New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals v. New Jersey Department of Agriculture

delivered the opinion of the Court.

In 1996, with little discernable fanfare, the Legislature enacted a new section of the existing statute regulating animal cruelty. Although that statute, since at least 1898, had essentially left animal welfare and the protection of animals to the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (“NJSPCA”) and its related county organizations, the Legislature decreed that the Department of Agriculture (“the Department”) would be vested with certain authority relating to the care and welfare of domestic livestock, commonly referred to as farm animals.

In doing so, the Legislature directed the Department to create and promulgate regulations that would set standards governing the raising, keeping, and marketing of domestic livestock, but it specified that the guiding principle to be utilized in establishing those standards was to be whether the treatment of these animals was “humane.” The statute required the Department to consult with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station 1 in developing and promulgating the regulations and established a presumption that compliance with those regulations would satisfy the other *371 statutory standards defining animal cruelty. Although vesting the Department with this rulemaking function, the Legislature left the preexisting enforcement mechanisms, which have long relied on the NJSPCA, largely undisturbed.

This matter presents us with a broad challenge to the regulations promulgated by the Department pursuant to this legislative directive. More particularly, we are called upon to consider whether the Department, in promulgating the regulations relating to the care of domestic livestock: (1) failed in general to comply with the mandate of the Legislature that it create standards that are “humane,” either objectively or as tested against the definition that the Department itself adopted; (2) created an impermissibly broad and vague category of permitted practices by referring to “routine husbandly practices” as generally acceptable; (3) failed to create an adequate regulatory scheme by utilizing undefined or ill-defined terms that cannot serve as objectively enforceable standards; and (4) embraced a variety of specific practices that are either objectively inhumane or supported by inadequate scientific evidence as to their usefulness, or that fail to meet any accepted definition of the term humane.

In part, the issues before this Court require us to evaluate the very methodology utilized by the Department in its creation of the challenged regulations; in part, the issues before us raise questions and debates arising from deeply held notions concerning the welfare of animals generally. Nonetheless, the dispute before this Court has nothing to do with anyone’s love for animals, or with the way in which any of us treats our pets; rather, it requires a balancing of the interests of people and organizations who would zealously safeguard the well-being of all animals, including those born and bred for eventual slaughter, with the equally significant interests of those who make their living in animal husbandry and who contribute, through their effort, to our food supply.

In the end, our focus is not upon, nor would it be appropriate for us to address, whether we deem any of the specifically challenged practices to be, objectively, humane. To engage in that *372 debate would suggest that we have some better understanding of the complex scientific and technical issues than we possibly could have, or that we are in some sense better able to evaluate the extensive record compiled by the Department than is that body itself. To engage in that discussion would also suggest that in a realm in which the Legislature has expressed its intention that an administrative agency bring its expertise to bear upon the issues, this Court is better equipped to do so. More to the point, it would suggest that we, rather than the Legislature or the Department, know which farming and livestock practices are objectively humane and which are not.

To accept such a challenge would be to overstep our role in our constitutional system, for it would be little more than our effort to substitute our view for that of the bodies authorized to act. It is, simply put, an invitation that we decline to accept. Rather, we confine our analysis, as we must, to a consideration about whether the agency in question did or did not carry out the function assigned to it by the Legislature, as tested in accordance with our ordinary standard of review of final agency actions and with due deference to the considerable expertise of that agency.

Notwithstanding all of the foregoing, our review of the record compels us to conclude that in its wholesale embrace of the regulations adopted by the Department, the Appellate Division erred. Because we find in those regulations both unworkable standards and an unacceptable delegation of authority to an ill-defined category of presumed experts, we conclude that the Department failed, in part, to carry out its mandate. We therefore conclude that some, but not all, of the regulations are invalid and we reverse only those aspects of the Appellate Division’s judgment that concluded otherwise.

I.

