Commission Issues Remand Order in Kiewit Power Constructors Co.

This case is on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Kiewit Power Constructors Co. v. Sec’y of Labor, 959 F.3d 381 (D.C. Cir. 2020). Former Administrative Law Judge Stephen J. Simko, Jr., granted Respondent’s motion to dismiss and vacated a citation issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, alleging a violation of the construction “quick-drenching” provision, 29 C.F.R. § 1926.50(g). The judge concluded that this provision, originally adopted pursuant to section 6(a) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, 29 U.S.C. § 655(a), was later “improperly promulgated and added as a new [construction] standard” without notice-and-comment rulemaking. Kiewit Power Constructors Co., No. 11-2395, 2018 WL 4861361, at *37 (OSHRC Dec. 24, 2012) (ALJ Decision & Order appended to Commission decision).