Cited by

“[W]hen the language of the regulation is clear and capable of understanding,” courts “give no deference to the agency’s interpretation.” In re Annandale NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

4 In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

See In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

To determine whether an agency’ s unpromulgated rule applied the rule’s plain language, we do not analyze words in isolation but consider the meaning of the rule “in accordance with the apparent purpose of the regulation as a whole.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance, (Annandale); see also Minn. Transitions Charter Sch.

Further, appellate courts ordinarily exercise significant deference to agency decisions, particularly when an agency’s decision implicates its “special knowledge in the field of [its] technical training, education, and experience.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lakes NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater, (quotation omitted).

See, e.g., id.; In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater, –15 (Minn. 2007).

11 “[R]eview of an agency’s interpretation of its own regulations is a question of law that courts review de novo.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater, 516 (Minn. 2007) (noting that federal regulations are treated as a state agency’s own regulation “if the state agency is charged with the day-to-day responsibility for enforcing and administering [the] regulation”); see also In re Reichmann Land & Cattle, LLP, (“Review of a s

An agency’s decision enjoys “a presumption of correctness.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance, (quotation omitted).

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

In re Annandale NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for Discharge of Treated Wastewater, - 11 15 (Minn. 2007) ; Brittain, d at 517.

See In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater

When determining “whether words or phrases are ambiguous,” courts must consider them in context “with the apparent purpose of the regulation as a whole.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit 8 Issuance for Discharge of Treated Wastewater, (Annandale).

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple 8 Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater

8 NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater

In re Annandale NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance, (Annandale).

In re Annandale NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

First, federal regulations are treated as a state agency’s own regulation “when a state agency is charged with the day-to-day responsibility for enforcing and administering [the] regulation.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

1(a)(2), 115.44 (2020); see also Alexandria Lake, d at 312-13 (discussing PCA’s duties in relation to NPDES permits); In re Cities of Anna ndale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater, 510-11 (Minn. 2007) ( Annandale) (discussing PCA’s duties in relation to water-quality standards and TMDL studies).

In re Annandale NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

See In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit, ( Annandale) (explaining that courts should generally defer to agency ’s reasonable interpretation of ambiguous regulation).

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

In re Annandale NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance , N. States Power Co. v. Minn. Pub.

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance , .

In re Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

In re Cities 8 of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance , see also Abdi v. Dep’t of Emp ’t & Econ.

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance (Annandale)

In re Cities of Annandale and Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance, - 14 (Minn. 2007).

In re Cities of Annandale and Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

“When interpreting a statute or regulation, we first look to see whether the statute or regulation is clear or ambiguous on its face.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for Discharge of Treated Wastewater

See In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance

See In re Cities of A nnandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for Discharge of Treated Wastewater, ( Annandale).

” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lakes NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater

If “the language of the regulation is clear and capable of understanding, we give no deference to the agency's interpretation and we may substitute our own judgment for that of the agency.” In re Cities of Annandale 8 & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance , 5 (Minn. 2007) (Annandale).

” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater

A r u l e i s a m b i g u o u s “ i f i t i s u n c l e a r o r r easonably susceptible to more than one reasonable interpretation.” In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater, d 502, 517 (Minn. 2007).

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for Discharge of Treated Wastewater , , 516 (Minn. 2007) (interpreting a federal regulation); see also Exelon Generation Co., LLC v. Local 15 Int'l Bhd.

In re Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for Discharge of Treated Wastewater , , 514 (Minn. 2007).

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit , , 510 (Minn. 2007) ( Annandale ); 33 U.S.C.

In re Cities of Annandale & Maple Lake NPDES/SDS Permit Issuance for the Discharge of Treated Wastewater