The statute that created the underpinnings for the challenged regulations was first introduced for consideration by the Legislature on March 3,1994. Designated as Senate Bill 713, it proposed *373 the creation of an entirely new statutory section, and was entitled “AN ACT concerning domestic livestock and animal cruelty and welfare laws, amending R.S. 4:22-16, supplementing chapter 22 of Title 4 of the Revised Statutes and making an appropriation.” The bill was designed to construct the framework for the adoption of standards to govern the care of domestic livestock as a part of the existing laws prohibiting cruelty to animals. The statement attached to the bill specified that “[i]t is the intent of this bill that it should be construed to allow the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ... in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, to continue in the SPCA’s statutory capacity to enforce the State’s animal cruelty laws.” Sponsor’s Statement, Statement to Senate Bill No. 713 (Mar. 3, 1994).

On March 21, 1994, the Assembly Economic and Community Development, Agriculture and Tourism Committee issued a statement to Senate Bill Number 713 using identical language to describe the “intent” of the bill. Thereafter, on June 2, 1994, the Senate Senior Citizens, Veterans Affairs and Agricultural Committee issued a statement “favorably report[ing] [on] Senate Bill No. 713 with committee amendments.” 2 Among other things, the statement specified that “[i]t is the intent of this bill that it should be construed to allow the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ... in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, to continue in the SPCA’s statutory capacity to enforce the State’s animal cruelty laws.” Senate Senior Citizens, Veterans Affairs and Agricultural Committee, Statement to Senate Bill No. 713 (June 2, 1994). The bill was passed by the Senate *374 later in June 1994 and by the Assembly, without further amendment, on December 18,1995.

Acting pursuant to Article V, section I, paragraph 15 of the New Jersey Constitution, on January 5, 1996, Governor Whitman exercised her power to exercise an “item veto” to the $50,000 appropriation from the General Fund which was included in the bill. See Karcher v. Kean, 97 N.J. 483, 479 A.2d 403 (1984) (defining appropriation for purposes of conditional veto power). In doing so, however, the Governor “recognize[d] the merit of this bill and its goal of setting standards for humane treatment of domestic livestock....” The same day, the Legislature enacted the bill, absent the appropriation. See L. 1995, c. 311.

As enacted, the bill had two sections, the first of which was codified as N.J.S.A. 4:22-16.1. That section provides, in relevant part, as follows:

a. The State Board of Agriculture and the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and within six months of the date of enactment of this act, shall develop and adopt, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L. 1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.): (1) standards for the humane raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing, and sale of domestic livestock; and (2) rules and regulations governing the enforcement of those standards.

b. Notwithstanding any provision in this title to the contrary:

(1) there shall exist a presumption that the raising, keeping, care, treatment, marketing, and sale of domestic livestock in accordance with the standards developed and adopted therefor pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall not constitute a violation of any provision of this title involving alleged cruelty to, or inhumane care or treatment of, domestic livestock____

[N.J.SA. 4:22-16.1.]

The bill also amended N.J.SA 4:22-16, which more generally defines the manner in which the animal cruelty statutes are to be construed. The bill added a new section that created an exception to the animal cruelty statutes for any activity or practice performed in accordance with the regulations that the Department was directed to promulgate. See N.J.S.A 4:22-16(e). In addition, the bill extended the exemption granted in N.J.S.A 4:22-16(a) for “[pjroperly conducted scientific experiments” performed under the authority of certain entities, by adding an exemption for such *375 activities as were authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture.

A.

Notwithstanding the six month time frame within which the Department was directed to act, regulations designed to implement this statutory mandate' were not drafted and published as proposed regulations for public comment until 2003. See 35 N.J.R. 1873-88 (May 5, 2003). In response to the proposed regulations, the Department received over 6,500 written comments, and heard testimony from numerous witnesses who appeared at a public hearing on the proposals. See 36 N.J.R. 2586(a) (June 7, 2004). After considering the comments and the testimony, the Department amended certain of the proposed regulations and formally adopted the regulations, to be codified at N.J.A.C. 2:8 — 1.1 to -8.7, on June 7, 2004. See 36 N.J.R. 2637-715 (June 7, 2004). In doing so, the Department stated that it intended to “establish the minimum level of care that can be considered to be humane.” 36 N.J.R. 2637 (June 7, 2004). Moreover, the Department noted that the regulations were developed after extensive “consultations with the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, as well as with other academicians, the New Jersey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, veterinarians, Department staff, extension agents, producers, and allied industries.” Ibid. As explained by the Department:

[t]he rules were also developed with consideration of the Department’s overarching mission as reflected in Governor James McGreevey’s statement to Charles M. Kuperus, Secretary of Agriculture: “My charge to Charlie is clear — preserve our farms, fight for our farmers, and ensure that our agricultural industry is profitable and strong, innovative and poised for a bright future.”

