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AMERICAN TEXTILE MFRS. INST., INC. V. DONOVAN, 452 U. S. 490 - Volume 452 - 1981 - Full Text - US Supreme Court Center - USSC Cases - Nolo
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AMERICAN TEXTILE MFRS. INST., INC. V. DONOVAN, 452 U. S. 490 (1981)
142 [Footnote 13] In 1966, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), a private organization, recommended that exposure to total cotton dust [Footnote 14] be limited to a "threshold limit value" of 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter of air (1,000 �g/m^3) averaged over an 8-hour workday. See 43 Fed.Reg. 2731, col. 1 (1978). The United States Government first regulated exposure to cotton dust in 1968, when the Secretary of Labor, pursuant to the Walsh-Healey Act, 41 U.S.C. § 35(e), promulgated airborne contaminant threshold limit values, applicable to public contractors, that included the 1,000 �g/m^3 limit for total cotton dust. 34 Fed.Reg. 7953 (1969). [Footnote 15] Following passage of the Act in 1970, the 1,000 �g/m^3 standard was adopted as an "established Federal standard" under § 6(a) of the Act, 84 Stat. 1593, 29 U.S.C. § 65(a), a provision designed to guarantee immediate protection of workers for the period between enactment of the statute and promulgation of permanent standards. [Footnote 16]
limit recommendation to 200 �g/m^3 measured by a vertical elutriator, a device that measures cotton dust particles 15 microns or less in diameter. 43 Fed.Reg. 27351, col. 1, 27355, col. 2 (1978). [Footnote 17] That same year, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), [Footnote 18] pursuant to the Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 669(a)(3), 671 (d)(2), submitted to the Secretary of Labor a recommendation for a cotton dust standard with a permissible exposure limit (PEL) that "should be set at the lowest level feasible, but in no case at an environmental concentration as high as 0.2 mg lint-free cotton dust/cu m," or 200 �g/m^3 of lint-free respirable dust. [Footnote 19] Ex. 1, Ct. of App. J.A. 11; 41 Fed.Reg. 56500, col. 1 (1976). Several months later, OSHA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 39 Fed.Reg. 44769 (1974), requesting comments from interested parties on the NIOSH recommendation and other related matters. Soon thereafter, the Textile Worker's Union
of America, joined by the North Carolina Public Interest Research Group, petitioned the Secretary, urging a more stringent PEL of 100 �g/m^3.
On December 28, 1976, OSHA published a proposal to replace the existing federal standard on cotton dust with a new permanent standard, pursuant to § 6(b)(5) of the Act, 29 U.S.C. § 655(b)(5). 41 Fed.Reg. 56498. The proposed standard contained a PEL of 200 �g/m^3 of vertical elutriated lint-free respirable cotton dust for all segments of the cotton industry. Ibid. It also suggested an implementation strategy for achieving the PEL that relied on respirators for the short term and engineering controls for the long-term. Id. at 5656, cols. 2 and 3. OSHA invited interested parties to submit written comments within a 90-day period. [Footnote 20]
mandatory PEL's over an 8-hour period of 200 �g/m^3 for yarn manufacturing, [Footnote 21] 750 g/m^3 for slashing and weaving operations, and 500 �g/m^3 for all other processes in the cotton industry. [Footnote 22] 29 CFR § 1910.1043(c) (1980). These levels represent a relaxation of the proposed PEL of 200 �g/m^3 for all segments of the cotton industry.
On the basis of the evidence in the record as a whole, the Secretary determined that exposure to cotton dust represents a "significant health hazard to employees," 43 Fed.Reg. 27350, col. 1 (1978), and that "the prevalence of byssinosis should be significantly reduced" by the adoption of the Standard's PEL's, id. at 27359, col. 3. In assessing the health risks from cotton dust and the risk reduction obtained from lowered exposure, OSHA relied particularly on data showing a strong linear relationship between the prevalence of byssinosis and the concentration of lint-free respirable cotton dust. Id. at 27355-27359; Exhibit 6-51, App. 29-55. See also Ex. 6-17, Ct. of App. J.A. 235-245; Ex. 38D, id. at 1492-1839. Even at the 200 �g/m^3 PEL, OSHA found that the prevalence of at least Grade 1/1 byssinosis would be 137% of all employees in the yarn manufacturing sector. 43 Fed.Reg. 27359, cols. 2 and 3 (1978).
