Melrose Quarry & Asphalt, LLC (Commission decision, December 2, 2011)

Plain-English summary

Melrose Quarry failed to answer two penalty petitions, resulting in final default orders. Its current management said it was working through three years of citations left unhandled by prior management and obtained the penalty petitions only after contacting the Solicitor's Office after default. Melrose also stated that it had established a more efficient process for future citations. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. In the interests of justice, the Commission vacated both defaults and remanded the proceedings.

Decision snapshot

• Governing provisions: 29 C.F.R. §§ 2700.69(b) and 2700.70(a); 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)
• Outcome: Both final default orders were vacated and the penalty cases were remanded.
• Key point: A documented management transition and effort to correct inherited citation-processing failures supported unopposed reopening.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

601 NEW JERSEY AVENUE, NW

SUITE 9500

WASHINGTON, DC 20001

December 2, 2011

SECRETARY OF LABOR,

MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH

ADMINISTRATION (MSHA)

v.

MELROSE QUARRY & ASPHALT, LLC

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Docket No. CENT 2010-754-M

A.C. No. 23-00759-218908

Docket No. CENT 2010-755-M

A.C. No. 23-00759-218908-02

BEFORE: Jordan, Chairman; Duffy, Young, Cohen, and Nakamura, Commissioners

ORDER

BY THE COMMISSION:

This matter arises under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C.
§ 801 et seq. (2006) (“Mine Act”). On July 8, 2011, the Commission received from Melrose Quarry & Asphalt, LLC (“Melrose”) two motions submitted by counsel seeking to reopen two penalty proceedings and relieve it from the orders of default entered against it.

On March 15, 2011, Chief Judge Lesnick issued the Orders to Show Cause and Default Orders in response to Melrose’s failure to answer the Secretary’s September 16, 2010 Petitions for Assessment of Civil Penalty. In the orders, he ordered the operator to file its answers within 30 days or it would be in default.

Melrose asserts that the current management at the quarry is attempting to sort through and address three years of citations which were not handled by the previous management. Counsel for Melrose states it only received the Secretary’s petitions for assessment of civil penalties after contacting the Office of the Solicitor in late May 2011, after the default occurred. Melrose further states that, in the future, citations will be dealt with in an efficient manner to avoid default or delinquency. The Secretary does not oppose the requests to reopen.

The judge’s jurisdiction in this matter terminated when the default occurred. 29 C.F.R.
§ 2700.69(b). Under the Mine Act and the Commission’s procedural rules, relief from a judge’s decision may be sought by filing a petition for discretionary review within 30 days of its issuance. 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(2); 29 C.F.R. § 2700.70(a). If the Commission does not direct review within 40 days of a decision’s issuance, it becomes a final decision of the Commission. 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1). Consequently, the judge’s orders here have become final decisions of the Commission.

In evaluating requests to reopen final orders, the Commission has found guidance in Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure under which, for example, a party could be entitled to relief from a final order of the Commission on the basis of mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect. See 29 C.F.R. § 2700.1(b) (“the Commission and its Judges shall be guided so far as practicable by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure”); Jim Walter Res., Inc., 15 FMSHRC 782, 786-89 (May 1993) (“JWR”). We have also observed that default is a harsh remedy and that, if the defaulting party can make a showing of good cause for a failure to timely respond, the case may be reopened and appropriate proceedings on the merits permitted. See Coal Prep. Servs., Inc., 17 FMSHRC 1529, 1530 (Sept. 1995).

Having reviewed Melrose’s requests and the Secretary’s responses, in the interests of justice, we hereby reopen the proceedings and vacate the Orders of Default. Accordingly, these cases are remanded to the Chief Administrative Law Judge for further proceedings pursuant to the Mine Act and the Commission’s Procedural Rules, 29 C.F.R. Part 2700.

/s/ Mary Lu Jordan

Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman

/s/ Michael F. Duffy

Michael F. Duffy, Commissioner

/s/Michael G. Young

Michael G. Young, Commissioner

/s/ Robert F. Cohen, Jr.

Robert F. Cohen, Jr., Commissioner

/s/ Patrick K. Nakamura

Patrick K. Nakamura, Commissioner

Distribution:

Rachel S. Gray, Esq.

The Todt Law Firm

212 South Meramee Avenue

St. Louis, MO 63105

W. Christian Schumann, Esq.

Office of the Solicitor

U.S. Department of Labor

1100 Wilson Blvd., Room 2220

Arlington, VA 22209-2296

Melanie Garris

Office of Civil Penalty Compliance

MSHA

U.S. Dept. Of Labor

1100 Wilson Blvd., 25th Floor

Arlington, VA 22209-3939

Chief Administrative Law Judge Robert J. Lesnick

Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission

601 New Jersey Avenue, N. W., Suite 9500

Washington, D.C. 20001-2021