## Facts

- The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus is located in Derry Township and operated in affiliation with Pennsylvania State University (PSU).
- Before the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act (PCCA) and Uniform Construction Code (UCC), the Township reviewed construction plans, performed inspections, and issued permits for projects on the campus under local ordinances.
- After adoption of the UCC, the Department of Labor and Industry treated campus buildings as “State-owned buildings” under 34 Pa. Code § 401.1 because PSU is a “State-related institution” referenced in the regulation.
- The Department asserted primary plan review and inspection authority for such buildings, and the Medical Center stopped submitting plans to the Township.
- The Township challenged the regulation as exceeding the Department’s statutory authority because the PCCA grants the Department authority only over “State-owned buildings,” which the Township argued meant buildings owned by the Commonwealth in the property-law sense.

## Issues

1. Whether the PCCA permits the Department to define “State-owned building” by regulation to include buildings owned by “State-related institutions,” thereby placing PSU-related facilities under the Department’s plan review and inspection authority.
2. Whether 34 Pa. Code § 401.1 is invalid as inconsistent with the PCCA, including in light of precedent treating PSU property as not “Commonwealth-owned” for tax-exemption purposes.

## Decision

- The court upheld the Department’s regulatory definition of “State-owned building” in 34 Pa. Code § 401.1 as within the Department’s authority under the PCCA.
- The court concluded that buildings owned by PSU (a “State-related institution” under 62 Pa.C.S. § 103, incorporated by the regulation) fall within the UCC category of “State-owned buildings” for purposes of plan review and inspection.
- The Township was not entitled to declaratory relief displacing the Department’s authority.

## Legal Principles

- When a statute assigns an agency enforcement authority but leaves a key term undefined, the agency may fill the gap by regulation if the interpretation is reasonable and consistent with the statutory scheme.
- Courts generally defer to an agency’s reasonable construction of an ambiguous statute the agency administers, particularly where the legislature granted broad rulemaking authority to implement a comprehensive regulatory program.
- A prior holding that an entity’s property is not “Commonwealth-owned” for tax-exemption purposes does not necessarily control the meaning of “State-owned” in a separate statutory context aimed at uniform building safety regulation.

## Conclusion

The court sustained the Department’s authority under the PCCA and UCC to classify PSU-related facilities as “State-owned buildings” by regulation, thereby placing plan review and inspection for the Hershey Medical Center campus under Department oversight rather than municipal enforcement.


Township of Derry v. Pa. Dep’t of Labor & Indus., 940 A.2d 1265 (Pa. 2008)