Pit & Quarry, February 2012

Law Continued from page 50 flagrant level penalties In this informal context without rulemaking procedures or public participation MSHA established its concepts for determining the existence of flagrant violations qualifying for maximum penalties For example here is what MSHA says would constitute a repeated failure to make reasonable efforts to eliminate a known violation A citation is marked significant and substantial The likelihood of injury box is checked for permanently disabling The citation is also designated as due to unwarrantable failure There were two prior unwarrantable violations of the same standard within 15 months The gross malfeasance that Congress addressed in terms of reckless or repeated failure to correct a known life threatening violation has been converted by MSHA policy into something that could be almost commonplace under the system that has existed long before the MINER Act The four criteria above are scarcely more than what justifies an unwarrantable finding The minimum penalty set by Congress in the MINER Act for an unwarrantable failure citation is 2000 a long way from 220000 The discrepancies are evident and Judge Feldman found fault with MSHAs procedure on multiple well articulated grounds His order or at least his reasoning unless overturned on appeal should have a significant impact on the future administration and application of flagrant level penalties PQ Legal editor Michael T Heenan is an attorney at Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak Stewart one of the nations largest labor and safety law firms He can be reached at michael heenan@ odnss com February Ad Index Advertiser Page Phone Web Site AZFAB pg 11 866 616 9351 www azfab com Baldor Electric Co pg 21 479 646 4711 www baldor com Bituminous Insurance Companies pg 20 800 475 4477 www bituminousinsurance com Bridgestone Commercial Solutions pg 49 800 572 8905 www trucktires com C L Dews Sons Foundry Machinery pg 34 877 339 7339 www dewsfoundry com Chevron pg 17 www chevrondelo com Conn Weld Industries pg 43 304 487 1421 www conn weld com Deister Machine Co Inc Inside Front Cover 260 426 7495 www deistermachine com Derrick Corporation pg 30 716 683 9010 www derrickcorp com Dredging Supply Co Inc pg 47 985 479 1355 www dscdredge com Eagle Iron Works pg 31 515 243 1123 www eagleironworks com Fenner Dunlop pg 7 800 661 2358 www fennerdunlopamericas com FMI pg 33 303 398 7237 www fminet com ca Instantel pg 42 613 592 4642 www instantel com Intersystems pg 20 866 495 9713 www intersystems net John Deere Construction Back Cover 800 503 3373 www johndeere com 844K Kleemann Wirtgen America pg 41 615 501 0602 www wirtgenamerica com Leading Edge Attachments Inc pg 47 866 928 5800 www digrock com Libra Systems Corp pg 40 215 256 1700 www librasystems com Liebherr Construction Equipment Co pg 25 757 245 5251 www liebherr us Loup Electronics pg 46 877 489 5687 www loupelectronics com Luff Industries Ltd Inside Back Cover 888 349 5833 www luffindustries com Martin Sprocket Gear Inc pg 37 817 258 3000 www martinsprocket com Masaba Inc pg 5 877 MASABA 0 www masabainc com McLanahan Corp pg 3 29 814 695 9807 www mclanahan com Metso Minerals Industries Inc pg 10 800 558 6818 www metso com NSSGA pg 45 703 526 1076 www nssga org P H Mining Equipment Inc pg 39 205 487 6492 www phmining com Philippi Hagenbuch Inc pg 18 800 447 6464 www philsystems com Power Transmission Solutions pg 13 866 743 7392 www emerson ept com REMco pg 35 925 447 0805 www remcovsi com Ringspann Corp pg 22 847 678 3581 www ringspanncorp com RMT pg 19 800 648 8132 www rmtequip com tradein Scania USA Inc pg 27 www scaniausa com Shell Lubricants pg 23 800 231 6950 www rotella com Spokane Industries pg 32 855 629 3722 www spokaneindustries com Stedman Machine Co pg 36 800 262 5401 www stedman machine com Tecnetics Industries Tecweigh pg 46 888 221 1855 www tecweigh com Terex Minerals Processing Systems pg 9 989 288 3121 www terexmps com Volvo Construction Equipment pg 15 www volvoce com na www pitandquarry com February 2012 PIT QUARRY 55