Secretary of Labor v. National Lime and Stone Company

Plain-English summary

National Lime sought an MSHA conference on an imminent-danger withdrawal order and believed that request also contested the order before the Commission. It learned one week after the statutory deadline that imminent-danger orders require a separate contest filing. The company sought reopening the next day, and the Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission found good-faith mistake and prompt action, reopened the matter, and remanded it for further proceedings. One Commissioner dissented on the Commission's authority to reopen.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authority: 30 U.S.C. §§ 817(a) and 817(e)(1)
• Outcome: The imminent-danger order contest was reopened and remanded.
• Key point: A conference request does not itself contest an imminent-danger order, but a prompt motion after discovering that separate process may justify relief.

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.
NATIONAL LIME AND STONE COMPANY |
|
|
Docket No. LAKE 2025-0237 Order No. 9809823; 04/14/2025
|

BEFORE: Rajkovich, Chair; Jordan, Baker, and Marvit, Commissioners

ORDER

BY: Rajkovich, Chair; Jordan, and Baker, Commissioners:

This matter arises under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, 30 U.S.C. § 801 et seq. (2024) (“Mine Act”). On May 23, 2025, the Commission received from National Lime and Stone Company (“National Lime”) a motion seeking to reopen an imminent danger withdrawal order that had been issued pursuant to section 107(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 817(a).

Under section 107(e)(1) of the Mine Act, an operator who wishes to contest an imminent danger order under section 107(a) may request review by the Commission no later than 30 days after being notified of such order. Commission Procedural Rule 9 allows the Commission to extend the filing time for a document for good cause shown. 29 C.F.R. § 2700.9(a). The rule allows the Commission to grant motions for extensions of time after the designated filing time has expired if the party requesting the extension can show, in writing, the reasons for its failure to make the request before the filing deadline. 29 C.F.R. § 2700.9(b).

The section 107(a) order that National Lime seeks to contest was issued on April 14, 2025. Therefore, the deadline for contesting it under section 107(e)(1) was May 14, 2025. National Lime asserts that it submitted a request to conference a citation and two orders, including Order No. 9809823, then imminent danger withdrawal order. According to the operator, it believed in good faith that, in submitting its request to conference, it had

timely contested the violations. However, it became aware on May 22, 2025 that there is a separate process for contesting imminent danger orders, found at 29 C.F.R. 2700.22. It filed its motion to reopen the next day.

We note that National Lime appears to have believed in good faith that it had timely contested the violations, and it moved to reopen the timeframe to contest Order No. 9809823 the day after it became aware that its contest of the order was untimely. The operator filed its motion just one week after the time to contest the imminent danger order had passed. The Secretary does not oppose the request to reopen, but urges the operator to take steps to ensure that future penalty contests are timely filed.

Having reviewed National Lime’s request
and the Secretary’s response, we find that the facts of this case
justify relief under Rule 60(b). In the interest
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/
Marco M. Rajkovich, Jr.

Marco M. Rajkovich, Jr., Chair

/s/ Mary Lu Jordan

Mary Lu Jordan, Commissioner

/s/ Timothy J.
Baker

Timothy J. Baker, Commissioner

Commissioner Marvit, dissenting:

I write to disagree with the Majority in this case for the reasons set forth below.

In Explosive
Contractors, 46 FMSHRC 965 (Dec. 2024), I dissented and explained that Congress
did not grant the Commission the authority to reopen final orders under section
105(a) of the Mine Act. The Commission’s repeated invocation of Federal Rule of
Civil Procedure 60(b) cannot overcome the statutory language. However, in Belt
Tech, I explained in my concurrence that “the Act clearly states that to
become a final order of the Commission, the operator must have received the
notification from the Secretary.” 46 FMSHRC 975 (citing Hancock Materials,
Inc., 31 FMSHRC 537 (May 2009)). Taken together, these opinions stand for
the proposition that the Commission may not reopen final orders under its
statutory grant, but an operator may proceed if it has not properly received a
proposed order.

In the instant case, as the Majority recounts,
the Commission’s order became final under the language of section 105(a). The
Majority, however, votes to reopen the case. The Mine Act has not granted us
authority to reconsider final orders of the Commission as I set out more fully
in Explosive Contractors. To the contrary, it has limited our authority
to do so. Therefore, I respectfully dissent and would deny reopening.

/s/ Moshe Z.
Marvit

Moshe Z. Marvit, Commissioner

Distribution:

Jennifer Jolliff

Safety Compliance Officer

The National Lime and Stone Company

P.O. BOX 120

Findlay, OH 45839-0120

[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]