Animal Legal Defense Fund v. Glickman

In 1985, Congress enacted the Improved Standards for Laboratory Animals Act (laboratory act). The laboratory act authorized the Department of Agriculture (department) to promulgate regulations on the minimum requirements that primate-research facilities must satisfy to ensure a physical environment that promotes social well-being. The department began the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) notice-and-comment rulemaking process. In 1991, the department promulgated the final regulation, which consisted of five broad and general standards. Otherwise, the department gave deference to the facilities’ onsite veterinarians to determine how best to promote primate social well-being on the ground that providing a specific and strict set of standards for all facilities, many of which had different primate types, would prove too challenging. The standards did require that each facility establish a performance plan detailing a social-well-being approach. Marc Jurnove (plaintiff) sued Secretary of Agriculture Daniel R. Glickman (defendant) for violating the laboratory act and APA. Jurnove argued that Glickman had violated the laboratory act because the standards promulgated were too broad and not in compliance with the minimum-requirements language. Jurnove argued that Glickman had violated the APA because he ignored comments that primates should be grouped together to promote primate well-being. Glickman argued that the evidence gathered from the notice-and-comment rulemaking process was conflicting on whether the regulations should require facilities to group the primates together. The district court returned a verdict for Jurnove. The matter was appealed.