In promulgating the Cotton Dust Standard, OSHA interpreted the Act to require adoption of the most stringent standard to protect against material health impairment, bounded only by technological and economic feasibility. Id. at 27361, col. 3. OSHA therefore rejected the industry's alternative proposal for a PEL of 500 �g/m^3 in yarn manufacturing, a proposal which would produce a 25% prevalence of at least Grade 1/2 byssinosis. The agency expressly found the Standard to be both technologically and economically feasible
based on the evidence in the record as a whole. Although recognizing that permitted levels of exposure to cotton dust would still cause some byssinosis, OSHA nevertheless rejected the union proposal for a 100 �g/m^3 PEL because it was not within the "technological capabilities of the industry." Id. at 27359-27360. Similarly, OSHA set PEL's for some segments of the cotton industry at 500 �g/m^3 in part because of limitations of technological feasibility. Id. at 27361, col. 3. Finally, the Secretary found that "engineering dust controls in weaving may not be feasible even with massive expenditures by the industry," id. at 27360, col. 2, and, for that and other reasons, adopted a less stringent PEL of 750 �g/m^3 for weaving and slashing.
Agreement with petitioners' argument that § 3(8) imposes an additional and overriding requirement of cost-benefit analysis on the issuance of § 6(b)(5) standards would eviscerate the "to the extent feasible" requirement. Standards would inevitably be set at the level indicated by cost-benefit analysis, and not at the level specified by § 6(b)(5). For example, if cost-benefit analysis indicated a protective standard of 1,000 �g/m^3 PEL, while feasibility analysis indicated a 500 �g/m^3 PEL, the agency would be forced by the cost-benefit requirement to choose the less stringent point. [Footnote 31] We cannot believe that Congress intended the general terms of § 3(8) to countermand the specific feasibility requirement of § 6(b)(5). Adoption of petitioners' interpretation would effectively write § 6(b)(5) out of the Act. We decline to render Congress' decision to include a feasibility requirement nugatory, thereby offending the well-settled rule that all parts of a statute, if possible, are to be given effect. E.g., Reiter v. Sonotone Corp., 442 U.S. at 442 U. S. 339; Weinberger v. Hynson, Westcott & Dunning, Inc., 412 U. S. 609, 412 U. S. 633-634 (1973); Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co., 367 U. S. 303, 367 U. S. 307-308 (1961). Congress did not contemplate any further balancing by the agency for toxic material and harmful physical agents standards, and we should not "impute to Congress a purpose to analyze with one hand what it sought to promote with the other.'" Weinberger v. Hynson, Westcott & Dunning, Inc., supra, at 412 U. S. 631, quoting Clark v. Uebersee Finanz-Korporation, 332 U. S. 480, 332 U. S. 489 (1947). [Footnote 32]
mills had attained PEL's of 200 �g/m^3 or less, while others were below the 1,000 �g/m^3 total dust level. [Footnote 43] Therefore, OSHA disagreed with RTI's assumption that the industry had not reduced cotton dust exposure below the existing standard's 1,000 �g/m^3 total dust PEL. Id. at 27370, col. 3. Third, OSHA found that the RTI study suffered from lack of recent accurate industry data. Id. at 27373, col. 1; see Ex. 76, Ct. of App. J.A. 88; Ex. 16., id. at 1367, 1359.