[Ibid.]

As the Department understood its legislative mandate, and as it expressed that understanding as part of its adoption of these regulations in 2004, “[t]he rule proposal was designed to meet the complementary objectives of developing standards to protect animals from inhumane treatment and ... fostering industry sustain *376 ability and growth.” Ibid. As adopted, the regulations are substantially similar to those that were originally proposed, but the notice and comment period had alerted the Department to a number of aspects of the regulations that were in need of amendment. Although a few of those amendments were included in the regulations as adopted, see, e.g., 36 N.J.R. 2703 (June 7, 2004) (altering definition of induced molting in poultry); 36 N.J.R. 2704 (June 7, 2004) (altering definition of body condition scoring and providing scholarly reference in support), others were simultaneously issued as proposed amendments to the then newly adopted regulations, see 36 N.J.R. 2586(a) (June 7, 2004).

Relevant to the issues raised in this appeal, those proposed amendments sought to change the definition of “routine husbandry practices,” 36 N.J.R. 2588 (June 7, 2004), in order to respond to comments about the meaning and intent of the original language. 3 After a further period of notice and comment, the Department explained that many of the comments it had received did not in fact respond to the amendments, but instead continued to debate the merits of the previously promulgated regulations. See 37 N.J.R. 2465(b) (July 5, 2005). Following its consideration and its further response to the comments that were relevant to the new proposals, the Department, on June 1, 2005, formally adopted the amendments to the earlier version of the regulations. See 37 N.J.R. 2465-74 (July 5, 2005) (adopting revisions to N.J.AC. 2:8— 1.2, -2.2, -2.6, -5.5, -7.2, -7.6, -8.1, and -8.6).

Finally, on April 3, 2006, the Department, responding to continued criticism of one part of the previously promulgated regulations, proposed a further amendment that would alter the definitions and the regulations relating to a specific practice used in the management of poultry. See 38 N.J.R. 1491(a) (Dee. 4, 2006). In particular, the newly proposed regulations were designed to limit *377 induced molting procedures and to ban full feed-removal forced molting 4 techniques. 38 N.J.R. 1492 (Dec. 4, 2006). There were two individuals who offered generally negative input during the notice and comment period, and the Department responded to those comments in adopting the amendments on October 26, 2006. See 38 N.J.R. 4991(a) (Dec. 4, 2006) (adopting amendments to N.J.AC. 2:8-1.2, -4.2 and -4.4).

B.

Petitioners 5 are a variety of entities, including the NJSPCA, and individuals which describe themselves collectively as “a wide coalition of animal protection organizations, consumers, farmers, and concerned citizens.” Petitioners, many of whom had participated in the notice and comment process that led to the adoption of the regulations, raised this challenge to the final agency action adopting the regulations through an appeal in the Appellate Division, 6 see R. 2:2 — 3(a)(2).

*378 As part of the appeal, petitioners asserted that the regulations violated the directive of the Legislature as set forth in the statute itself. More particularly, petitioners contended that in adopting the statute, the Legislature expressed an intention to elevate the treatment of farm animals so as to permit only those practices, procedures, and techniques that meet the definition of “humane.” As such, petitioners argued that the regulations fell short of that mandate in several particulars. 7 First, petitioners argued that several subsections of the regulations include a broadly-worded exemption for any practice that meets the definition of a “routine husbandry practice” and that the definition as adopted is both impermissibly vague and not grounded on any evidence in the record. Second, petitioners asserted that some of the subsections included vague or undefined terms and failed to create enforceable standards. Third, petitioners asserted that the regulations authorized a variety of specific practices that do not meet the Department’s definition of “humane” and are not in fact humane.

