Ethyl Corp. V. EPA Summary

Facts of the Case
The case of Ethyl Corp. v. EPA was brought to the court on May 30, 1975 and was decided upon on March 19, 1976. The EPA was taken to court after requiring lead concentration in gasoline to be decreased due to the fact that endangers public welfare. Ethyl Corp argues that the standard of public health endangerment is poorly defined, and has little evidence to support that leaded gas is harmful.

The administrator of the EPA is allowed to regulate emissions from automobile pollutants under Section 211(c)(2)(A), 42 U.S.C. § 1857f-6c(c)(2)(A). The EPA’s administer argued that lead emissions would endanger the public welfare of the public, and especially in urbanized environments. Congress required a threshold assessment that lead particulates actually caused harm before determining the course of action because Section 109 of the CAA …show more content…
Court’s Opinion
Circuit Judge Wright begins by stating that he agrees with the EPA’s Administrator’s decision to reduce the lead content of leaded gasoline. Chief Judge Bazelon goes on to concur with Judge Wright’s opinion stating, “…that the Administrator is called upon to make “essentially legislative policy judgments” in assessing risks to public health.” He doesn’t believe that the judges have a valid enough scientific background to make absolute determinations.

Circuit Judge Leventhal concurs with the previous statements. Leventhal goes on to state that this conclusion was a difficult matter to come to due to the fact that the court of judges might have overstepped their bounds due to complications in interpreting the EPA’s scientific data. Circuit Judge Wilkey, Tamm and Robb have the dissenting opinion that the administrator acted in a constitutional manner. They state that 211(c)(1)(A) of the Clean Air Act allows the administrator to regulate fuel additives if they endanger public

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Ethyl Corp. V. EPA Case Summary