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FMSHRC Commission decision Docket LAKE 85-47 Decided June 20, 1988 Remanded

Wilmot Mining Company

Wilmot Mining Company (FMSHRC LAKE 85-47): Civil penalty assessment remanded

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Currency note: this decision dates from 1988
The MSHA standards may have been amended, penalty amounts have been adjusted, and later Commission or court decisions may have changed the analysis since then. Treat this page as historical context, not current compliance advice. Verify the current standard before relying on any specific rule, threshold, or penalty mentioned here.
Decision of the Commission
This is a decision of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, the highest level of agency review, citable as Commission precedent. It may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance under 30 U.S.C. § 816; check subsequent history before relying on it. The full text below is from the official FMSHRC release.
About this page: The plain-English summary and decision snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official FMSHRC release. The full text is the agency's own release.
Read the official release (fmshrc.gov)

Plain-English summary

Wilmot Mining Company's case returned to the Commission after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed part of the Commission's earlier decision, reversed part, and remanded the matter. The court held that substantial evidence did not support the Commission's negligence determination for the operator's violation of 30 C.F.R. § 77.403(a) when the civil penalty was assessed. The Commission remanded the matter to the assigned administrative law judge for further proceedings consistent with the court's decision.

Decision snapshot

  • Cited standard: 30 C.F.R. § 77.403(a)
  • Outcome: The matter was remanded to the administrative law judge for reconsideration of the civil penalty assessment.
  • Key point: A penalty assessment must rest on substantial evidence supporting the negligence finding used to calculate it.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

CCASE:
MSHA V. WILMOT MINING
DDATE:
19880620
TTEXT:

           FEDERAL MINE SAFETY & HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
                          WASHINGTON, D.C.
                             June 20, 1988

SECRETARY OF LABOR,
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
ADMINISTRATION (MSHA)

  v.                Docket No. LAKE 85-47

WILMOT MINING COMPANY

BEFORE: Ford, Chairman; Backley, Doyle, Lastowka and Nelson,
Commissioners

                ORDER

BY THE COMMISSION:

On May 17, 1988, the United States Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit issued its opinion in this matter, styled Wilmot
Mining Company v. Secretary of Labor, etc., No. 87-3480 (per curiam).
The Commission's decision, reported at 9 FMSHRC 684 (April 1984),
was affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further
proceedings.

In relevant part, the Court concluded that substantial

evidence did not support the Commission's determination, for civil
penalty assessment purposes, of negligence with respect to the
operator's violation of 30 C.F.R. $ 77.403(a). The Court remanded
the case to the Commission for reconsideration of the civil penalty
assessment for that violation. In accordance with the Court's order,
we remand this matter to the Commission administrative law judge
originally assigned for further proceedings consistent with the
Court's decision.

             Joyce A. Doyle Commissioner

Page 2

L. Clair Nelson, Commissioner

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