Opinion ID: 399950
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Was the Secretary arbitrary and capricious in choosing area sampling over personal sampling?

Text: 18 Petitioner's first argument is that the Secretary's decision to employ area sampling rather than personal sampling to measure compliance with the respirable dust standard is arbitrary and capricious. Under a personal sampling program miners are required to wear face masks containing sampling devices. Petitioner argues that in passing the MSHA Congress was concerned with reducing the level of individual exposure to respirable dust; that the only dust to which an individual miner is exposed is that dust within his breathing zone; and that since area sampling does not sample the air within an individual's breathing zone, it fails to reflect the level of individual exposure and thus fails to achieve Congress' purpose. Apparently petitioner fears that a mine operator might be cited for a violation of the standard on the basis of area samples, even though personal samples show that no one individual's exposure exceeded the standard. 19 We do not think that the Secretary's choice of the area sampling program was arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion under § 706(2)(A) of the APA. The Secretary received comments from all interested parties. The record is replete with scientific evidence relating to both personal sampling and area sampling. Nothing in the record supports the conclusion that either type of sampling provides a perfect measure of exposure to respirable dust. Since there is no perfect sampling method, the Secretary has discretion to adopt any sampling method that approximates exposure with reasonable accuracy. The Secretary is not required to impose an arguably superior sampling method as long as the one he imposes is reasonably calculated to prevent excessive exposure to respirable dust. On this record, the difference between area and personal sampling is not shown to be so great as to make the Secretary's choice of an area sampling program irrational. Keeping in mind that our task is not to determine which method is better, we hold that the Secretary's choice of area sampling over personal sampling is not legally arbitrary and capricious. 20 We are not unmindful that area sampling may effectively require lower dust levels than might be required under a personal sampling program. This is because an operator might conceivably be cited for a violation of the 2 mg./m 3 standard on the basis of area samples even though no individual miner was exposed to more than 2 mg./m 3 of respirable dust during a shift. The fact that in theory the regulation may require operators to maintain a dust level below 2 mg./m 3 in its person-by-person impact does not render the regulation legally arbitrary and capricious. We repeat that all proposed sampling methods are less than perfect and are designed to provide only estimates of actual exposure. Since measurement error is inherent in all sampling, the very fact that Congress authorized a sampling program indicates that it intended some error to be tolerated in enforcement of the dust standard. The method selected by the Secretary, while perhaps more burdensome in its impact on mine operators than other methods, is not beyond the scope of his discretion. 21 Petitioner is simply wrong in its contention that Congress expressed a preference for personal sampling over area sampling. Section 842(a) of the MSHA makes clear that Congress left the choice of enforcement methodology entirely within the Secretary's discretion. Petitioner ignores the fact that the British studies relied on by Congress in drafting the 2 mg./m 3 standard were based on area sampling conducted with the MRE area sampling instrument. 7 Petitioner also ignores the fact that the designated occupation sampling program is itself an area sampling program. 8 The Secretary could reasonably rely on this lengthy experience with area sampling in adopting an area sampling program for the outby sections of the mine. 22 The Secretary has demonstrated a rational basis for the designated area sampling program: if the atmosphere in the area of a known dust generation source is in compliance with the statutory standard, then it can safely be assumed that all miners are protected from overexposure to respirable dust. This assumption is justified since no one individual constantly works next to an outby dust generation source over the course of an entire shift. 9 23 The area sampling program has several advantages over a personal sampling program. The most important advantage is that area sampling not only measures the concentration of respirable dust, it allows identification and thus control of dust generation sources. 10 Preamble, 45 Fed.Reg. 23,990, 23,998 (Apr. 8, 1980). Control of dust at the source will obviously contribute to reducing the level of personal exposure. By contrast, the results of personal samples do not allow identification of dust sources due to the movement of miners through various areas of the mine during the course of a working shift. Id. Thus, while a personal sampling system makes possible the identification of discrete individuals who have been overexposed, it does nothing to ensure reduction of dust generation because the source of the dust cannot be determined. Therefore, it clearly appears that area sampling can rationally be found to be superior to personal sampling as a means of enforcing (as opposed to merely measuring) compliance with the 2 mg./m 3 standard. 