Secretary of Labor v. Argos Puerto Rico Corp. (Commission decision, July 31, 2025)
Secretary of Labor v. Argos Puerto Rico Corp. (FMSHRC SE 2025-0061): Wrong ZIP code prevented finality
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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
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
Melanie
Garris
US Department of Labor/MSHA
Office
of Assessments, Room N3454
200
Constitution Ave NW
Washington,
DC 20210
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
[1]
The proposed
penalty assessment is included in the record as Attachment A to the Secretary’s July 28th response to the Commission.
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