UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐ APOGEE COAL COMPANY, LLC; ARCH COAL, INC., │ Petitioners, │ > No. 23-3332 │ v. │ │ DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF WORKERS’ COMPENSATION │ PROGRAMS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; DAVID M. │ HOWARD, │ Respondents. │ ┘

On Petition for Review from the Benefits Review Board. No. 20-0229 BLA.

Decided and Filed: August 5, 2024

Before: GIBBONS, McKEAGUE, and STRANCH, Circuit Judges.

_________________

COUNSEL ON BRIEF: Mark E. Solomons, Dominic E. Draye, Michael A. Pusateri, GREENBERG TRAURIG, LLP, Washington, D.C., for Petitioners. Sarah M. Hurley, Sean G. Bajkowski, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR, Washington, D.C., for Federal Respondent. Brad A. Austion, WOLFE WILLIAMS & REYNOLDS, Norton, Virginia, for Respondent David M. Howard. _________________

OPINION _________________

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. This petition concerns Arch Resources and Apogee Coal Company’s challenge of Black Lung Benefits Act (BLBA) liability for a claim submitted by David Howard. Howard mined from 1978 to 1997, and his last employer was Apogee Coal No. 23-3332 Apogee Coal Co. v. OWCP Page 2

(at that time, owned and self-insured by Arch). The parties, referred to collectively as “Arch,” do not contest Howard’s entitlement to benefits for legal pneumoconiosis, but do dispute being identified as the liable insurer on Howard’s claim. Petitioners ask this court to review the Benefits Review Board’s decision affirming the Administrative Law Judge’s finding that Arch was the liable insurer for Howard’s benefits claim under the BLBA. Arch likewise asks this court to grant its motion to supplement the administrative record on appeal. For the reasons stated below, we DENY the petition for review and Arch’s motion.

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Black Lung Benefits Act

The Black Lung Benefits Act provides benefits to miners suffering from pneumoconiosis, a lung disease caused by prolonged exposure to coal dust. See 30 U.S.C. §§ 901(a), 922. As an administrative act providing employment injury benefits, it incorporates the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act (the “Longshore Act”), see 30 U.S.C. § 932(a), which, in turn, incorporates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). Dir., OWCP v. Greenwich Collieries, 512 U.S. 267, 271 (1994). BLBA hearings are to be conducted in accordance with the requirements of both the Longshore Act and the APA, which vest Administrative Law Judges with the power to hold hearings, make credibility judgments, and award benefits. See 33 U.S.C. §§ 919(d), 927.

Operating within the APA and Longshore Act frameworks, the BLBA “ensure[s] that coal mine operators are liable ‘to the maximum extent feasible’ for awarded claims” by implementing a specific, sequential process for determining a liable operator and adjudicating the merits of a claim. Ark. Coals, Inc. v. Lawson, 739 F.3d 309, 313 (6th Cir. 2014) (quoting Dir., OWCP v. Oglebay Norton Co., 877 F.2d 1300, 1304 (6th Cir. 198