(a)
Background.-Under the
structure established by the Administrative Code, powers and duties are vested
in and imposed upon administrative departments, as such. Section 206 of the
Administrative Code (71 P. S. §
66) provides that
the head of each administrative department, either personally, by deputy or by
duly authorized agent or employee of the department, shall exercise the powers
and perform the duties imposed by law upon the department. In this manner
adequate provision is made for vacancies in office, the absence or disability
of the department head and for functions which by their nature require
delegation to a lower administrative level.
(b)
General rule.-Except as
otherwise provided in subsection (d), powers and duties shall be expressly
conferred and imposed by statute upon departments, boards, commissions and
other offices in their institutional capacities, rather than upon the secretary
or chief executive officer of the agency or upon any individual administering
or serving within the agency or unit thereof, regardless of the title of such
officer or individual or the language of the prior statutory
provision.
(c)
Limitation
on agency authority.-In cases where the constitutional or other
authority which authorizes the statute purports to confer the relevant power or
to impose the relevant duty upon an officer or individual rather than upon the
agency or unit thereof, a definition of the agency or unit should be utilized
indicating that the agency or unit acts through the appropriate officer or
individual, as follows:
Department.-The Department of Education of the
Commonwealth. Where any provision of this part confers powers or imposes duties
upon the department which under any Federal statute may be exercised by or
imposed on only the Secretary of Education, the reference to the department
shall be construed to mean the department acting by and through the Secretary
of Education, or the person for the time being acting as the Secretary of
Education, personally.
(d)
Conferring power upon officer.-The power of appointment may be
conferred upon an officer, as such, where it is intended that only that
officer, or the person for the time being acting as that officer, may exercise
the power.
