A Record of What? The Proper Scope of an Administrative Record for Informal Agency Action

Recent cases involving controversial actions taken by federal agencies under the Trump Administration have highlighted a preliminary procedural nuance unique to litigation under the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946 (APA): the “administrative record.” The APA provides for liberal judicial review of federal agency actions, but limits that review to the “whole record, or those parts of it cited by a party.” This “record rule” limits judicial review to the “administrative record” before the agency when it made the decision at issue. The APA defines the administrative record for agency action subject to its formal procedural requirements, but leaves open the question of what an administrative record consists of for informal agency action not subject to those procedural requirements but nevertheless subject to judicial review. Lower courts, without definitive statutory text, legislative history, or Supreme Court precedent for guidance, have developed a divergent and sometimes inconsistent body of case law addressing the proper scope of an administrative record for informal agency action. The traditional approach generally would focus on those materials directly considered by the agency decisionmaker alone while categorically excluding most, if not all, internal documents. But more recently, some lower courts have begun to apply an expansive construction of the record rule, requiring agencies subject to litigation to submit any material considered by agency personnel involved in the decision-making process, including an array of internal materials. Two recent cases, involving the Department of Homeland Security’s attempted revocation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross’s attempts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Department of Commerce, illustrate the wider movement towards an expansive construction of the record rule for informal agency action. In this Note, I argue that the expansive approach to the record rule for informal agency action becoming popular in some lower courts is correct, both in terms of the judicial review provisions of the APA it serves and the principles of administrative law the APA furthers. The broader adoption of an expansive approach to the record rule has implications for any area of law touched by federal agencies. Indeed, as the DACA and 2020 Census litigation demonstrate, the composition of an administrative record can have significant consequences for issues of national importance

Untersuchungen zu ausgewählten Eigenschaften von Fichtenklangholz aus Graubünden

Zusammenfassung: Fichtenklangholz von drei verschiedenen Standorten aus dem Kanton Graubünden/Schweiz wurde hinsichtlich verschiedener physikalisch-mechanischer Eigenschaften geprüft. Von einem Standort wurde das Holz zusätzlich drei Monate wassergelagert, um den Einfluss der Extraktstoffe zu testen. Die Untersuchungen umfassten eine Analyse der Jahrringstruktur, Schallmessungen mit Longitudinal- und Transversalwellen in den drei Hauptschnittrichtungen, Biegefestigkeit und Biege-E-Modul, Eigenfrequenzmessungen und die Ermittlung des logarithmischen Dekrements der Schwingungsdämpfung. Ferner wurdendas Sorptionsverhalten und die Quellung bestimmt. An Einzelproben wurde zudem der Extraktstoffanteil ermittelt. Die untersuchten Holzeigenschaften weisen an allen Standorten auf Klangholz von hoher Qualität hin. Zwischen den drei untersuchten Standorten wurden, außer aufgrund der unterschiedlichen Dichte bedingt, keine signifikanten Unterschiede in den Holzeigenschaften festgestellt. Die Wasserlagerung führte zum Herauslösen von Extraktstoffen, die Eigenschaften änderten sich jedoch nicht signifikan

It is not my job: exploring the disconnect between corporate security policies and actual security practices in SMEs

Purpose: This paper aims to present empirical results exemplifying challenges related to information security faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It uses guidelines based on work system theory (WST) to frame the results, thereby illustrating why the mere existence of corporate security policies or general security training often is insufficient for establishing and maintaining information security. Design/methodology/approach: This research was designed to produce a better appreciation and understanding of potential issues or gaps in security practices in SMEs. The research team interviewed 187 employees of 39 SMEs in the UK. All of those employees had access to sensitive information. Gathering information through interviews (instead of formal security documentation) made it possible to assess security practices from employees’ point of view. Findings: Corporate policies that highlight information security are often disconnected from actual work practices and routines and often do not receive high priority in everyday work practices. A vast majority of the interviewed employees are not involved in risk assessment or in the development of security practices. Security practices remain an illusory activity in their real-world contexts. Research limitations/implications: This paper focuses only on closed-ended questions related to the following topics: awareness of existing security policy; information security practices and management and information security involvement. Practical implications: The empirical findings show that corporate information security policies in SMEs often are insufficient for maintaining security unless those policies are integrated with visible and recognized work practices in work systems that use or produce sensitive information. The interpretation based on WST provides guidelines for enhancing information system security. Originality/value: Beyond merely reporting empirical results, this research uses WST to interpret the results in a way that has direct implications for practitioners and for researchers

UNITAID can address HCV/HIV co-infection

This book is a guide to the law that applies in the three international criminal tribunals, for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, set up by the UN during the period 1993 to 2002 to deal with atrocities and human rights abuses committed during conflict in those countries. Building on the work of an earlier generation of war crimes courts, these tribunals have developed a sophisticated body of law concerning the elements of the three international crimes (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes), and forms of participation in such crimes, as well as other general principles of international criminal law, procedural matters and sentencing. The legacy of the tribunals will be indispensable as international law moves into a more advanced stage, with the establishment of the International Criminal Court. Their judicial decisions are examined here, as well as the drafting history of their statutes and other contemporary sources

