From which law does a state department's authority typically derive?

• A. Administrative law
• B. Regulatory law
• C. Constitutional law
• D. Statutory law

Answer: (B)

Regulatory law is the layer that defines how a state department actually exercises its powers to regulate. A department isn’t self-authorized; its authority to regulate, inspect, and enforce comes from a framework of rules that specifically govern regulatory actions—the processes for creating rules, giving notice, allowing public comment, and enforcing standards. While constitutional provisions provide the general structure and statutory law creates the agency by statute, regulatory law is the part that spells out and limits the department’s day-to-day regulatory powers and the procedures it must follow. Administrative law describes how the agency operates in practice, but the legitimate basis for its regulatory actions is found in regulatory law.