Secretary of Labor v. Buchanan Minerals, LLC

Plain-English summary

Buchanan Minerals used a routine mail process in which a security guard sorted delivered mail, the mine superintendent received the assessment, and the safety manager handled the contest. The safety manager never received this proposed assessment, so the company missed the deadline. Buchanan promptly sought reopening after MSHA sent a delinquency notice, and the Secretary did not oppose. The Commission found inadvertence or mistake amounting to good cause, reopened the assessment, and remanded it for further proceedings.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authority: 30 U.S.C. § 815(a); 30 C.F.R. §§ 2700.1(b), 2700.28
• Outcome: The final assessment was reopened and the matter was remanded.
• Key point: A breakdown in an established internal mail chain supported relief when the operator acted promptly after learning of the default.

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.

BUCHANAN
MINERALS, LLC

:

:

:

:

:

:

:

Docket
No. VA 2020-0009

A.C.
No. 44-04856-496824

BEFORE: Rajkovich,
Chairman; Althen and Traynor, 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 12, 2019, the Commission received
from Buchanan Minerals, LLC (“Buchanan”) 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 August 9, 2019, and
became a final order of the Commission on September 9, 2019. Buchanan’s Safety
Manager, who is responsible for reviewing and processing the proposed penalty
assessment form, never received the subject form. Under Buchanan’s normal
procedures, the form is delivered to the Post Office, and signed for by the
security guard, who would deliver the mail by placing it in corresponding
mailboxes at the mine office. The mine superintendent, to whom the form is
addressed, would then hand deliver it to the Safety Manager for processing, but
the Safety Manager never received the subject proposed assessment. On October
24, 2019, MSHA sent a delinquency notice to Buchanan. Upon receipt of MSHA’s
delinquency notice, Buchanan promptly filed a motion to reopen the final
penalty assessment. 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 Buchanan’s request and the Secretary’s
response, we find that Buchanan failed
to timely contest penalties through inadvertence or mistake, and that such inadvertence
or mistake constitutes good cause to reopen the penalty proceeding. 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., Chairman

/s/
William I. Althen

William
I. Althen, Commissioner

/s/ Arthur R. Traynor, III

Arthur R. Traynor, III, Commissioner

Distribution:

Lorna
M. Waddell

F.
Thomas Rubenstein

DINSMORE
& SHOHL LLP

[email protected]

Emily
Scott, Esq.

Office
of the Solicitor

[email protected]

Chief
Administrative Law Judge Glynn Voisin

Federal
Mine Safety & Health Review Commission

[email protected]

Melanie
Garris

Office
of Civil Penalty Compliance

Mine
Safety and Health Administration

[email protected]