National Petroleum Refiners Assn. v. Federal Trade Commission
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
482 F.2d 672 (1973)
- Written by Kathryn Lohmeyer, JD
Facts
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (defendant) decided to make a rule declaring that the failure to post octane rating numbers on gasoline pumps at service stations was an unfair method of competition and an unfair or deceptive act or practice. Two trade associations and 34 gasoline refining companies (plaintiffs) brought suit to challenge the FTC’s authority to make substantive rules of business conduct, termed by the FTC “Trade Regulation Rules”, under the Trade Commission Act (Act). Section 5 of the Act empowers the FTC to prevent unfair methods of competition by means of an issuance of a complaint, hearing, findings as to fact, and issuance of a cease and desist order. Section 6(g) provides that the FTC may make “rules and regulations for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of [Section 5].” Plaintiffs argued that since Section 5 mentions only adjudication as the means of enforcement, rulemaking is contrary to the legislative design. The district court agreed. The FTC appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Skelly Wright, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 790,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