How to Evaluate Non-Growing Cells - Current Strategies for Determining Antimicrobial Resistance of VBNC Bacteria

Thanks to the achievements in sanitation, hygiene practices, and antibiotics, we have considerably improved in our ongoing battle against pathogenic bacteria. However, with our increasing knowledge about the complex bacterial lifestyles and cycles and their plethora of defense mechanisms, it is clear that the fight is far from over. One of these resistance mechanisms that has received increasing attention is the ability to enter a dormancy state termed viable but non-culturable (VBNC). Bacteria that enter the VBNC state, either through unfavorable environmental conditions or through potentially lethal stress, lose their ability to grow on standard enrichment media, but show a drastically increased tolerance against antimicrobials including antibiotics. The inability to utilize traditional culture-based methods represents a considerable experimental hurdle to investigate their increased antimicrobial resistance and impedes the development and evaluation of effective treatments or interventions against bacteria in the VBNC state. Although experimental approaches were developed to detect and quantify VBNCs, only a few have been utilized for antimicrobial resistance screening and this review aims to provide an overview of possible methodological approaches

Computational Aeroheating Predictions for X-34

Radiative equilibrium surface temperatures, heating rates, streamlines, surface pressures, and flow-field features as predicted by the Langley Aerothermodynamic Upwind Relaxation Algorithm (Laura) are presented for the X-34 Technology Demonstrator. Results for two trajectory points corresponding to entry peak heating and two control surface deflections are discussed. This data is also discussed in context of Thermal Protection System (TPS) design issues. The work presented in this report is part of a larger effort to define the X-34 aerothermal environment, including the application of engineering codes and wind-tunnel studies

Mutations in hepatitis C virus E2 located outside the CD81 binding sites lead to escape from broadly neutralizing antibodies but compromise virus infectivity.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies are commonly present in the sera of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. To elucidate possible mechanisms of virus escape from these antibodies, retrovirus particles pseudotyped with HCV glycoproteins (HCVpp) isolated from sequential samples collected over a 26-year period from a chronically infected patient, H, were used to characterize the neutralization potential and binding affinity of a panel of anti-HCV E2 human monoclonal antibodies (HMAbs). Moreover, AP33, a neutralizing murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) to a linear epitope in E2, was also tested against selected variants. The HMAbs used were previously shown to broadly neutralize HCV and to recognize a cluster of highly immunogenic overlapping epitopes, designated domain B, containing residues that are also critical for binding of viral E2 glycoprotein to CD81, a receptor essential for virus entry. Escape variants were observed at different time points with some of the HMAbs. Other HMAbs neutralized all variants except for the isolate 02.E10, obtained in 2002, which was also resistant to MAb AP33. The 02.E10 HCVpp that have reduced binding affinities for all antibodies and for CD81 also showed reduced infectivity. Comparison of the 02.E10 nucleotide sequence with that of the strain H-derived consensus variant, H77c, revealed the former to have two mutations in E2, S501N and V506A, located outside the known CD81 binding sites. Substitution A506V in 02.E10 HCVpp restored binding to CD81, but its antibody neutralization sensitivity was only partially restored. Double substitutions comprising N501S and A506V synergistically restored 02.E10 HCVpp infectivity. Other mutations that are not part of the antibody binding epitope in the context of N501S and A506V were able to completely restore neutralization sensitivity. These findings showed that some nonlinear overlapping epitopes are more essential than others for viral fitness and consequently are more invariant during earlier years of chronic infection. Further, the ability of the 02.E10 consensus variant to escape neutralization by the tested antibodies could be a new mechanism of virus escape from immune containment. Mutations that are outside receptor binding sites resulted in structural changes leading to complete escape from domain B neutralizing antibodies, while simultaneously compromising viral fitness by reducing binding to CD81

Community implementation dynamics: Nutrient management in the New York City and Chesapeake Bay Watersheds

The creation of natural resource management and conservation strategies can be affected by engagement with local citizens and competing interests between agencies and stakeholders at the varying levels of governance. This paper examines the role of local engagement and the interaction between governance levels on the outcomes of nutrient management policy, a specific area of natural resource conservation and management. Presented are two case studies of the New York City and Chesapeake Bay Watersheds in the US. These case studies touch upon the themes of local citizen engagement and governance stakeholder interaction in changing nutrient management to improve water quality. An analysis of these cases leads to several key considerations for the creation and implementation of nutrient management and natural resource management more broadly, including the importance of: local citizen engagement, government brokering and cost sharing; and the need of all stakeholders to respect each other in the policy creation and implementation process