In defending the regulations before the Appellate Division, the Department argued that they were consistent with both the intent and the spirit of the statute and supported by ample scientific evidence. In part, the Department argued that its statutory mandate required it to meet two public policy objectives, namely, preventing cruelty to animals and promoting the continuation of sustainable agriculture in New Jersey. The Department defended its election of “routine husbandry practices” as an appropriate criterion for its safe harbor exemption, explained how the regulations established objectively enforceable standards, and argued *379 that none of the specific practices that petitioners challenged is in fact inhumane.

C.

The Appellate Division, in an unpublished opinion, rejected each of petitioners’ challenges and sustained all of the challenged regulations. Relying in large part on the presumption of reasonableness afforded to acts of administrative agencies and the deferential standard of review that courts employ when reviewing matters involving an agency’s scientific or technical expertise, the Appellate Division found no basis on which to invalidate any part of these regulations.

The Appellate Division first rejected petitioners’ argument that in creating the exemption for “routine husbandry practices,” the Department had defined that phrase in a way that impermissibly delegated to others the creation of standards governing the humane treatment of farm animals. In considering this challenge, the Appellate Division found support in the statute’s express direction to the Department to consult with the Agricultural Experiment Station, see N.J.S.A 4:22-16.1(a), reasoning that this also permitted the Department to consider and rely upon other agricultural educational resources. In addition, the court, although agreeing with petitioners that an agency must create detailed standards based on factors it has found are relevant and persuasive, concluded that the Department met that standard by narrowing the “routine husbandry practices” definition so that it included only those practices that are commonly taught in the relevant educational institutions.

The Appellate Division also addressed petitioners’ argument that certain of the regulations failed to create enforceable standards by relying on vague or undefined terms. It rejected petitioners’ argument that the requirement relating to the “minimization of pain,” as the basis for permitting certain practices, could not be sustained because it did not create a meaningful standard. Instead, the Appellate Division reasoned that the regu *380 lation derives its content from the further requirement that the permitted techniques must be performed by trained people. Moreover, because the court was persuaded that the challenged practices can be humane even without the elimination of all pain, it concluded that the regulations were sufficiently supported by the record and were not unreasonable or arbitrary.

Finally, the Appellate Division separately considered and addressed each of the specific practices, permitted by the regulations, which were challenged by petitioners. As to each, after reviewing the record, the court concluded that the Department had collected voluminous information from a wide variety of sources and had examined the conflicting information about each practice before making a decision. Because each decision about a particular practice required the exercise of the Department’s judgment, and because each was adequately supported by sufficient scientific and veterinary literature, the court concluded that deference to the agency was appropriate. In short, the Appellate Division reasoned that, based on the entire record considered by the Department, there was no ground on which to conclude that any of its decisions about the specific practices was arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable.

Petitioners sought certification from this Court, asserting a number of the challenges that they had raised before the Appellate Division. We granted that petition for certification, 192 N.J. 292, 927 A.2d 1291 (2007), and we thereafter granted leave to several entities and individuals to participate as amicus curiae.

II.

Petitioners argue before this Court that the Appellate Division erred in its analysis and failed to recognize that the regulations authorize the continuation, as humane, of practices that are not. Asserting that the statute itself is remedial legislation entitled to be broadly read, petitioners argue that the Appellate Division failed to recognize the particular legislative purpose in utilizing the “humane” standard. According to petitioners, that standard *381 was used by the Legislature to avoid simply allowing the continuation of practices that are merely routine or common. They assert that the Legislature intended instead to require the Department to consider separately whether any particular practice, even if commonly or routinely utilized, is in fact humane. Petitioners urge us to conclude that although the Department recognized this mandate, as evidenced by the definition of humane that it adopted, its regulations fall short by ignoring that definition and by effectively doing precisely what the Legislature sought to avoid.

Reiterating the specific arguments they expressed before the appellate panel, petitioners urge this Court to invalidate the regulations in their entirety. They argue that the regulations, by relying on the “routine husbandry practices” definition, created a safe harbor that cannot be sustained. Petitioners point out that because the definition of this phrase permits any practice, and equates it with a humane practice, if it is “commonly taught” at a wide variety of educational institutions, it amounts to an impermissible delegation of the Department’s authority and permits as humane those practices that are not. Before this Court, petitioners have expanded this argument to include an assertion that the Department, in including this -wide assortment of educational and other institutions within its definition, failed to review or analyze their curricula or their programs to ensure that any of them actually teaches practices that are humane. They assert that because of this shortcoming, the Department acted without an essential basis in the record, resulting in the adoption of regulations not entitled to the Court’s deference.

