Ezel / Agency Decisions / LAKE 85-47

Wilmot Mining Company (Commission decision, June 20, 1988)

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

Decision type
Commission decision
Docket
LAKE 85-47
Decided
June 20, 1988
Outcome
Remanded
Precedential status
Citable Commission precedent
Checked against source
2026-08-20
Cited standards
30 C.F.R. § 77.403(a)
Official source
Read the official release (fmshrc.gov)
PDF
View Official PDF

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This is citable Commission precedent from 1988, and it may have been appealed since. Ezel checks how it stands today and answers your situation, with citations.

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
The Commission implemented the Sixth Circuit’s mandate and returned only the civil penalty assessment for the section 77.403(a) violation to the judge. The underlying violation was outside this limited remand. This order did not resolve the penalty amount; review of a final Commission order is governed by 30 U.S.C. § 816. 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: The Commission sent the penalty assessment back to the judge after the Sixth Circuit found insufficient evidence for the negligence determination on this violation.

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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