estimate was overstated for four principal reasons. First, Hocutt-Thomas included costs of achieving the existing PEL of 1,000 �g/m^3, while OSHA thought it likely that compliance was more widespread, and that some mills had in fact achieved the final standard's PEL. Ibid.; see n 43, supra. [Footnote 46] Second, Hocutt-Thomas declined to make any allowance for the trend toward replacement of existing production machines with newer more productive equipment. [Footnote 47] Relying on this "[n]atural production tren[d]," 43 Fed.Reg. 27359, col. 1 (1978), OSHA concluded that fewer machines than estimated by Hocutt-Thomas would require retrofitting or other controls,
RTI evaluated the likely economic impact on the cotton industry and the United States' economy of OSHA's original proposed standard, an across-the-board 200 �g/m^3 PEL. Ex. 6-76, Ct. of App. J.A. 626. [Footnote 57] RTI had estimated a total
compliance cost of $2.7 billion for a 200 �g/m^3 PEL, [Footnote 58] and used this estimate in assessing the economic impact of such a standard. Id. at 736-737. As described in n. 44 supra, OSHA estimated total compliance costs of $656.5 million for the final Cotton Dust Standard, [Footnote 59] a standard less stringent than the across-the-board 200 �g/m^3 PEL of the proposed standard. Therefore, the agency found that the economic impact of its Standard would be "much less severe" than that suggested by RTI for a 200 �g/m^3 PEL estimate of $2.7 billion. 43 Fed.Reg. 27378, col. 2 (1978). Nevertheless, it is instructive to review RTI's conclusions with respect to the economic impact of a $2.7 billion cost estimate. RTI found:
"Implementation of the proposed [200 �g/m^3] standard will require adjustments within the cotton textile industry that will take time to work themselves out and that may be difficult for many firms. In time, however, prices may be expected to rise and markets to adjust so that revenues will cover costs. Although the impact on any one firm cannot be specified in advance, nothing in the RTI study indicates that the cotton textile industry as a whole will be seriously threatened by the impact of the proposed standard for control of cotton dust exposure."
Through an output demand elasticity analysis, RTI determined that price increases necessitated by the 200 �g/m^3 standard would result in a. 1.68% contraction of cotton yarn consumption. [Footnote 63] Id. at 685; see id. at 680-687. RTI also discussed the effects of such price increases on interfiber and domestic/foreign competition. RTI observed that "non-price factors have probably dominated" the competition between cotton and man-made fibers. Id. at 623, 948-953. [Footnote 64] Noting that international trade agreements restricting foreign imports of textile products "have tended to smother the effects of a small change in the relative prices of domestic versus foreign textile products," id. at 622, RTI concluded that such small
Relying on its comprehensive economic evaluation of the cotton industry's ability to absorb the $2.7 billion compliance cost of a 200 �g/m^3 PEL standard, RTI concluded that "nothing in the RTI study indicates that the cotton textile industry as a whole will be seriously threatened." Ex. 16, id. at 1380. [Footnote 67] Therefore, it follows a fortiori that OSHA's
In many cotton preparation and manufacturing operations, including opening, picking, and carding, 1,000 �g/m^3 of total dust is roughly equivalent to 500 �g/m^3 of respirable dust. App. 464; 43 Fed.Reg. 27361, col. 2 (1978); see n 22 infra.
The nontextile industries covered by the Standard's 500 �g/m^3 PEL include, but are not limited to,
Id. at 27354, col. 2. In making its assessment of significant risk, OSHA relied on dose-response curve data (the Merchant Study) showing that 25% of employees suffered at least Grade 1/2 byssinosis at a 500 �g/m^3 PEL, and that 12.7% of all employees would suffer byssinosis at the 200 �g/m^3 PEL standard. Id. at 27358, cols. 2 and 3. Examining the Merchant Study in light of other studies in the record, the agency found that "the Merchant study provides a reliable assessment of health risk to cotton textile workers from cotton dust." Id. at 27357, col. 3. OSHA concluded that the "prevalence of byssinosis should be significantly reduced" by the 200 �g/m^3 PEL. Id. at 27359, col. 3; see id. at 27359, col. 1 ("200 �g/m^3 represents a significant reduction in the number of affected workers"). It is difficult to imagine what else the agency could do to comply with this Court's decision in Industrial Union Dept. v. American Petroleum Institute.
RTI's David LeSourd explained that RTI did not have data on the degree of compliance for the industry as a whole, but only for some specific mills. Id. at 3637-3638. Therefore RTI merely assumed that industrywide PEL's were at a 1,000 �g/m^3 total dust PEL. Ex. 6-76, id. at 579-580. The record contains conflicting evidence on the actual level of control in the industry. Some evidence suggests compliance by mills substantially better than the 1,000 �g/m^3 total dust level. See, e.g., Ex. 47, id. at 2037 (66% of Burlington Industries work areas at or below 500 �g/m^3, 28% below 200 �g/m^3); Ex. 78, id. at 2387. One expert, commenting on another study, observed that "substantial proportions of the industry are, in fact, within compliance of [200 �g/m^3]." Id. at 3637. Other evidence in the record suggests that some segments of the industry are not in compliance with the 1,000 �g/m^3 total dust PEL. See, e.g., id. at 3939 (criticizing RTI assumption of compliance). In any event, OSHA found that the "actual level of controls in the cotton industry could not be determined" on the basis of data available to RTI at the time of its study. 43 Fed.Reg. 27370, col. 3 (1978).