24 The area sampling program also avoids the greatest problem associated with a personal sampling program-how to achieve miner cooperation. The record contains evidence that many miners strongly dislike wearing personal samplers. App., vol. 1, at 216, 220. Miners also fear that the results of personal samples will be used as evidence against them in compensation proceedings for black lung benefits. Id. at 221; vol. 2 at 561, 567-68, 695-96. Finally, there is evidence that the accuracy of samples taken with personal samplers depends on the degree of attention and understanding of the user, factors which are dependent on miner cooperation. Id. at 143. The problem of enlisting miner cooperation in any personal sampling program provides further justification for adopting an area sampling approach. 25 We are convinced on this record that the Secretary has not exceeded his discretion in weighing the many considerations presented to him, and that he has rationally chosen a sampling program that is reasonaby calculated to achieve the statutory objective. 26 B. Was the Secretary arbitrary and capricious in refusing to reopen the record to consider additional evidence? 27 Petitioner argues that the Secretary acted arbitrarily and capriciously in refusing to reopen the record to consider additional evidence after the final rule was promulgated. The new evidence consists of two studies questioning the efficacy of area sampling for purposes of measuring individual exposure to respirable dust. 28 It is well settled that an agency need not reopen administrative proceedings merely because some new piece of evidence has come to light that was not before the agency at the time it made its decision. This rule was recently reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 435 U.S. 519, 98 S.Ct. 1197, 55 L.Ed.2d 460 (1978): 29 Administrative consideration of evidence ... always creates a gap between the time the record is closed and the time the administrative decision is promulgated (and, we might add, the time the decision is judicially reviewed) .... If upon the coming down of the order litigants might demand rehearings as a matter of law because some new circumstance has arisen, some new trend has been observed, or some new fact discovered, there would be little hope that the administrative process could ever be consummated in an order that would not be subject to reopening. 30 Id. at 554-55, 98 S.Ct. at 1217, quoting from I.C.C. v. City of Jersey City, 322 U.S. 503, 514, 64 S.Ct. 1129, 1134, 88 L.Ed. 1420 (1944). Were the rule otherwise, the Secretary might still be waiting to promulgate respirable dust regulations, and miners would have no protection at all. We therefore hold that the Secretary's refusal to reopen the record was not arbitrary or capricious. 11 31 C. Was the Secretary arbitrary and capricious in failing to relate the definition of respirable dust to a specific sampling device? 32 Petitioner next argues that the Secretary's refusal to relate the definition of respirable dust to dust particles that are respirable by reference to established sampling devices was arbitrary and capricious. Petitioner contends that the Secretary's definition of respirable dust 12 is deficient in that it does not define respirable dust by reference to objective criteria, 13 thereby leaving the Secretary free to unilaterally change the definition by changing the sampler approval criteria outside the rulemaking process. Petitioner's Brief at 39-41. 33 While it is true that the Secretary has not defined respirable dust in terms of objective criteria, we note that Congress has not done so either. In 1977, Congress amended the MSHA to define concentrations of respirable dust as the average concentration of respirable dust measured with a device approved by the Secretary ... 30 U.S.C. § 842(e) (Supp. III 1979). In doing so, Congress deleted the reference to the MRE sampler contained in the original definition. 14 Petitioner suggests that Congress undoubtedly (deleted the reference to the MRE instrument) to provide (the Mine Safety and Health Administration) with sufficient flexibility to change, through appropriate rulemaking proceedings, the reference point for the definition of respirable dust. Petitioner's Brief at 40 n.24. The fact that the Secretary has flexibility to establish the reference point does not, according to petitioner, relieve him of the duty to incorporate that reference point into the definition he promulgates. 34 We reject petitioner's argument since other provisions of the regulations make clear that the MRE sampler is the instrument of reference under the area sampling program. The rule requires that statistics obtained with samplers other than the MRE be converted to their MRE equivalents. 30 C.F.R. § 70.206 (1980). This is accomplished by multiplying by a constant factor prescribed by the Secretary. Id. As the Secretary approves new sampling devices, he must establish the conversion factor necessary to convert data from each device to its MRE equivalent. The rule does not state the conversion factor prescribed for the only approved sampler other than the MRE sampler. 15 Reference to the conversion factor was deleted to allow for entirely different constant factors that may be prescribed for newly developed and approved sampling devices. Preamble, supra, at 23,997. Congress and the Secretary have thus encouraged the development of new sampling devices while at the same time requiring conversion to the MRE equivalent. Since Congress did not change the 2 mg./m 3 standard in 1977, it is clear that the standard is still based on the British studies conducted with the MRE sampler. 