Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC

Plain-English summary

Consol received a proposed penalty assessment on October 10, 2024, and submitted its contest on November 11. The Secretary treated November 9 as the deadline and argued that the assessment had become final. The Commission applied Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a), because the thirtieth day was a Saturday and the following Monday was a federal holiday. It held that the deadline ran through Tuesday, November 12, making Consol's contest timely. The reopening motion was therefore moot, and the case was remanded for proceedings on the contested assessment.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authority: 30 U.S.C. § 815(a); Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 6(a)
• Outcome: The contest was held timely, the reopening motion was dismissed as moot, and the case was remanded.
• Key point: A Mine Act penalty-contest deadline moves to the next business day when day 30 falls on a weekend or federal holiday.

Full text (FMSHRC public release)

FEDERAL
MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

1331
PENNSYLVANIA AVE., N.W., SUITE 520N

WASHINGTON,
DC 20004-1710

SECRETARY
OF LABOR

MINE
SAFETY AND HEALTH    

ADMINISTRATION
(MSHA),

v.

CONSOL
PENNSYLVANIA

COAL
COMPANY, LLC

Docket
No. PENN 2025-0041

A.C.
No. 36-10045-603901

BEFORE: 
Jordan, Chair; Baker, and Marvit, 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. (2024) (“Mine Act”). On November 20, 2024, the Commission received
from Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC (“Consol”) a motion seeking to
reopen a penalty assessment that had appeared to become a final order of the
Commission pursuant to section 105(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 815(a).

Consol received a proposed penalty
assessment from the Secretary on October 10, 2024, and filed a notice of
contest with the Secretary thirty-two days later, on November 11, 2024. Consol
asserts that the assessment was timely contested prior to a November 12
deadline and therefore did not become a final order. [1]
The Secretary counters that the assessment became a final order on November 9
and was therefore not timely contested.

Section
105(a) provides an operator with thirty days from receipt of a proposed penalty
assessment to notify the Secretary that it wishes to contest the proposed assessment.
If the operator fails to timely provide such notification, the assessment
becomes a final order of the Commission. 30 U.S.C. § 815(a). Notably, however,
the Mine Act does not specify a method of computing time. Therefore,
computation of this thirty-day contest window is governed by Rule 6(a) of the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a).

Rule 6(a) states in relevant part that if
the last day of a prescribed period “is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday,
the period continues to run until the end of the next day that is not a
Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.” [2]
Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(1)(C). Accordingly, a proposed penalty assessment becomes
a final order of the Commission if an operator fails to contest the assessment
by the thirtieth day, or, if that thirtieth day is a weekend or federal
holiday , if an operator fails to contest the assessment by the close of the
next business day.

Here, the thirtieth day after receipt of
the assessment was Saturday, November 9, 2024.

Furthermore,
a federal holiday occurred on Monday, November 11, 2024. Accordingly, the
contest period would have continued to run until the close of Tuesday, November
12, 2024.

We
conclude that the proposed penalty assessment did not become a final order of
the Commission, because Consol timely contested the proposed assessment on
November 11, 2024.

This
obviates any need to invoke Rule 60(b), under which the Commission may relieve
a party from a final order. Accordingly, the operator’s motion to reopen is
moot, and this case is 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, Chair

/s/ Timothy J. Baker

Timothy J. Baker, Commissioner

/s/ Moshe Z.
Marvit

Moshe Z. Marvit,
Commissioner

Distribution:

Christopher
D. Pence, Esq.

Pence
Law Firm PLLC

10
Hale Street, 4 th Floor

PO
Box 2548

Charleston,
WV 25329-2548

[email protected]

Thomas
A. Paige, Esq.

Office
of the Solicitor

U.S.
Department of Labor

Division
of Mine Safety and Health

200
Constitution Avenue NW, Suite
N4428  

Washington,
DC 20210

[email protected]

Melanie
Garris

US
Department of Labor/MSHA

Office
of Assessments, Room N3454

200
Constitution Ave NW

Washington,
DC 20210

[email protected]

Chief
Administrative Law Judge Glynn F. Voisin

Office
of the Chief Administrative Law Judge

Federal Mine
Safety Health Review Commission

1331
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Suite 520N

Washington,
DC 20004-1710

[email protected]

[1] Consol argues in
the alternative that it reasonably believed its contest was timely,
therefore reopening the final order is justified consistent with Rule 60(b) of
the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Secretary asserts that the assessment
became a final order but takes no position as to whether reopening that final
order is justified. Consol also claims that it did not receive the assessment
until October 14, 2024, however, U.S. Postal Service records confirm that the
assessment was delivered to an individual on October 10.

[2] This is generally
consistent with Commission Procedural Rule 29 C.F.R. § 2700.8(c).