Industrial Union Department V. American Petroleum Institute - Opinion of The Court

Opinion of The Court

The Court held the Secretary applied the act inappropriately. To comply with the statute, the secretary must determine 1) that a health risk of a substance exists at a particular threshold and 2) Decide whether to issue the most protective standard, or issue a standard that weighs the costs and benefits. Here, the secretary failed to first determine that a health risk of substance existed for the chemical benzene when workers were exposed at 1 part per million. Data only suggested the chemical was unsafe at 10 parts per million. Thus, the secretary had failed the first step of interpreting the statute, that is, finding that the substance posed a risk at that level.

In its reasoning, the Court noted it would be unreasonable to assume that congress intended to give the Secretary “unprecedented power over American industry.” Such a delegation of power would likely be unconstitutional. The court also cited the legislative history of the act, which suggested that congress meant to address major workplace hazards, not hazards with low statistical likelihoods.