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2  NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS v. 

OSHA 
Per Curiam 

any measure similar to what OSHA has promulgated here. 
Many  States,  businesses,  and  nonprofit  organizations
challenged  OSHA’s  rule  in  Courts  of  Appeals  across  the 
country.  The  Fifth  Circuit  initially  entered  a  stay.    But 
when the cases were consolidated before the Sixth Circuit, 
that court lifted the stay and allowed OSHA’s rule to take
effect.  Applicants  now  seek  emergency  relief  from  this
Court, arguing that OSHA’s mandate exceeds its statutory 
authority and is otherwise unlawful.  Agreeing that appli-
cants are likely to prevail, we grant their applications and 
stay the rule. 

I 
A 
Congress  enacted  the  Occupational  Safety  and  Health
Act in 1970.  84 Stat. 1590, 29 U. S. C. §651 et seq.  The Act 
created  the  Occupational  Safety  and  Health  Administra-
tion (OSHA), which is part of the Department of Labor and 
under  the  supervision  of  its  Secretary.  As  its  name  sug-
gests, OSHA is tasked with ensuring occupational safety—
that is, “safe and healthful working conditions.”  §651(b).  It 
does so by enforcing occupational safety and health stand-
ards promulgated by the Secretary.  §655(b).  Such stand-
ards must be “reasonably necessary or appropriate to pro-
vide  safe  or  healthful  employment.”  §652(8)  (emphasis
added).  They must also be developed using a rigorous pro-
cess that includes notice, comment, and an opportunity for
a public hearing.  §655(b).

The  Act  contains  an  exception  to  those  ordinary  notice-
and-comment procedures for “emergency temporary stand-
ards.”  §655(c)(1).  Such standards may “take immediate ef-
fect upon publication in the Federal Register.”  Ibid.  They
are permissible, however, only in the narrowest of circum-
stances:  the  Secretary  must  show  (1)  “that  employees  are 
exposed  to  grave  danger  from  exposure  to  substances  or 
agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from