Administrative Procedures Act (APA)

The Administrative Procedures Act (APA) governs the way federal agencies make and enforce regulations. First made law in 1946, it was the product of concern about the rapid increase in federal agencies and their power at the beginning of the 20th century. Federal agencies were not new—the first was authorized in 1789 to estimate appropriate import duties. Over the next 120 years, about one third of federal peacetime agencies came into being. In just 30 years, from 1900 to 1930, another third was established. President Roosevelt then used federal agencies extensively to implement New Deal programs. The amount of government authority wielded by these new agencies focused attention on competing policy issues.

Agencies are extensions of the executive branch of government that have the ability to ...