On March 10, 2021, nearly one year into the pandemic in the United States, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued its first comprehensive guidance addressing COVID-19 protections for mine sites.
In a 2–1 decision on January 21, 2021, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) shed additional light on what is and is not a flagrant violation of the Mine Act.
On January 20, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. appointed Commissioner Arthur R. Traynor III to serve as chair of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC). Traynor replaces former mine industry lawyer Marco M. Rajkovich Jr., who had been chair since his appointment to the FMSHRC in 2019.
In a challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) 2017 final rule expanding the workplace examination requirements at 30 C.F.R. §§ 56.18002 (Surface) and 57.18002 (Underground), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit found that the final rule had been promulgated and issued appropriately and denied the petition for review.
On January 21, 2021, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. signed an executive order directing the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take certain actions to address worker safety and health with regard to COVID-19. The executive order says much less about what the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) should do with respect to mining worksites, largely leaving it to MSHA to set its own course in addressing the pandemic.
Annually in mid-January, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) adjusts its civil penalty assessments, in accordance with the inflation adjustment provisions of the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990, as amended by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Improvements Act of 2015. This year the adjustments resulted in the following increases in minimum and maximum civil penalties for certain types of citations and orders. These new penalties affect violations for which the penalty is assessed after January 15, 2021.
A contentious issue during the recent presidential campaign was the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. No matter where one fell along the spectrum of supporters and critics, there was no denying the wide gulf of positions on the topic.
Due to a recent court decision, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has again revised its workplace examination rule, 30 CFR §§ 56.18002, 57.18002, undoing revisions made in 2018 and returning it to its original form as issued in 2017.
Due to a recent court decision, metal/nonmetal mine operators are again facing the possibility of having to comply with two of the more onerous provisions of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (MSHA) workplace examination rule, 30 C.F.R. §§ 56.18002, 57.18002, as it was originally issued in 2017. Those provisions concern the timing of when the examination must be performed and what adverse conditions must be recorded on the examination record.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has begun a three-month pilot project to see if the agency and operators can reach a final resolution regarding citations at the informal health and safety conference stage.
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is back in business as it will soon have a quorum again to decide cases. The Commission plays an important role in mine safety and health law. The Commission establishes precedential case law when it decides appeals of administrative law judge decisions in Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) cases, including citation contests and discrimination cases.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently named Deputy Administrator for Coal Mine Safety and Health Timothy R. Watkins to fill the newly created MSHA position of administrator for Coal and Metal/Nonmetal Mine Safety and Health.
On September 28, 2018, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) posted important updates to its enforcement guidance on the new final rule on Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines. The new workplace examination rule technically went into effect on June 2, 2018, but MSHA delayed enforcement of the rule until October 1, 2018.
The Beltway Buzz is a weekly update summarizing labor and employment news from inside the Beltway and clarifying how what’s happening in Washington, D.C. could impact your business.
On August 30, 2018, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC) lost its required quorum of three commissioners for deciding appeals from administrative law judge decisions.
At a mining industry conference in June 2018, Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health David Zatezalo briefly described a plan to “blur the lines” between the traditional division of the agency into coal enforcement and metal/nonmetal enforcement.
On April 9, 2018, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will publish its final rule on “Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines” in the Federal Register.
The House Financial Services Committee took a first step toward repeal of the mine safety disclosure requirements on November 15, 2017, with its approval of H.R. 4289. This bill proposes to eliminate the requirement instituted by Congress in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
By a vote of 52-46, on November 15, 2017, the United States Senate confirmed David G. Zatezalo to be the new Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health
On September 12, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published in the Federal Register two proposed rules on Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines, reopening the rulemaking to consider two very limited changes.
Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta recently announced his appointment for the new interim Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
On January 23, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued its Final Rule for Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines. In light of the White House’s regulatory freeze on new rules, questions have arisen as to whether the effective date for this final rule would be delayed 60 days, into July.
On January 23, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued its Final Rule for Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines. The final rule amends the existing workplace examinations standard and contains significant and highly burdensome requirements for mine operators. Since its publication in the Federal Register, questions have arisen as to when the Final Rule will become effective due to a recent White House memorandum.
On January 23, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will publish in the Federal Register a Final Rule on Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines, amending 30 C.F.R. § 56.18002 (Surface) and § 57.18002 (Underground). The final rule contains major amendments to the existing standards that will impose substantial administrative burdens on mine operators and create new risks of heightened enforcement against operators and supervisors.
In 2010, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) let employers know there was a new sheriff in town. Now there will be a new police force as well. On December 17, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the expansion of the Worker Endangerment Initiative. In its announcement, the DOJ stated this was a new plan for prosecuting Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act and Federal Mine Safety and Health Act (Mine Act) crimes.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently released mining industry and enforcement data that reflects noteworthy changes the industry has experienced over the last six years. Of particular significance in the data from an enforcement perspective is the fact that, while the overall number of mines has decreased and there has been a reduction in numbers of citations and total civil penalties, the percentage of citations marked “significant and substantial” (S&S) has held steady across the industry.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the Fair Labor Standards Act’s administrative employee exemption properly applied to a Chief Executive Officer’s (CEO) secretary. Altemus v. Fed. Realty Inv. Trust, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 15917 (4th Cir. July 31, 2012). This case is noteworthy inasmuch as it illustrates that…..
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has promulgated its final rule on mine safety disclosures that must be included in quarterly and annual reports filed by publicly-traded companies involved in mining operations. It also specifies the types of MSHA enforcement actions that will trigger a four-day filing requirement for 8-K reports by mining companies. The rule implements the requirements added by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and will appear in 17 C.F.R. Parts 229, 239, 249.
On September 28, the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued new screening criteria for the formidable pattern of violations enforcement provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. According to the federal agency, the new criteria are necessary because the old pattern program (from the Bush Administration) is “broken.” The rationale: “Not
