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.

 

KINGWOOD MINING COMPANY, LLC

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Docket No. WEVA 2009-857

A.C. No. 46-08751-152739

 

Docket No. WEVA 2009-1131

A.C. No. 46-08751-159510

 

 

 

BEFORE:  Jordan, Chairman; Young, Cohen, and Althen, 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. (2012) (“Mine Act”). On September 26, 2014, the Commission received from Kingwood Mining Company, LLC (“Kingwood”) a motion seeking to reopen two penalty assessments that had become final orders of the Commission pursuant to section 105(a) of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 815(a). Subsequently, the Secretary requested that the Commission grant the operator’s motion to reopen in order to facilitate settlement of the assessments.

 

Having reviewed movant’s motion to reopen, we 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.

 

 

 

 

Consistent with Rule 28, the Secretary shall file petitions for assessment of penalty within 45 days of the date of this order. See 29 C.F.R. § 2700.28. In order to effectuate the settlement identified as the basis of the unopposed motion to reopen, the parties should promptly file a motion to approve settlement after the Secretary files the petitions for assessment of penalty.

 

 

 

/s/ Mary Lu Jordan

Mary Lu Jordan, Chairman

 

 

 

/s/ Michael G. Young

Michael G. Young, Commissioner

 

 

 

/s/ Robert F. Cohen, Jr.

Robert F. Cohen Jr., Commissioner

 

 

 

/s/ William I. Althen

William I. Althen, Commissioner

 

 

 

Distribution:

 

Robert H. Beatty, Jr.

Lorna M. Waddell

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

215 Don Knotts Blvd., Suite 310

Morgantown, West Virginia 26501

 

W. Christian Schumann, Esq.

Office of the Solicitor

U.S. Department of Labor

201 12th St. South, Suite 500

Arlington, VA 22202-5450

 

Chief Administrative Law Judge Robert J. Lesnick

Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Commission

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

Washington, DC 20004-1710

 

Melanie Garris

Office of Civil Penalty Compliance

Mine Safety and Health Administration

U.S. Department of Labor

201 12th St. South, Suite 500

Arlington, VA 22202-5450