National Petroleum Refiners Ass'n v. Federal Trade Commission

J. SKELLY WRIGHT, Circuit Judge.

This case presents an important question concerning the powers and procedures of the Federal Trade Commission. We are asked to determine whether the Commission, under its governing statute, the Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S. C. § 41 et seq. (1970), and specifically 15 U.S.C. § 46(g), is empowered to promulgate substantive rules of business conduct or, as it terms them, “Trade Regulation Rules.” The effect of these rules would be to give greater specificity and clarity to the broad standard of illegality — “unfair methods of competition in commerce, and unfair or…