Secretary of Labor v. Stony Creek Quarry Corporation

Plain-English summary

Stony Creek Quarry Corporation did not contest a proposed penalty within 30 days, so the assessment became a final Commission order on April 9, 2020. The company said it left MSHA a message about the assessment and assumed the agency's operations had been disrupted by the pandemic. MSHA later rejected an attempted contest as untimely and advised the company to seek reopening. Stony Creek did not file its reopening motion until November 2021, more than one year after the final order. The Commission held that Rule 60(c)'s one-year limit made the motion untimely and denied relief.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authority: 30 U.S.C. § 815(a); 29 C.F.R. § 2700.1(b)
• Outcome: The Commission denied the motion to reopen as untimely.
• Key point: A motion based on mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect must be filed no more than one year after the assessment becomes a final order.

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.

STONY
CREEK QUARRY

CORPORATION

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:

:

:

:

:

:

Docket
No. YORK 2022-0011

A.C.
No. 06-00005-509944

BEFORE: 
Traynor, Chair; Althen and Rajkovich, 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. (2018) (“Mine Act”). On November 23, 2021, the Commission received
from Stony Creek Quarry Corporation (“Stony Creek”) a motion 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 orders, the Commission has found guidance
in Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure under which the
Commission may relieve a party from a final order of the Commission on the
basis of mistake, inadvertence, excusable neglect, or other reason justifying
relief. 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).

Records
of the Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”)
indicate that the proposed assessment was delivered on March 10, 2020, and
became a final order of the Commission on April 9, 2020. Stony Creek asserts
that it left a message regarding the assessment with MSHA’s Civil Penalty
Compliance Office, but did not receive a return call, and assumed that MSHA’s
operations had been disrupted by the pandemic. The Secretary opposes the
request to reopen, noting that a delinquency notice was mailed to the operator
on May 26, 2020, and the case was referred to the U.S. Department of Treasury
for collection on July 23, 2020.

Based
on representations by the Secretary, it appears Stony Creek attempted to file a
notice of contest for the proposed assessment with MSHA (called a “request for
a hearing” by the parties) on February 10, 2021. On February 25, 2021, MSHA
sent a response denying the request as untimely and explaining that the case
had become final in April 2020. Stony Creek states that, at some point, it
received a call from MSHA and was advised to file a motion to reopen the
assessment. A motion to reopen was ultimately filed in November 2021.  

Due
to the extraordinary nature of reopening a penalty that has become final, the
operator has the burden of showing that it should be granted such relief through
a detailed explanation of its failure to timely contest the penalty and any
delays in filing for reopening. The Commission considers the entire range of
factors relevant to determining mistake, inadvertence, excusable neglect, or
other good faith reason for reopening. Further, Rule 60(c) of the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure provides that a Rule 60(b) motion shall be made within a
reasonable time, and for reasons of mistake, inadvertence, or excusable
neglect, not more than one year after the judgment, order, or proceeding was
entered or taken. Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(c).

This
motion to reopen was filed more than one year after becoming a final order. Therefore,
under Rule 60(c), Stony Creek’s motion is untimely. J S Sand & Gravel,
Inc. ,     26 FMSHRC 795, 796 (Oct. 2004).

Accordingly,
we deny Stony Creek’s motion.

/s/ Arthur R. Traynor, III

Arthur
R. Traynor, III, Chair

/s/ William I. Althen

William I. Althen, Commissioner

/s/ Marco M. Rajkovich, Jr.

Marco M. Rajkovich, Jr., Commissioner

Distribution:

Douglas
Anderson

President

Stony
Creek Quarry Corporation

11
Business Park Drive Suite 1

Branford
CT 06405

[email protected]

Emily
Toler-Scott, Esq.

Office
of the Solicitor

U.S.
Department of Labor

201
12th St. South, Suite 401

Arlington,
VA 22202-5450

[email protected]

Chief
Administrative Law Judge Glenn Voisin

Federal
Mine Safety & Health Review Commission

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

Washington,
DC 20004-1710

[email protected]

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

[email protected]