R B Coal Company, Incorporated

Plain-English summary

R B Coal Company faced a civil penalty proceeding concerning Mine No. 3. The Secretary proposed reducing the penalty from $300 to $100 as part of a settlement, and the company agreed to send future dust samples by certified mail. Judge Gary Melick approved the settlement and ordered payment of the $100 penalty within 30 days.

Decision snapshot

• Cited provisions: 30 U.S.C. § 815(d); 30 U.S.C. § 820(i)
• Outcome: The settlement was approved and the penalty was reduced to $100.
• Key point: The ALJ approved a reduced penalty after the operator agreed to use certified mail for future dust samples.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Office of Administrative Law Judges
2 Skyline, 10th Floor
5203 Leesburg Pike
Falls Church, Virginia 22041

SECRETARY OF LABOR, CIVIL PENALTY PROCEEDING
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION (MSHA), Docket No. KENT 91-193
PETITIONER A.C. No. 15-13362-03582
v.
Mine No. 3
R B COAL COMPANY, INCORPORATED,
RESPONDENT

                     DECISION APPROVING SETTLEMENT

Appearances: Mary Sue Taylor, Esq., Office of the Solicitor,
U.S. Department of Labor, Nashville, Tennessee,
for the Petitioner;
Susan C. Lawson, Esq., Forester, Buttermore,
Turner & Lawson, P.S.C., Harlan, Kentucky, for the
Respondent.

Before: Judge Melick

 This case is before me upon a petition for assessment of

civil penalty under Section 105(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and
Health Act of 1977 (the Act). At hearings, Petitioner filed a
motion to approve a settlement agreement and to dismiss the case.
A reduction in penalty from $300 to $100 was proposed and
Respondent noted that he would in the future send all of his dust
samples by certified mail. I have considered the representations
and documentation submitted in this case, and I conclude that the
proffered settlement is appropriate under the criteria set forth
in Section 110(i) of the Act.

 WHEREFORE, the motion for approval of settlement is GRANTED,

and it is ORDERED that Respondent pay a penalty of $100 within 30
days of this order.

                                  Gary Melick
                                  Administrative Law Judge