Petitioners also reiterate the other arguments that they pressed before the Appellate Division, They urge the Court to conclude that the regulations fail to set an enforceable standard by utilizing language, such as “minimize pain,” without further definition, so as to provide insufficient guidance to those charged with enforcement and that the regulations therefore fail to establish any standard. Finally, they point to a large number of particular practices that are permitted to be performed by the regulations but that, they *382 assert, are not humane in accordance with the Department’s definition or which are of dubious benefit according to the scientific evidence. In short, because the regulations have both specific shortcomings and general ones, petitioners urge this Court to invalidate the regulations in their entirety.

The Department urges this Court to affirm the Appellate Division’s carefully analyzed and lengthy opinion and to uphold the regulations both in general and in all of their particulars. More specifically, the Department argues that its regulations should be afforded great deference and that the Appellate Division correctly determined that petitioners did not meet their heavy burden to overcome the agency’s expertise in setting up appropriate standards. It stresses that its regulations are supported by an extensive record and represent its considered judgment in carrying out its role of both promoting viable agriculture and ensuring animal and public health.

The Department argues in particular that its “routine husbandry practices” exemption is consistent with the statutory mandate and is an appropriate means to permit the continuation of practices that should be permitted. It points out that in response to criticism that its original definition of “routine husbandry practices” was too broad, it introduced and adopted the amended definition, limiting such practices only to those that are “commonly taught” at veterinary schools, land grant colleges, 8 and universities or by agricultural extension agents. At the same time, the Department urges the Court to reject petitioners’ assertion that it did not review the curricula of these institutions before relying on them as part of its safe harbor. The Department notes instead that it consulted with educators and experts, reviewed various *383 curricula, texts, federal and state statutes, as well as state and national standards, and asserts that it therefore fully discharged its statutory obligations.

The Department also urges this Court to reject petitioners’ other arguments that the regulations fail to éstablish enforceable standards, as well as the challenges to each of the specific practices that the agency elected to include within the subsections identifying techniques that are permissible. It asserts that it has faithfully carried out its mandate to ensure that the practices used in animal husbandry are humane, and has exercised its expertise in order to do so. In support of this argument, the Department explains that in those cases in which it identified practices that are not humane, it has acted to eradicate them, pointing to its decision to ban full feed-removal forced molting.

The Department argues that the regulations set forth a baseline of behavior that farmers are free to exceed if they so desire and explains that underlying the regulations it adopted is the belief that farmers genuinely care for their animals and are aware of the basics of animal biology and behavior. As such, the Department urges us to reject the arguments raised by petitioners and to agree with the Appellate Division that there is no ground on which to invalidate any aspect of the regulations.

In addition to the arguments made by petitioners and by the Department, we granted leave to a number of other interested individuals and entities to file briefs as amicus curiae. In particular, the Monmouth County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Cumberland County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals filed a joint brief in which they supported the arguments advanced by petitioners. They argue that the exemption in the regulation for “routine husbandry practices” fails to create an enforceable standard, that in adopting it the Department failed to review the curricula of the institutions that will serve as the arbiter of what is either routine or commonly taught, and that the exemption therefore is an impermissible delegation of the Department’s statutory mandate. Moreover, they assert that *384 this exemption impairs the ability of any of the SPCAs to carry out their obligation to enforce the anti-cruelty laws. In addition, they argue that the Department, in adopting the safe harbor based on “routine husbandry practices,” impermissibly embraced and permitted numerous practices that have not been demonstrated to be humane, and thus failed to adhere to the statutory mandate that it only authorize those practices that it has concluded have been shown affirmatively to be humane. Finally, they argue that the Department failed to apply the very standard of “humane” that its own regulations adopted.