The Hocutt-Thomas study included an allowance for existing compliance efforts, by subtracting from its total estimate the cost of all engineering controls purchased by the industry prior to February 11, 1977. Id. at 2232, 2247. Whether this is a sufficient proxy for current industry compliance is not apparent from the record. Hocutt himself admitted that he did not have figures on what portion of the industry was meeting the 1,000 �g/m^3 total dust PEL. Id. at 3941.
The final Cotton Dust Standard calls for PEL's of 200 �g/m^3 in opening through roving and spinning through warping, and 750 �g/m^3 for slashing and weaving. The Hocutt-Thomas study similarly assumed a 200 �g/m^3 PEL for opening through roving, but assumed less stringent PEL's of 500 �g/m^3 for spinning through warping, and 1,000 �g/m^3 for slashing and weaving.
The Secretary originally asked RTI to prepare cost estimates for several PEL levels, including 500, 200, and 100 �g/m^3. Ex. 6-76, Ct. of App. J.A. 509. Clearly the Secretary intended to have cost information on the different PEL's that he might promulgate. Although RTI provided estimates for these levels in its final report, OSHA found them to be too unreliable to adopt as final estimates. See supra at 452 U. S. 524-525.
Even if the Secretary had wanted to obtain a cost estimate based on confidential industry data for the actual PEL's in the adopted Standard, he would have been unable to do so. Hocutt had concluded that it was technologically impractical to achieve PEL's below 500 �g/m^3 for the operations of spinning through warping, Ex. 60, Ct. of App. J.A. 2239-2241, and PEL's below 1,000 �g/m^3 for weaving and slashing, id. at 2241-2243. Therefore, he declined to prepare cost estimates of a 200 �g/m^3 PEL for those operations. The Secretary obviously disagreed with his judgment of technological feasibility. We also note that, although petitioners challenged the technological feasibility of the final Cotton Dust Standard in the Court of Appeals, they have abandoned such challenge here. Brief for Petitioners in No. 79-1429, p. 8, n. 16.
Ex. 6-76, Ct. of App. J.A. 626. RTI also examined the economic impact of two other across-the-board PEL's of 500 �g/m^3 and 100 �g/m^3. Ibid.
Two of the six yarn production operations had ratios less than 1, two had ratios less than 2, and the remaining two were less than 6. Ex. 6-76, Ct. of App. J.A. 665. Chase Manhattan Bank's John Figh agreed with RTI's assessment that financing the $2.7 billion compliance cost for a 200 �g/m^3 PEL standard would be most difficult for smaller textile companies. Ex. 63, id. at 2264-2265.
RTI conducted similar economic impact analyses, although in less depth, for the twisting through weaving and waste-processing sectors of the cotton industry covered by the proposed 200 �g/m^3 PEL standard. Ex. 6-76, id. at 462. RTI found, for example, that price increases per dollar of industry sales ranged from 0.5 cents to 18 cents for twisting through weaving operations, and that some of these operations would experience "severe" financing difficulties. Id. at 733-734. To recount in further detail these conclusions would be an irrelevant exercise. RTI calculated that a 200 �g/m^3 standard for weaving/slashing would cost $1.259 billion, id. at 600, and computed the economic impact based on that figure. But RTI had also estimated that compliance costs for a 500 �g/m^3 PEL would be zero. Ibid. Since the final Cotton Dust Standard sets a 750 �g/m^3 PEL for weaving/slashing, further review of RTI's conclusion with respect to its $1.259 billion cost is particularly unnecessary.
Perhaps in light of this fact, neither petitioners ATMI et al. nor petitioner National Cotton Council of America frame their "economic impact" substantial evidence arguments based on OSHA's estimate of compliance costs. Instead, they adopt as a minimum RTI's $2.7 billion estimate for compliance costs with the proposed standard's 200 �g/m^3 PEL. Brief for Petitioner in No. 79-1583, pp. 15-16; Brief for Petitioners in No. 79-1429, p. 29.
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