Appeals of coal-mine safety citations jam system

Appeals of coal-mine safety citations are dramatically up in several states, swamping the appeals process. "Some members of Congress contend that the vast backlog of cases under review — more than 15,000 — is the result of potentially unsafe mines gaming the system to stay in business," James R. Carroll of The Courier-Journal in Louisville reports. In Kentucky, 80 percent of the 536 fines for "significant and substantial" violations, the most severe category, are being contested, and 86 percent of the 288 such fines in Indiana are being contested.

"This growing backlog indicates that certain mine operators are abusing their right to challenge a violation," California Democratic Rep. George Miller, chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, which is holding a hearing today on the issue, told Carroll. "These appeals are clogging the system and putting miners in danger." The Mine Safety and Health Administration defines "significant and substantial" violations as those "likely to result in serious injury or illness."

Violations are required to be fixed when cited, Carroll reports, but "safety advocates say the delay in imposing financial penalties undercuts the deterrent effect that those penalties are intended to have." Luke Popovich, spokesman for the National Mining Association, told Carroll in an e-mail that "mine safety is not in any way jeopardized by the increasing decisions to appeal citations," and much of the appeal increase can be attributed to escalating penalty cost and number of citations issued. (Read more)

UPDATE 2/24: MSHA boss Joe Main pledged Tuesday to revamp the enforcement process that has resulted in 16,000 backlogged citation appeals. "We need a better system here," Main said during a hearing about the backlog. MSHA plains to simplify the citations, Carroll reports, and is "studying the possibility of additional financial incentives beyond the current 10 percent reduction in civil penalties for operators who fix violations." Only after citations are finalized can MSHA issue a "pattern of violations" finding that could close a mine. The agency says 48 mines could currently face such a ruling if not for the appeal backlog. (Read more)

UPDATE 2/25: The New York Times says in an editorial, "The jam means that the worst offenders can delay or avoid the reform law’s toughest penalties, including being shut down once a pattern of repeated violations has been proved. . . . The companies respond that there would be no problem if the former process of informal “conference” with regulators were still used to clear violations without litigation. That, of course, was one of the ways King Coal reigned supreme as an industry coddled by political appointees drawn from its own management ranks." (Read more) The Times editorial may skirt a few of the key issues, Ken Ward Jr. of The Charleston Gazette reports on his Coal Tattoo blog. The Times refers to a proposed 27 percent increase in financing for MSHA, but Ward explains that increase is actually proposed in the budget for the Mine Safety Review Commission, to help it deal with the backlog in cases, and Obama has only proposed a slight increase to MSHA's budget. Ward concludes spending on mine safety will actually drop by about $2 million under the proposal and notes some of MSHA's budget will be devoted to its new "Rules to Live By" public relations campaign. (Read more)