Administrative adjudication procedures

The rules of practice of Part 6 of this title apply to those adjudications. Under 1926.4(a), administrative adjudications for enforcement of the safety and health standards contained in Subpart C of 29 CFR part 1926 and the subparts that follow use the same rules of practice published in Part 6 of the Code of Federal Regulations (with the limited exceptions described in paragraph (b)).

• This means administrative procedures such as prehearing conferences, hearing procedures, evidence submission, and issuance of decisions follow the Part 6 framework unless paragraph (b) provides otherwise.
• See 1926.4(a) for the governing provision.

The findings required by section 107(d) must be made by either the hearing examiner or the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, as appropriate. 1926.4(b) explicitly states that, in debarment cases, those required findings shall be made by the hearing examiner or the Assistant Secretary, depending on the circumstances.

• This assigns responsibility for the formal factual and legal findings needed to support debarment under section 107(d).
• See 1926.4(b).

A contractor must file a written request with the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, who will publish a Federal Register notice and afford interested persons an opportunity to be heard. 1926.4(b) specifies this process for requests to terminate debarment before the end of the 3-year period.

• File the termination request in writing with the Assistant Secretary for OSHA.
• After receipt, the Assistant Secretary will publish a notice in the Federal Register that the request has been received and will provide interested persons an opportunity to be heard.
• After those steps, the procedures in Part 6 apply to prehearing conferences, hearings, decisions, and orders (see 1926.4(b)).

After the Federal Register notice is published and interested persons have had an opportunity to be heard, the provisions of Part 6 of the CFR apply for prehearing conferences, hearings, related matters, and decisions and orders. 1926.4(b) makes clear that once the Assistant Secretary publishes the notice and affords the opportunity to be heard, the Part 6 rules govern how the matter proceeds.

• Part 6 procedures cover scheduling of prehearing conferences, the conduct of hearings, submission of evidence, and issuance of final decisions and orders.
• See 1926.4(b) for the linkage to Part 6.

No; 1926.4(a) limits the application to administrative adjudications for enforcement of the safety and health standards contained in Subpart C of part 1926 and the subparts that follow, except as modified by paragraph (b). In other words, Part 6 practice rules apply to those specified adjudications rather than automatically to every enforcement action under part 1926.

• For matters specifically covered by paragraph (b) (debarment), 1926.4(b) describes departures or additions to the general Part 6 application.
• See 1926.4(a).

Prehearing conferences and hearings are conducted under the procedures set forth in Part 6 once the Assistant Secretary has published the Federal Register notice and afforded interested persons an opportunity to be heard. 1926.4(b) directs that after those steps, the provisions of Part 6 govern prehearing conferences, hearings, related matters, and decisions and orders.

• The specific official who conducts the hearing (for example, a hearing examiner) and the procedures used will follow Part 6 practice rules.
• See 1926.4(b) for the procedural trigger and 1926.4(a) for the general Part 6 applicability.

Yes. 1926.4(b) explicitly states that in cases of debarment the required findings under section 107(d) of the Act shall be made by the hearing examiner or by the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health, as the case may be.

• The text gives both the hearing examiner and the Assistant Secretary the statutory role of making the necessary factual and legal findings for debarment.
• See 1926.4(b).

Yes. The Assistant Secretary is required to publish a notice in the Federal Register stating that the written request for termination of debarment has been received and to afford interested persons an opportunity to be heard. This requirement is set out in 1926.4(b).

• Publication triggers the opportunity for public or stakeholder comment and is the procedural step before Part 6 procedures apply.
• See 1926.4(b).

The statute referenced prescribes a 3-year debarment period, and a contractor may request termination of that debarment before the end of the 3-year period by filing a written request with the Assistant Secretary for OSHA as described in 1926.4(b).

• The 3-year time frame comes from section 107(d) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (as cited in 1926.4(b)), and early termination is possible through the written-request process specified in 1926.4(b).
• After receiving the request and publishing notice, Part 6 procedures govern the adjudication of that termination request (see 1926.4(b)).

Those phrases refer to the full set of administrative adjudicatory steps governed by Part 6 procedures, including scheduling and holding prehearing conferences, conducting hearings, resolving motions and evidentiary disputes, and issuing decisions and orders. 1926.4(b) ties these specific procedural elements to Part 6 once a termination-of-debarment request has been published in the Federal Register and interested persons have been afforded the opportunity to be heard.

• Examples of related matters include motions, discovery disputes (if applicable under Part 6 rules), witness lists, and rulings on evidence admissibility.
• See 1926.4(b).

Administrative adjudications to enforce the safety and health standards contained in Subpart C of part 1926 and the subparts that follow are governed by the Part 6 rules of practice. 1926.4(a) makes this linkage to Part 6 for enforcement of those particular construction safety and health standards.

• Typical enforcement actions using these procedures include contested citations, contestable orders, and related adjudicative proceedings concerning standards found in Subpart C and subsequent subparts.
• See 1926.4(a).

Paragraph (a) establishes that Part 6 rules of practice apply to administrative adjudications for enforcement of Subpart C and subsequent subparts, while paragraph (b) provides specific procedures and modifications that apply in debarment cases, including who makes required findings and the process for early termination requests. In short, (b) is an exception or supplement to the general application described in (a). See both 1926.4(a) and 1926.4(b).

• Use (a) to understand the general adoption of Part 6 practices and (b) to understand the special handling of debarment and early-termination-of-debarment requests.
• See 1926.4(a) and 1926.4(b).

First, the contractor must file the termination request in writing with the Assistant Secretary for OSHA; the Assistant Secretary then must publish a notice in the Federal Register that the request has been received and afford interested persons an opportunity to be heard. After those steps are completed, the matter proceeds under the Part 6 provisions for prehearing conferences, hearings, decisions, and orders. This sequence is set out in 1926.4(b).

• Filing the written request with the Assistant Secretary is the contractor’s responsibility.
• Publication and opportunity to be heard are prerequisites to invoking Part 6 procedures under 1926.4(b).
• See 1926.4(b).

You can read the overall construction safety and health standards in Part 1926 at 29 CFR Part 1926, and the specific administrative adjudication rule discussed here is at 1926.4. These links provide the regulatory text governing construction standards and the procedural rule that ties Part 6 practice to enforcement of certain subparts.

• See 29 CFR Part 1926 for the full set of construction standards.
• See 1926.4 for the adjudication procedures described in this Q&A.