Secretary of Labor v. Argos Puerto Rico Corp.

Plain-English summary

Argos Puerto Rico said it never received MSHA's proposed penalty assessment and asked the Commission to reopen the matter. At the Commission's request, the Secretary produced mailing records showing that MSHA used the wrong ZIP code and that multiple delivery attempts failed. Because section 105(a) makes receipt a condition for an uncontested assessment to become final, the Commission held that no final order existed. It treated Argos's reopening motion as a timely penalty contest and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authority: 30 U.S.C. § 815(a)
• Outcome: The reopening motion was declared moot, treated as a penalty contest, and remanded.
• Key point: An assessment that MSHA misaddresses and never delivers does not become a final Commission order.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

FEDERAL
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

1331
PENNSYLVANIA AVE., N.W., SUITE 520N

WASHINGTON,
DC 20004-1710

SECRETARY OF LABOR

MINE
SAFETY AND HEALTH    

ADMINISTRATION
(MSHA)

v.

ARGOS
PUERTO RICO CORP.

Docket
No. SE 2025-0061

A.C.
No. 54-00120-605838

BEFORE: 
Jordan, Chair; Baker and Marvit, Commissioners

ORDER

BY
THE COMMISSION:

This matter arises under the Federal Mine
Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. (2024) (“Mine Act”). On February
10, 2025, the Commission received from Argos Puerto Rico Corp. (“Argos”) a
motion seeking to reopen an uncontested proposed penalty assessment which
appeared to be a final order of the Commission according to section 105(a) of
the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 815(a).

Argos represents that it did not file a
notice of contest because it never received the proposed penalty assessment from
the Secretary of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”). Argos seeks
to reopen this proceeding so that it may contest the citations and proposed
penalties contained therein before the Commission. The Secretary filed a
response indicating that she did not object to the operator’s request.

On June 27, 2025, the Commission issued a Request
for Information, seeking to obtain copies of the proposed assessment and any mailing
receipts or delivery tracking records in the possession of the Secretary of
Labor in order to determine whether any delivery issues precluded the proposed
assessment from becoming a final order of the Commission. See 30 U.S.C.
§ 815(a) (If, within 30 days from the receipt of the [proposed assessment],
the operator fails to notify the Secretary that he intends to contest the
citation or the proposed assessment of penalty . . . the proposed assessment of
penalty shall be deemed a final order of the Commission . . . .) (emphasis
added).

On July 28, 2025, the Secretary responded
to the Commission’s request and provided documentation demonstrating that the
Secretary’s attempts to deliver the proposed assessment to Argos’ address of
record were unsuccessful; the failure originated from an error made by the
Secretary when typing the operator’s address. Specifically, the Secretary used
an incorrect zip code, and as the United States Postal Service records indicate,
the assessment was not delivered. Additional attempts to deliver the proposed
assessment were also unsuccessful.

Accordingly, we conclude that the proposed
assessment was not properly received by the operator as required by section
105(a) of the Mine Act and therefore there is no final order of the Commission.
See e.g. , Belt Tech, Inc. , 46 FMSHRC 975, 975-76 (Dec.
2024).

Therefore, the operator's motion to reopen
is moot. We now deem Argos’ motion to reopen a contest of the proposed penalty
assessment [1]
and this case is remanded to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for further
proceedings pursuant to the Mine Act and the Commission's Procedural Rules, 29
C.F.R. Part 2700.

/s/ Mary Lu Jordan

Mary Lu Jordan,
Chair

/s/
Timothy J. Baker

Timothy J. Baker,
Commissioner

/s/
Moshe Z. Marvit

Moshe
Z. Marvit, Commissioner 

Distribution:

Ing.
Juan Antonio Perez

Consultant

HC-05
BOX 7230

Guaynabo
Puerto Rico

[email protected]

Alexandra
J. Gilewicz, Esq.

Thomas
A. Paige, Esq. 

Office
of the Solicitor 

U.S.
Department of Labor 

Division
of Mine Safety and Health 

200
Constitution Avenue NW, Suite N4428  

Washington,
DC 20210 

[email protected] 

[email protected]

Melanie
Garris

US Department of Labor/MSHA 

Office
of Assessments, Room N3454 

200
Constitution Ave NW 

Washington,
DC 20210 

[email protected] 

Chief
Administrative Law Judge Glynn F. Voisin

Office
of the Chief Administrative Law Judge

Federal Mine Safety Health Review Commission

1331 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 520N

Washington, DC 20004-1710

[email protected]

[1]
The proposed
penalty assessment is included in the record as Attachment A to the Secretary’s
July 28th response to the Commission.