]
The concept is related but not identical to that of organic law, which refers to the original legal foundation of a government. For example, the United States Constitution is part of the organic law of the United States federal government.[1][4][5]
Background
Organic statutes are a specific type of enabling statute. According to Black's Law Dictionary, an enabling statute "permits what was previously prohibited or that creates new powers;" in United States law, the term most frequently refers to "a congressional statute conferring powers on an executive agency to carry out various delegated tasks."[3] Under the system of government established by the United States Constitution, legislative authority (the power to make law) is vested in the Congress. However, Congress delegates its rulemaking authority to a variety of executive departments, agencies, and commissions via organic and enabling statutes. Organic statutes establish and authorize administrative agencies to issue specific rules and regulations and carry out other activities to fulfill broad aims defined by Congress, while enabling statutes grant additional authority or responsibility to existing agencies.[6]
Organic statutes establishing federal agencies
Below is a partial list of organic statutes that established agencies of the United States federal government:[1][2][3][7]
- Atomic Energy Act (1946), establishing the Atomic Energy Commission (abolished in 1974)
- Communications Act (1934), establishing the Federal Communications Commission
- Federal Aviation Act (1958), establishing the Federal Aviation Agency (now Administration)
- Federal Trade Commission Act (1914), establishing Federal Trade Commission
- Interstate Commerce Act (1887), establishing the Interstate Commerce Commission
- National Aeronautics and Space Act (1958), establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Security Act (1947), establishing the Central Intelligence Agency
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 US Legal, "Organic Statute Law and Legal Definition," accessed August 13, 2017
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Center for Effective Government, "Organic Statute," accessed August 13, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Intelligence Law, "Lesson 4: Statutory Law," 2012
- ↑ Merriam-Webster, "Organic law," accessed August 13, 2017
- ↑ The Law Dictionary, "What is Organic Law?" accessed August 13, 2017
- ↑ Beau Steenken and Tina Brooks, "Sources of American Law: An Introduction to Legal Research, Chapter 4: Administrative Regulations," 2015
- ↑ Federal Trade Commission, "Statutes Enforced or Administered by the Commission," accessed August 13, 2017
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