Public Citizen Health Research Group v. Chao

After Public Citizen (plaintiff) petitioned OSHA (defendant) in 1993 to set an emergency standard for hexavalent chromium, OSHA declined emergency action but acknowledged the current standard risked excess lung cancer and promised rulemaking, which then stalled for years -- first awaiting a comprehensive Johns Hopkins study not released until 2000, then delayed further by a new administration's review requirements, and then diverted by the September 11 and anthrax response efforts. Public Citizen petitioned the Third Circuit to compel agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act, arguing the delay was unreasonable.