(This is a guest blog post by Rep. Phil Hare, a member of the Committee on Education and Labor.)
One of the most unforgettable and heartbreaking moments of my Congressional career occurred at an Education and Labor Committee hearing on mine safety in October of 2007. During that hearing, a young boy whose father had perished in the Crandall Canyon mine disaster came up to me and asked me if I could attend one of his soccer games because his “Daddy was in heaven and couldn’t go.” As our Committee reexamines mine safety today, we must commit ourselves to doing everything in our power to not let this happen to another family.
Today our committee will be examining ways to reduce the growing backlog of approximately 16,000 mine safety enforcement cases currently pending before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC). FMSHRC is a small, independent agency which provides administrative review of contested citations, penalties, and worker retaliation cases arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act). In 2006, FMSHRC’s backlog was only 2,100 cases, but with increased penalties mandated by amendments to the 2006 Mine Act, a number of mine owners and operators are contesting most if not all of their violations.
One of the most unforgettable and heartbreaking moments of my Congressional career occurred at an Education and Labor Committee hearing on mine safety in October of 2007. During that hearing, a young boy whose father had perished in the Crandall Canyon mine disaster came up to me and asked me if I could attend one of his soccer games because his “Daddy was in heaven and couldn’t go.” As our Committee reexamines mine safety today, we must commit ourselves to doing everything in our power to not let this happen to another family. Today our committee will be examining ways to reduce the growing backlog of approximately 16,000 mine safety enforcement cases currently pending before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC). FMSHRC is a small, independent agency which provides administrative review of contested citations, penalties, and worker retaliation cases arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act). In 2006, FMSHRC’s backlog was only 2,100 cases, but with increased penalties mandated by amendments to the 2006 Mine Act, a number of mine owners and operators are contesting most if not all of their violations.
This backlog is unacceptable and it is putting our miners at risk. For example, Murray Energy, whose negligence caused the Crandall Canyon tragedy, is now contesting an absurd 91 percent of its fines. Mine operators are delaying needed safety improvements and failing to pay legitimate penalties by tying these cases up in red tape.
As a government, we must take steps to reduce the backlog at FMSHRC. First, we must provide sufficient funding to hire staff to process the cases. FMSHRC needs 22-26 Administrative Law Judges (ALJ’s) to reduce the backlog. Today it has 10. The Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation provided FMSHRC with $10.35 million to hire 4 more ALJ’s—bringing it to a total of 14. We must do better in FY 2011.
We also must provide incentives for mine operators to reduce their contest rate. Some potential policy changes proposed by the administration that deserve our consideration include:
As a government, we must take steps to reduce the backlog at FMSHRC. First, we must provide sufficient funding to hire staff to process the cases. FMSHRC needs 22-26 Administrative Law Judges (ALJ’s) to reduce the backlog. Today it has 10. The Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation provided FMSHRC with $10.35 million to hire 4 more ALJ’s—bringing it to a total of 14. We must do better in FY 2011.
We also must provide incentives for mine operators to reduce their contest rate. Some potential policy changes proposed by the administration that deserve our consideration include:
- Expediting hearings involving those mine operators with repeated violations.
- Holding pre-contest conferences with mine operators to try to resolve disputes informally.
- Offering a “good faith discount” for operators who pay their penalty without a contest.
- Simplifying the MSHA penalty regulations to reduce the number of criteria used in calculating penalty assessments.
