Energy West Min. Co. v. Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Com'n, 93-1296
| Citation | 40 F.3d 457 |
| Decision Date | 02 December 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 93-1296,93-1296 |
| Parties | , 63 USLW 2358, 1994 O.S.H.D. (CCH) P 30,631 ENERGY WEST MINING COMPANY, Petitioner v. FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION; Secretary of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Respondents. American Mining Congress, Amicus Curiae. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit |
Thomas C. Means, Washington, DC, argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Timothy M. Biddle and J. Michael Klise, Washington, DC.
Jerald S. Feingold, Atty., U.S. Dept. of Labor, Washington, DC, argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were W. Christian Schumann, Counsel, U.S. Dept. of Labor, Washington, DC. L. Joseph Ferrara, Washington, DC, entered an appearance for respondent Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Com'n.
Arthur G. Sapper, Washington, DC, argued the cause for amicus curiae. With him on the brief was James A. Lastowka, Washington, DC.
Before SILBERMAN, SENTELLE and ROGERS, Circuit Judges.
Opinion for the Court filed by Circuit Judge SENTELLE.
Petitioner Energy West Mining Company ("Energy West") challenges a Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission ("FMSHRC" or the "Commission") decision which upheld a Mine Safety and Health Administration ("MSHA") citation for failure to report an employee's injury suffered when his vehicle rolled into a ditch near a mine parking lot. An MSHA inspector cited Energy West for violating MSHA regulations which require mine operators to report all "occupational injur[ies]" at the mine site. 30 C.F.R. Sec. 50.20 (1993). Both an FMSHRC Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") and the full Commission affirmed the citation. Because we find these reporting requirements to be a reasonable interpretation of Mine Act provisions, we affirm under Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984).
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (the "Mine Act"), 30 U.S.C. Sec. 801 et seq. (1988), transferred authority to regulate health and safety in the nation's mines from the Secretary of the Interior to the Secretary of Labor, 30 U.S.C. Secs. 802(a), 811(a). The Secretary acts through the Mine Safety and Health Administration. 30 C.F.R. Sec. 50.1. The Act empowers the Secretary to "develop, promulgate, and revise as may be appropriate, improved mandatory health or safety standards for the protection of life and prevention of injuries in coal or other mines," 30 U.S.C. Sec. 811(a), and authorizes the Secretary to require mine operators to "establish and maintain such records, make such reports, and provide such information, as the Secretary ... may reasonably require from time to time to enable him to perform his functions under this chapter." 30 U.S.C. Sec. 813(h). In addition to delegating rulemaking authority, the Act grants enforcement authority to the Secretary, who, acting through MSHA, issues citations to mine operators for violations of Mine Act regulations. 30 U.S.C. Sec. 814(a). An aggrieved mine operator may contest a MSHA citation before the FMSHRC, an independent adjudicative body authorized to hear disputes arising under the Mine Act. 30 U.S.C. Secs. 815(d), 823.
After enactment of the Mine Act but before its effective date, the Secretary of the Interior promulgated 30 C.F.R. Part 50 regulations ("Part 50"), governing a mine operator's duty to report accidents, occupational injuries and occupational illnesses. Part 50 regulations require mine operators to report to MSHA any "occupational injury" within ten days of its occurrence. 30 C.F.R. Sec. 50.20(a). Part 50 defines "occupational injury" as
any injury to a miner which occurs at a mine for which medical treatment is administered, or which results in death or loss of consciousness, inability to perform all job duties on any day after an injury, temporary assignment to other duties, or transfer to another job.
Energy West operates the Deer Creek Coal Mine in Utah. On October 3, 1990, Donald Hammond, an employee at Deer Creek, was injured in an automobile accident at the mine. Shortly after Hammond drove through the entrance gate to mine property before his shift began, his personal automobile stalled, its brakes failed, and it rolled down the road and crashed in a drainage ditch. Hammond missed several days of work as a result of injuries suffered in the accident.
MSHA inspector Robert Huggins was at Deer Creek on the day of the accident and visited the accident site. Huggins asked a Deer Creek safety engineer, Kevin Tuttle, whether Energy West planned to report the incident to MSHA. Tuttle answered negatively, stating Energy West's belief that the injury was not reportable because Hammond was not working when the injury occurred. On November 1, 1990, after consulting his supervisors at MSHA and notifying Energy West that the injury was reportable, Huggins issued a citation charging Energy West with failure to report an "occupational injury" under 30 C.F.R. Sec. 50.20. Energy West abated the violation by filing an injury report on the same date.
Energy West sought review of the citation with the FMSHRC. The parties submitted the case to a Commission ALJ on briefs and stipulated facts. Reasoning that the injury was a reportable "occupational injury" because it was an injury to a miner on mine property, the ALJ affirmed the citation. Energy West Mining Co., 13 F.M.S.H.R.C. 1164 (1991). Energy West appealed to the Commission, which affirmed the ALJ. Energy West Mining Co., 15 F.M.S.H.R.C. 587 (1993). The Commission held that the Part 50 definition of "occupational injury" was "not so arbitrary as to be unreasonable." Id. at 592. Noting that its decision in Freeman United Coal Mining Co., 6 F.M.S.H.R.C. 1577 (1984), held that Part 50 regulations do not require a causal nexus between the injury and the miner's work, the Commission concluded that "it is not unreasonable for the Secretary to require the reporting of all designated injuries at mines so that MSHA can decide whether an investigation of the injury is necessary or whether regulatory action is indicated." Energy West, 15 F.M.S.H.R.C. at 592-93.