Bernard E. Rolíin, Ph.D., who identified himself as an animal welfare expert, also filed a brief, as amicus curiae, in which he raised other concerns about the challenged regulations. The gravamen of his argument is that many practices and procedures used in veterinary medicine, including many that are commonly used and taught in veterinary schools, are not humane, with the result that many practices that would meet the regulation’s safe harbor definition of being “routine husbandry practices” cannot also be defined as humane. He further argues that the Department failed to discharge its statutory mandate because it relied on entities whose focus is on economic productivity rather than on animal welfare. He urges this Court to recognize that our Legislature chose instead a loftier standard, one that the Department was directed, but failed, to enforce, thus requiring that the regulations be invalidated.

III.

We begin with a recitation of the well-established principles that inform our review of the final decisions of administrative agencies like the Department. Because the challenge brought by petitioners proceeds on multiple levels, we set forth the standards that apply to each.

First, the general parameters of our review are not controversial. Appellate courts ordinarily accord deference to final agency actions, reversing those actions if they are “arbitrary, *385 capricious or unreasonable or [if the action] is not supported by substantial credible evidence in the record as a whole.” Henry v. Rahway State Prison, 81 N.J. 571, 579-80, 410 A.2d 686 (1980). Similarly, an appellate court generally will not reverse an agency action, including its action in promulgating regulations, unless: (1) the regulations at issue “violate[] the enabling act’s express or implied legislative policies;” or (2) “there is [not] substantial evidence in the record to support the findings on which the agency based its action;” or (3) “in applying the legislative policies to the facts the agency clearly erred by reaching a conclusion that could not reasonably have been made upon a showing of the relevant factors.” In re Rulemaking, N.J.AC. 10:82-1.2 & 10:85-4.1, 117 N.J. 311, 325, 566 A.2d 1154 (1989).

Moreover, in our review of an agency’s interpretation of statutes within its scope of authority and its adoption of rules implementing its enabling statutes, we afford the agency great deference. In re Freshwater Wetlands Prot. Act Rules, 180 N.J. 478, 489, 852 A.2d 1083 (2004). As we have explained: “[s]uch deference is appropriate because it recognizes that ‘agencies have the specialized expertise necessary to enact regulations dealing with technical matters and are “particularly well equipped to read ... and to evaluate the factual and technical issues that ... rulemaking would invite.” ’ ” Ibid, (quoting N.J. State League of Muns. v. Dep’t of Cmty. Affairs, 158 N.J. 211, 222, 729 A.2d 21 (1999) (quoting Bergen Pines County Hosp. v. N.J. Dep’t of Human Servs., 96 N.J. 456, 474, 476 A.2d 784 (1984))). For this reason, we begin with a presumption that an agency’s regulations are both valid and reasonable and we place on the challenging party the burden of proving that the regulation violates the statute. N.J. State League of Muns., supra, 158 N.J. at 222, 729 A.2d 21.

Nevertheless, if a regulation is “inconsistent with the statute it purports to interpret,” Smith v. Dir., Div. of Taxation, 108 N.J. 19, 26, 527 A.2d 843 (1987), it will be invalidated. As we have held, an agency “may not under the guise of interpretation ... *386 give the statute any greater effect than its language allows.” Kingsley v. Hawthorne Fabrics, Inc., 41 N.J. 521, 528, 197 A.2d 673 (1964). “Thus, if the regulation is plainly at odds with the statute, [the court will] set it aside.” In re Freshwater, supra, 180 N.J. at 489, 852 A.2d 1083 (citing N.J. Tpk. Auth. v. Am. Fed’n of State, County & Mun. Employees, Council 73, 150 N.J. 331, 351, 696 A.2d 585 (1997)).

Even if a regulation falls within the scope of the agency’s legislative authority, it will nonetheless be invalidated if the agency “significantly]” fails “to provide ... regulatory standards that would inform the public and guide the agency in discharging its authorized function,” Lower Main St. Assocs. v. N.J. Hous. & Mortgage Fin. Agency, 114 N.J. 226, 235, 553 A.2d 798 (1989) (citing Dep’t of Envtl. Prot. v. Stavola, 103 N.J. 425, 436-38, 511 A.2d 622 (1986); Dep’t of Labor v. Titan Constr. Co., 102 N.J. 1, 12-18, 504 A.2d 7 (1985)), because a failure of that magnitude raises due process concerns. See Crema v. N.J. Dep’t of Envtl. Prot., 94 N.J. 286, 301, 463 A.2d 910 (1983). As we have explained, the “deference [we afford to agencies] does not require abdication by the judiciary of its function to assure that agency rulemaking conforms with basic tenets of due process, and provides standards to guide both the regulator and the regulated.” Lower Main St., supra, 114 N.J. at 236, 553 A.2d 798. In keeping with these familiar standards, we turn to our review of the particular regulations in issue.

