Jamesway Construction, Inc. v. David W. Salyers, P.E.

Jamesway Construction, Inc., filed a petition for judicial review in chancery court following an administrative law judge’s denial of its motion to dismiss administrative proceedings. Jamesway argued the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s appeal to the Board of Water Quality, Oil, and Gas was untimely, and therefore the Board lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the appeal. The chancery court and Court of Appeals found in Jamesway’s favor on the issue of subject matter jurisdiction, yet the chancery court’s own subject matter jurisdiction under Tennessee Code Annotated section 4-5-322(a)(1) was never questioned. After granting review, we subsequently directed the parties to brief whether the chancery court had jurisdiction under Tennessee Code Annotated section 4-5-322(a)(1) to review a preliminary, procedural, or intermediate agency decision. We find that the chancery court did not have subject matter jurisdiction under section 4-5-322(a)(1) because Jamesway has not shown that judicial review of the final agency decision would not provide an adequate remedy. We vacate the judgments of the lower courts and remand to the Board of Water Quality, Oil, and Gas for further proceedings.