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Ezel / Agency Decisions / weva-2023-0092-commission
FMSHRC Commission decision Docket WEVA 2023-0092 Decided September 7, 2023 Procedural

Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC

Secretary of Labor v. Pocahontas Coal Company, LLC (FMSHRC WEVA 2023-0092): Direction for review was vacated

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Decision of the Commission
This is a decision of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, the highest level of agency review, citable as Commission precedent. It may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance under 30 U.S.C. § 816; check subsequent history before relying on it. The full text below is from the official FMSHRC release.
About this page: The plain-English summary and decision snapshot below were written by Ezel based on the official FMSHRC release. The full text is the Commission's own document.
Read the official release (fmshrc.gov)

Plain-English summary

The Commission had directed review and stayed briefing in this case. After deciding Consol Mining Co. and concluding there that a Judge erred in denying a settlement motion based on Mechanicsville Concrete and American Aggregates of Michigan, the Commission reconsidered the Secretary's petition in this matter. It vacated the direction for review.

Decision snapshot

  • Cited authority: Consol Mining Co., Docket No. WEVA 2023-0141
  • Outcome: The direction for review was vacated.
  • Key point: The Commission ended review after resolving the controlling settlement issue in another case.

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.

POCAHONTAS
COAL COMPANY LLC

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:
:
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Docket
No. WEVA 2023-0092

ORDER

        On

June 16, 2023, the Commission directed review of the captioned matter and
stayed briefing.

On August 31, 2023, the Commission
issued its decision in Consol Mining Co., Docket No. WEVA 2023-0141, concluding
that the Judge erred in denying a settlement motion because the Secretary
relied on Mechanicsville Concrete and American Aggregates of Michigan
to support her position.

Upon reconsideration of the
Secretary’s petition for discretionary review of the Judge’s decision in this
captioned matter, the direction for review is hereby VACATED.

/s/ Mary Lu Jordan

Mary
Lu Jordan, Chair

/s/
William I. Althen

William
I. Althen, Commissioner

/s/
Marco M. Rajkovich, Jr.

Marco
M. Rajkovich, Jr., Commissioner

/s/
Timothy J. Baker

Timothy
J. Baker, Commissioner

Distribution:

Emily Toler Scott

Counsel for
Appellate Litigation

U.S. Department of
Labor

Office of the
Solicitor

Division of Mine
Safety & Health

201 12th Street
South, Suite 401

Arlington,
VA 22202

[email protected]

Douglas W.
Johnson, CLR

U.S. Department of
Labor, MSHA

1293 Airport Road

Beaver, WV 25813

[email protected]

Jonathan R. Ellis

STEPTOE &
JOHNSON PLLC

Chase Tower,
Seventeenth Floor

P.O. Box 1588

Charleston, WV
25326

[email protected]

Michael G. Young

Administrative Law
Judge

Federal Mine
Safety and Health Review Commission

Office of the
Chief Administrative Law Judge

1331 Pennsylvania
Ave, NW, Suite 520N

Washington, DC 20004

[email protected]

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