29 CFR § 2704.104 - Eligibility of applicants.
(a) To be eligible for an award of attorney fees and other expenses under the Act, the applicant must be a party to the adversary adjudication for which it seeks an award. The term “party” is defined in 5 U.S.C. 551(3). The applicant must show that it satisfies the conditions of eligibility set out in this subpart and in subpart B.
(b) For purposes of awards under § 2704.105(a) for prevailing parties:
(1) The employees of an applicant include all persons who regularly perform services for remuneration for the applicant, under the applicant's direction and control. Part-time employees shall be included on a proportional basis.
(2) An applicant who owns an unincorporated business will be considered as an “individual” rather than a “sole owner of an unincorporated business” if the issues on which the applicant prevails are related primarily to personal interests rather than to business interests.
(3) The types of eligible applicants are as follows:
(i) An individual with a net worth of not more than $2 million;
(ii) The sole owner of an unincorporated business who has a net worth of not more than $7 million, including both personal and business interests, and employs not more than 500 employees;
(iii) Any other partnership, corporation, association, unit of local government, or public or private organization with a net worth of not more than $7 million and not more than 500 employees.
(c) For the purposes of awards for non-prevailing parties under § 2704.105(b), eligible applicants are small entities as defined in 5 U.S.C. 601, subject to the annual-receipts and number-of-employees standards as set forth by the Small Business Administration at 13 CFR part 121.
(d) For the purpose of eligibility, the net worth, number of employees, or annual receipts of an applicant, as applicable, shall be determined as of the date the underlying proceeding was initiated under the Mine Act.
(e) An applicant that participates in a proceeding primarily on behalf of one or more other persons or entities that would be ineligible is not itself eligible for an award.