Canyon Fuel Company, LLC (Commission decision, November 18, 2011)

Plain-English summary

Canyon Fuel's safety manager was out for surgery when a safety engineer asked an accounts payable clerk to pay three citations and return the contest for a fourth. The clerk, handling assessments for the first time, did not know that the contest form had to be sent to MSHA's Civil Penalty Compliance Office. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the assessment in the interests of justice, remanded the case, and directed the Secretary to file a penalty petition within 45 days.

Decision snapshot

• Governing provision: 30 U.S.C. § 815(a)
• Outcome: The final assessment was reopened and remanded, with a penalty petition due within 45 days.
• Key point: A first-time clerk's misunderstanding during the safety manager's medical absence supported reopening the missed contest.

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

November 18, 2011

SECRETARY OF LABOR, 

MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH 

ADMINISTRATION (MSHA) 

v.

CANYON FUEL COMPANY, LLC 

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:Docket No. WEST 2011-1152

A.C. No. 42-01890-253886

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 June 29, 2011, the Commission received from Canyon Fuel Company, LLC (“Canyon”) a motion submitted by counsel seeking 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 record indicates that this proposed assessment was delivered on May 11, 2011, and became a final order of the Commission on June 10, 2011. Canyon asserts that its safety manager was out of the office for surgery during the majority of May and June, 2011. During the safety manager’s absence, the safety engineer asked the accounts payable clerk to submit payment to MSHA’s St. Louis office for three of the citations. The safety engineer believed the clerk understood that she was supposed to return the penalty contest for the remaining citation, No. 8458633. However, this was the clerk’s first time paying assessments, and she did not know that the contest form had to be returned to the MSHA Civil Penalty Compliance Office. The Secretary does not oppose the request to reopen.

Having reviewed Canyon’s request and the Secretary’s response, in the interests of justice, we hereby reopen this matter and remand it 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. Accordingly, 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.

/s/ Mary Lu Jordan

Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman

/s/ Michael F. Duffy

Michael F. Duffy, Commissioner

/s/Michael G. Young

Michael G. Young, Commissioner

/s/ Robert F. Cohen, Jr.

Robert F. Cohen, Jr., Commissioner

/s/ Patrick K. Nakamura

Patrick K. Nakamura, Commissioner

Distribution:

Laura E. Beverage, Esq.

Jackson Kelly PLLC

1099 18th Street, Suite 2150

Denver, CO 80202

W. Christian Schumann, Esq.

Office of the Solicitor

U.S. Department of Labor

1100 Wilson Blvd., Room 2220

Arlington, VA 22209-2296

Thomas Paige, Esq.

Office of the Solicitor

U.S. Department of Labor

1100 Wilson Blvd., 22nd Floor East, Room 2226

Arlington, VA 22209-3939

Melanie Garris

Office of Civil Penalty Compliance

MSHA

U.S. Dept. Of Labor

1100 Wilson Blvd., 25th Floor

Arlington, VA 22209-3939

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