16 In our view, § 70.206 adequately relates the definition of respirable dust to dust particles that are respirable by requiring conversion to the MRE equivalent. We therefore hold that the Secretary was not arbitrary and capricious in failing to refer specifically to the MRE sampler in his definition of respirable dust. 17 35 D. Was the Secretary arbitrary and capricious in failing to put the risk of measurement error on miners? 36 Petitioner argues that the rule is arbitrary and capricious because it fails to include a provision recognizing the variability 18 inherent in the sampling process. According to petitioner, the rule allows a citation to be issued to a mine operator who has exceeded the 2 mg./m 3 standard by a figure that is within the bounds of probable measurement error. Petitioner apparently wants a provision in the rule allowing enforcement of the respirable dust standard only on the basis of sampling results showing a dust concentration significantly greater than 2 mg./m 3. 37 The Secretary had before him conflicting evidence on the amount of variability in the dust sampling process. App., vol. 1, at 127-91, 192-233, 234-59, 329-75, and vol. 2. at 404-12, 413-20, 424-27. The Secretary did take steps to reduce the potential for variability. The rule provides for multiple shift sampling, that is, using the average of a number of samples taken on consecutive shifts to determine compliance. 30 C.F.R. § 70.207. All compliance determinations are based on the average dust concentration of five samples. Id. §§ 70.207(a), .208(c), .210(a)(4). This system minimizes the variability associated with the result of a single sample or several samples taken on a single shift. In addition, the rule requires certification of competence of all people involved in the sampling process, id. §§ 70.202, .203; calibration of sampling devices at least every 200 hours, id. § 70.204(b); and examination, testing, and maintenance of devices before each shift, id. § 70.204(d). These provisions minimize variability stemming from human and mechanical error. 38 We do not believe that the Secretary was required to go further in accounting for variability by expressly permitting concentrations of respirable dust in excess of the 2 mg./m 3 standard. This would resolve the remaining variability solely in favor of mine operators, to the detriment of the congressional purpose to protect miners from black lung disease. Congress has not mandated any accounting for variability and has given the Secretary broad discretion in enforcing the respirable dust standard. The Secretary has not abused his discretion by refusing to put the risk of the remaining error on miners. 39 Petitioner admits that over the long run variability will average out. Petitioner's Brief at 61. It is true that on occasion a mine operator will be cited for violating the standard when the actual concentration of dust is below 2 mg./m 3. Over the long run, however, there will be just as many occasions on which the operator is not cited when actual dust concentrations are above 2 mg./m 3. The Secretary has considered the relevant factors in adopting a sampling program under which the risk of error is shared equally by mine operators and miners. See Preamble, supra, at 23,997. Having found no clear error of judgment, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, 401 U.S. at 416, 91 S.Ct. at 823, we hold that the Secretary's failure to account for variability by permitting dust concentrations in excess of the statutory standard was not arbitrary and capricious. 40 E. Was the Secretary arbitrary and capricious in failing to provide in the rule a procedure for voiding samples containing oversized particles? 41 Petitioner next contends that the rule is arbitrary and capricious because it does not provide for screening of samples for oversized particles. 19 Petitioner fears that a mine operator may be cited for violating the respirable dust standard on the basis of a sample containing nonrespirable (oversized) particles. Although the Secretary checks all operators' samples containing over 6 mg. of dust for oversized particles, 20 petitioner urges that he must check all samples containing over 1.8 mg. of dust. Petitioner's Brief at 49. 42 Once again petitioner argues that this court should make the Secretary do more than he has already done. In effect, petitioner asks this court to substitute its judgment for that of the Secretary. This we cannot do. Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, 401 U.S. at 416, 91 S.Ct. at 823. The MSHA does not make the Secretary the insurer of the accuracy of samples taken by mine operators. On the contrary, the Act requires that (e)ach operator of a coal mine shall take accurate samples of dust. 30 U.S.C. § 842(a) (1976) (emphasis added). The rule requires that operators adhere to strict procedures in taking and transmitting samples. 30 C.F.R. §§ 70.202-. 204, .207-.209. These procedures benefit the mine operator since their object is to minimize sampling error. The Secretary's procedure for checking samples containing over 6 mg. of dust further benefits mine operators by ensuring that compliance determinations are not based on grossly unrepresentative samples. We hold that the Secretary was not arbitrary and capricious in refusing to go further by requiring that all samples containing over 1.8 mg. of dust be screened for oversized particles. 43