D.C. Circuit Agrees With UMWA That MSHA Arbitrarily Withdrew Rule

摘要

MSHA "failed to provide an adequate explanation for its decision to withdraw the air quality proposal," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled. In its February 20 decision, the court agreed with the UMWA that the agency's action was "arbitrary and capricious" and sent the case back, directing MSHA to "proceed with the air quality rulemaking or give a reasoned account of its decision not to do so." "Although the MSHA's publication of the proposed air quality rule certainly did not obligate it to adopt that rule (or, for that matter, any rule), the agency 'was not free to terminate the rulemaking for no reason whatsoever,'" Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg wrote, quoting from a 1989 case.