Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

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FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION

Suite 6000, 1730 K Street NW., Washington, DC 20006-3867

Phone, 202-653-5625. E-mail, info@fmshrc.gov. Internet, www.fmshrc.gov.

www.fmshrc.gov.

Chairman Theodore F. Verheggen

Commissioners Robert H. Beatty, Jr., Mary Lu Jordan, (2 vacancies)

Chief Administrative Law Judge David F. Barbour

General Counsel Norman M. Gleichman

Executive Director Richard L. Baker

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The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission ensures compliance with occupational safety and health standards in the Nation's surface and underground coal, metal, and nonmetal mines.

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is an independent, quasi-judicial agency established by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.).

The Commission consists of five members who are appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate and who serve staggered, 6-

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year terms. The Chairman is selected from among the Commissioners.

The Commission and its Office of Administrative Law Judges are charged with deciding cases brought pursuant to the act by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, mine operators, and miners or their representatives. These cases generally involve review of the Administration's enforcement actions including citations, mine closure orders, and proposals for civil penalties issued for violations of the act or the mandatory safety and health standards promulgated by the Secretary of Labor. The Commission also has jurisdiction over discrimination complaints filed by miners or their representatives in connection with their safety and health rights under the act, and over complaints for compensation filed on behalf of miners idled as a result of mine closure orders issued by the Administration.

Activities

Cases brought before the Commission are assigned to the Office of Administrative Law Judges, and hearings are conducted pursuant to the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 554, 556) and the Commission's procedural rules (29 CFR Part 2700).

A judge's decision becomes a final but nonprecedential order of the Commission 40 days after issuance unless the Commission has directed the case for review in response to a petition or on its own motion. If a review is conducted, a decision of the Commission becomes final 30 days after issuance unless a party adversely...