Energy West petitioned for review of the FMSHRC decision pursuant to Mine Act section 106(a), 30 U.S.C. Sec. 816(a)(1), alleging two major errors in the Commission's decision. First, Energy West contends that MSHA's interpretation of "occupational injury" in 30 C.F.R. Sec. 50.2(e) impermissibly conflicts with the language of the Mine Act and other Part 50 provisions. Second, Energy West argues that the Commission improperly abdicated its statutory duty to review policy decisions when it limited its review of 30 C.F.R. Sec. 50.2(e) to a determination of reasonableness.
When a court reviews a regulation promulgated pursuant to statute by the agency charged with administration of that statute, the inquiry is twofold. 1 Chevron, 467 U.S. at 842-44, 104 S.Ct. at 2781-83. First, we must determine whether Congress has spoken directly to the question at issue. If so, we must give effect to the unambiguously expressed intent of Congress. Id. at 842-43, 104 S.Ct. at 2781-82. When a statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the question at issue, however, we must ask whether the agency's interpretation is based upon a permissible construction of the statute. Id. at 843, 104 S.Ct. at 2781-82. That is, we will defer to an agency's interpretation of the statute it is charged with administering when that interpretation is reasonable. Id. at 844, 104 S.Ct. at 2782-83. Thus, in our review of the Commission decision, our first inquiry is whether the Mine Act speaks unambiguously to what constitutes an "occupational injury." See id. at 842, 104 S.Ct. at 2781.
Energy West contends that the Secretary's interpretation of the statute conflicts with the plain meaning of the Mine Act. It asserts that the reporting provisions of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. Sec. 813(d), (h), (j), do not authorize such a broad definition of occupational injury because each is qualified by the statement of purpose found in the Mine Act, which focuses on improving the "health and safety" of the miner. 30 U.S.C. Sec. 801(g). Energy West contends that this focus on improvement means that reportable events are limited to those which the mine operator or the Secretary of Labor are capable of preventing. But the statute expresses no such limitation. The Mine Act grants a broad delegation to the Secretary to require mine operators to provide information necessary to enable the Secretary "to perform his functions under this chapter." 30 U.S.C. Sec. 813(h). That section contains little limitation on the type of information to be provided. The statute's statement of purpose is not to be read as the strict limiting principle petitioner asserts. In fact, the Mine Act is silent as to the type of occupational injury information which should be reported in order to assist the Secretary in carrying out his duties under the Act. Obedient toChevron, when "the statute before us is 'silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue,' before us, we proceed to the second step" of theChevron analysis. Nuclear Info. Resource Serv. v. Nuclear Regulatory Comm'n, 969 F.2d 1169, 1173 (D.C.Cir.1992) (in banc) (quoting Chevron, 467 U.S. at 843, 104 S.Ct. at 2782). At this stage we "defer to the [Secretary's] interpretation of the statute if it is reasonable and consistent with the statute's purpose." Chemical Mfrs. Ass'n v. EPA, 919 F.2d 158, 162-63 (D.C.Cir.1990) (citing Chevron, 467 U.S. at 844-45, 104 S.Ct. at 2782-83).
Energy West contends that MSHA's definition of "occupational injury" in 30 C.F.R. Sec. 50.2(e) is unreasonable and inconsistent with the statute's purpose because it does not...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Rock of Ages Corp. v. Secretary of Labor
...the protective purposes of the Mine Act; that is, to promote safety and health in mines. See Energy West Mining Co. v. Federal Mine Safety & Health Review Comm'n, 40 F.3d 457, 461 (D.C.Cir.1994) (reviewing requirements for reporting occupational injuries in light of safety and health purpos......
-
Secretary of Labor v. Twentymile Coal Co.
...has already rejected the contention that § 113 gives the Commission authority to determine policy issues. See Energy West Mining Co. v. FMSHRC, 40 F.3d 457, 463 (D.C.Cir.1994). In Energy West, we found that § 113 "merely states" the grounds upon which a "petitioner may call upon the Commiss......
-
Hopkins Cnty. Coal, LLC v. Acosta
...recognized that § 103(h) "contains little limitation on the type of information to be provided." Energy W. Min. Co. v. Fed. Mine Safety & Health Review Comm'n, 40 F.3d 457, 461 (D.C. Cir. 1994).10 Furthermore, Gatlin's job as a belt examiner was intimately related to the health and safety o......
-
N. Fork Coal Corp. v. Fed. Mine Safety & Health Review Comm'n
...that temporary reinstatement cease upon her determination of no Mine Act violation. Cf. Energy W. Mining Co. v. Fed. Mine Safety & Health Review Comm'n, 40 F.3d 457, 463 (D.C.Cir.1994) (finding that the Secretary's “consistently maintained interpretation” of a Mine Act regulation was entitl......