Opinion
No. 83-161
Opinion Filed October 26, 1984
1. Administrative Law — Orders and Regulations — Judicial Review
Administrative agencies' interpretations of their own regulations are usually given great weight by the supreme court.
2. Administrative Law — Orders and Regulations — Judicial Review
An administrative agency's interpretation of its own regulation is controlling unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation.
3. Administrative Law — Orders and Regulations — Judicial Review
Where reduction of the amount of plaintiff's Aid to Needy Families with Children grant was based on a determination that plaintiff incurred lower housing expenses because of the granting of a one year moratorium on the monthly principal and interest payments due on her mortgage, since welfare regulation provided that housing allowances for recipients were to be budgeted "as incurred" and determination by the human services board that an "incurred" housing expense did not include a mortgage during the effective period of a moratorium was reasonable, consistent with the regulation and not plainly erroneous, the reduction of plaintiff's grant would be affirmed. W.A.M. § 2245.3.
Appeal from reduction of plaintiff's Aid to Needy Families with Children grant. Human Services Board, Brock, Chairman, presiding. Affirmed.
Judith Cronin, pro se, Fairfield, Plaintiff-Appellant.
John J. Easton, Jr., Attorney General, Montpelier, and Michael O. Duane, Assistant Attorney General, Waterbury, for Defendant-Appellee.
Present: Hill, Underwood, Peck and Gibson, JJ., and Barney, C.J. (Ret.), Specially Assigned
The plaintiff appeals the decision of the Vermont Human Services Board (Board) affirming an action of the Vermont Department of Social Welfare (Department), which reduced the amount of plaintiff's Aid to Needy Families with Children (ANFC) grant. The reduction was based on a determination that the plaintiff incurred lower housing expenses because of the granting of a one year moratorium on the monthly principal and interest payments due on a mortgage held by the U.S. Farmer's Home Administration (FmHA). We affirm.
The Vermont Welfare Assistance Manual (W.A.M.) § 2245.3 provides that housing allowances for recipients "shall be budgeted `as incurred' . . . ." The plaintiff argues that she is incurring expenses on the mortgage despite the moratorium because the moratorium does not relieve her of the debt, but merely allows her to postpone payment. The Board, however, had previously determined that the meaning of an "incurred" housing expense does not include a mortgage during the effective period of a moratorium. See Vermont Human Services Board Fair Hearing Number 3748 (Aug. 6, 1981). The Board reaffirmed that interpretation in deciding the case before us. The issue presented on appeal is the validity of that interpretation.
Administrative agencies' interpretations of their own regulations "are usually given great weight by this Court." Bishop v. Town of Barre, 140 Vt. 564, 577, 442 A.2d 50, 56 (1982) (citing In re Brooks, 130 Vt. 83, 85-86, 286 A.2d 279, 281 (1971)); see also Huntington v. Department of Social Rehabilitation Services, 139 Vt. 416, 419, 430 A.2d 460, 462 (1981). An agency's interpretation of its own regulation is controlling unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation. Thorpe v. Housing Authority of Durham, 393 U.S. 268, 276 (1969) (citing Bowles v. Seminole Rock Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410, 414 (1945)); 2 K. Davis, Administrative Law Treatise § 7:22 (2d ed. 1979). The determination that an incurred expense does not include a mortgage while a moratorium is in effect is reasonable, consistent with W.A.M. § 2245.3, and not plainly erroneous. The decision of the Board is therefore affirmed.
Affirmed.