DATE:  August 9, 1995
CASE NO. 94-CAA-13


IN THE MATTER OF 

ALBERT POST,

          COMPLAINANT,

     v.

HENSEL PHELPS CONSTRUCTION COMPANY,

          RESPONDENT.


BEFORE:   THE SECRETARY OF LABOR


                         FINAL DECISION AND ORDER

     This case arises under the employee protection provisions of
four environmental protection statutes, the Clean Air Act, 42
U.S.C. § 7622, the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, 42 U.S.C. § 9610
(CERCLA), the Solid Waste Disposal Act, 15 U.S.C. § 6971,
and the Toxic Substances Control Act, 15 U.S.C. § 2622
(1988) (collectively, the "environmental acts").  Complainant
Albert Post contends that Respondent Hensel Phelps Construction
Company blacklisted him and caused his employer to discharge him.
     The Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) found that the complaint
should be dismissed because it was untimely.  In the alternative,
the ALJ found that dismissal is warranted because Post did not
sustain his burden of establishing that Respondent violated the
employee protection provisions of the environmental acts.  
     I agree with and adopt the ALJ's Recommended Decision and
Order (R. D. and O.), with one minor clarification.  At pages 14-
15, the ALJ stated that Post's contact with, inter alia,
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was an
activity protected under the environmental acts.  Those acts 
[PAGE 2]
generally do not protect complaints restricted solely to
occupational safety and health, unless the complaints also
encompass public safety and health or the environment.  See,
e.g., Johnson v. Old Dominion Security, Case Nos. 86-CAA-3,
et seq., Final Dec. and Order, May 29, 1991, slip op. at
15.  In any event, the ALJ correctly noted that a provision in
CERCLA protects an employee who "has provided information to a
State or to the Federal Government. . . ."  42 U.S.C. §
9610(a).  See ALJ's Sept. 27, 1994 Order Denying Respondent's
Motion for Summary Judgment at 3.  Accordingly, it was correct to
find in this case that Post's contact with OSHA was a protected
activity even if it concerned solely occupational safety and
health.
     The complaint is DISMISSED.
     SO ORDERED.

                              ROBERT B. REICH
                              Secretary of Labor

Washington, D.C.