Secretary of Labor v. Mountain Road Farm Sand & Gravel (Commission decision, July 14, 2016)

Plain-English summary

Two penalty assessments against Mountain Road Farm Sand & Gravel had become final Commission orders after they were not timely contested. The operator filed motions to reopen both assessments, and the Secretary did not oppose them. The Commission consolidated the two dockets because they involved similar procedural issues, granted reopening, and remanded them to the Chief Administrative Law Judge. It ordered the Secretary to file a penalty petition within 45 days and stated that granting these motions was not precedent for other reopening requests.

Decision snapshot

• Governing provisions: 29 C.F.R. §§ 2700.12 and 2700.28
• Outcome: Two dockets were consolidated, their final penalty assessments were reopened, and both matters were remanded for further proceedings.
• Key point: The Commission treated the two unopposed reopening requests together but expressly made the result nonprecedential for other motions.

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.

MOUNTAIN
ROAD FARM SAND &

GRAVEL

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

Docket
No. YORK 2015-90-M

A.C.
No. 43-00717-368207

Docket
No. YORK 2015-82-M

A.C.
No. 43-00717-371000

BEFORE:  Jordan,
Chairman; Young, Cohen, Nakamura, and Althen, Commissioners

ORDER

BY THE
COMMISSION:

These matters
arise under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. (2012) (“Mine Act”). [1] The Commission has received two motions from the operator seeking to reopen two penalty assessments which had become final orders of the Commission pursuant to section 105(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 813(a). The Secretary states that he does not oppose the motions.

Having reviewed movant’s unopposed
motions to reopen, we reopen these matters and remand them 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.

The granting of these motions is not
precedential for the consideration of any other motion before the Commission.

/s/ Mary Lu Jordan

Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman

/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

/s/ William I. Althen

William I. Althen, Commissioner

Distribution:

Tanya
Nuzzo, Manager

Mountain
Road Farm Sand & Gravel

656
Vermont Route 108                   

Jeffersonville,
VT 05464

W.
Christian Schumann, Esq.

Office
of the Solicitor

U.S.
Department of Labor

201
12th St. South, Suite 401

Arlington,
VA 22202-5450

Chief
Administrative Law Judge Robert J. Lesnick

Federal
Mine Safety & Health Review Commission

1331
Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Suite 520N

Washington,
DC 20004-1710

Melanie
Garris

Office
of Civil Penalty Compliance

Mine
Safety and Health Administration

U.S.
Department of Labor

201
12th St. South, Suite 401

Arlington,
VA 22202-5450

[1] Pursuant to
Commission Procedural Rule 12, on our own motion, we hereby consolidate docket numbers YORK 2015-90-M and YORK 2015-82-M, which are both captioned Mountain Road Farm Sand & Gravel and involve similar procedural issues. 29 C.F.R. § 2700.12.