Onsite Krushing Company (Commission decision, August 26, 2010)

Plain-English summary

Onsite Krushing asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that the company said it never received because MSHA sent it to an incorrect address. The Secretary did not oppose further proceedings but noted that operators must keep their address of record current. The Commission concluded that no final order existed because the operator apparently never received the assessment, making the reopening request moot. It remanded the matter and directed the Secretary to file a penalty petition within 45 days.

Decision snapshot

• Governing provisions: 30 U.S.C. § 815(a); 29 C.F.R. § 2700.28
• Outcome: The reopening request was declared moot, and the assessment was remanded for penalty proceedings.
• Key point: A proposed assessment that was never received did not become a final Commission order requiring 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

August 26, 2010

SECRETARY OF LABOR,

MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH

ADMINISTRATION (MSHA)

v.

ONSITE KRUSHING COMPANY

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Docket No. WEST 2010-698-M

A.C. No. 44-05772-175611

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 February 23, 2010, the Commission received from Onsite Krushing Company (“OK”) a request to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order of the Commission pursuant to section 105(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 815(a).

Under section 105(a) of the Mine Act, an operator who wishes to contest a proposed penalty must notify the Secretary of Labor no later than 30 days after receiving the proposed penalty assessment. If the operator fails to notify the Secretary, the proposed penalty assessment is deemed a final order of the Commission. 30 U.S.C. § 815(a).

We have held, however, that in appropriate circumstances, we possess jurisdiction to reopen uncontested assessments that have become final Commission orders under section 105(a). Jim Walter Res., Inc., 15 FMSHRC 782, 786-89 (May 1993) (“JWR”). In evaluating requests to reopen final section 105(a) 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”); JWR, 15 FMSHRC at 787. 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).

The Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) issued Proposed Assessment No. 000175611 to OK on February 4, 2009, proposing penalties for 15 citations that had been issued to the operator. OK states that it never received the proposed assessment and alleges that it was sent to an incorrect address. The Secretary of Labor does not oppose reopening, but states that because it sends assessments to the Address of Record on an operator’s Legal Identity Report, it is incumbent upon operators to update MSHA when that address changes.

Having reviewed OK’s request and the Secretary’s response, we conclude that because OK apparently never received the proposed assessment there is no final order and therefore that OK’s request to reopen is moot.

Accordingly, this matter 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. Consistent with Rule 28, the Secretary shall file a petition for assessment of penalty within 45 days of the date of this order. See 29 C.F.R. § 2700.28.

Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman

Michael F. Duffy, Commissioner

Michael G. Young, Commissioner

Robert F. Cohen, Jr., Commissioner

Patrick K. Nakamura, Commissioner

Distribution:

Raffie Yeremian, Project Mgr.

Onsite Krushing Company

P.O. Box 309

Brea, CA 92822

W. Christian Schumann, Esq.

Office of the Solicitor

U.S. Department of Labor

1100 Wilson Blvd., 22nd Floor

Arlington, VA 22209-2296

Myra James, Chief

Office of the Penalty Compliance

U.S. Dept. of Labor, MSHA

1100 Wilson Blvd.

Arlington, VA 22209

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