IV.

Petitioners attack the regulations both generally and specifically, as a result of which our analysis must proceed in like fashion. We therefore begin with a consideration of whether the regulations in general are invalid.

A.

The regulations themselves are divided into several subchapters, each of which addresses a different aspect of the statutory *387 mandate in the context of the care and treatment of domestic livestock. The first part of the regulations, N.J.AC. 2:8-1.1 to - 1.2, sets forth the agency’s statement of purpose, its presumption that acts in accordance with the regulations will “not constitute cruelty ... or inhumane care and treatment” in violation of the statute, N.J.A.C. 2:8-1.1, and lists the definitions that shall apply to the terms used in the regulations, N.J.A.C. 2:8-1.2.

The next six subchapters of the regulations set forth standards that relate to particular types of domestic livestock, including cattle, N.J.A.C. 2:8-21 to -2.7; horses, N.J.A.C. 2:8-31 to -3.7; poultry, N.J.A.C. 2:8-41 to -4.8; rabbits, N.J.A.C. 2:8-51 to -5.8; small ruminants, 9 N.J.A.C. 2:8-61 to -6.7; and swine, N.J.A.C. 2:8-71 to -7.7. Although each of these subehapters includes subsections about similar areas of raising, keeping, or caring for domestic livestock that are being regulated and although each includes certain standards that apply generally to all domestic livestock, the majority of each subchapter is devoted to individualized practices and management techniques for each animal or group of animals.

For example, each includes subsections setting forth general provisions, as well as standards relating to “feeding,” “watering,” “keeping,” “marketing and sale,” and “care and treatment” of the particular group of animals in question. Each subchapter, however, also includes a subsection entitled “exceptions,” that creates a so-called “safe harbor” provision. As to each type of farm animal, this provision identifies a number of particular practices that are explicitly permitted if they are performed by “knowledgeable individuals in a sanitary manner in a way to minimize pain,” and authorizes other techniques by reference to “routine husbandry practices” as defined in N.J.A.C. 2:8-1.2.

*388 The final subchapter of the regulations, N.J.A.C. 2:8-8.1 to -8.7, provides standards governing “the investigation and enforcement of alleged violations of humane standards” applicable to domestic livestock.

B.

In order to fully appreciate the challenges to the regulations and, in particular, the effect of the subsections that either explicitly permit certain practices or establish a. safe harbor, we turn briefly to an analysis of the more general provisions of the laws that are designed to prevent and to punish cruelty to animals. The statutory provisions relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals are found in Chapter 22 of Title 4, which is devoted to Agriculture. As it is currently codified, that Chapter continues the existence of the NJSPCA and its county societies, see N.J.S.A 4:22-11.1 to -11.7, and it creates standards for the training and commissioning of humane law enforcement officers and agents, N.J.S.A 4:22-11.8 to -11.9, and for animal protection law enforcement officers and agents, N.J.S.A 4:22-11.10 to -12. The Chapter also includes an extensive series of sections relating to the enforcement of the laws preventing cruelty to animals, the methods for detection and investigation, and the penalties, both criminal and civil, that may be imposed for violations of the statute.

As an integral part of the enforcement scheme, Chapter 22 includes several sections that define the meaning and scope of animal cruelty and its prevention. It does so in part by defining both in general and in very specific terms the acts that will constitute cruelty and by identifying the penalties, both civil and criminal, that will be imposed for particular violations. See, e.g., N.J.S.A. 4:17 to :26. 10

*389 In addition, however, the statute specifies a large variety of acts and practices that shall not be “prohibit[ed] or interfere[d] with,” that is, acts and practices that shall not, by definition, constitute cruelty. See N.J.S.A. 4:22-16. These acts and practices include, for example, certain rather broadly defined scientific experiments, 11 training of dogs for various purposes, and hunting and fishing in accordance with relevant regul