Northern Area Personal Care Home Admin. Assn. v. DPW - Cmwlth Court - May 24, 2006
http://www.aopc.org/OpPosting/CWealth/out/503MD05_5-24-06.pdf
Petitioners filed an original action in Commonwealth Court challenging and seeking pre-enforcement review of new personal care home regulations.
DPW's argument that Petitioner failed to exhaust administrative remedies was rejected. Citing Arsenal Coal Co. v. DER, 477 A.2d 1333 (Pa. 1984), the court held that equitable relief is available where there is not "an adequate statutory remedy."
Factors discussed in Arsenal Coal include -- whether the effect of submitting to the regs will be direct and immediate, the resulting hardship, the burden of submitting to the regulations (cost and inefficiency), the availability of pre-enforcement review in the regulations themselves.
