INDUSTRIAL UNION DEPT. v. AMER. PETROLEUM INST.

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Case Basics
Docket No. 
78-911
Petitioner 
Industrial Union Dept.
Respondent 
Amer. Petroleum Inst.
Consolidation 
No. 78-1036
Decided By 
Burger Court (1975-1981)
Opinion 
448 U.S. 607 (1980)
Argued 
Wednesday, October 10, 1979
Decided 
Wednesday, July 2, 1980
Advocates
George H. Cohen
(Argued the cause for Industrial Union Dept)
Charles F. Lettow
(Argued the cause for the respondents, Rubber Manufacturers Association, Inc., in both cases)
Edward W. Warren
(Argued the cause for the respondent, American Petroleum Institute, in both cases)
William Alsup
(Argued the cause for the petitioner, Marshall, in 78-1036)
Tags
Term:
Location: U.S. Department of Labor
Facts of the Case 

Acting under authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Secretary of Labor, after having demonstrated a link between exposure to benzene and leukemia, set a standard reducing the airborne concentrations of benzene to which workers could be exposed. The standard reduced the allowable amount from 10 parts per million (ppm) to one ppm. This case was decided together with Marshall v. American Petroleum Institute.

Question 

Did the Secretary exceed his authority to set standards?

Conclusion 
Decision: 5 votes for Amer. Petroleum Inst., 4 vote(s) against
Legal provision: Occupational Safety and Health

Yes. The Court agreed with the Court of Appeals that the Secretary had acted without knowledge that the new standard was necessary to "provide safe and healthful employment" as mandated by the Act. Nothing in OSHA's administrative record indicated that exposure to benzene at 10 ppm would cause leukemia and that exposure to one ppm would not. Since the Secretary had not made a threshold finding that exposure to 10 ppm posed significant health risks, he was powerless to promulgate the new standard.

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INDUSTRIAL UNION DEPT. v. AMER. PETROLEUM INST.. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 26 April 2013. <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1979/1979_78_911>.
INDUSTRIAL UNION DEPT. v. AMER. PETROLEUM INST., The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1979/1979_78_911 (last visited April 26, 2013).
"INDUSTRIAL UNION DEPT. v. AMER. PETROLEUM INST.," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, accessed April 26, 2013, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1979/1979_78_911.