FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT IMPROVEMENT PLAN
 

UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 13,392.
 

INTRODUCTION
 

On December 14, 2005, the President issued Executive Order 13,392 entitled “Improving 

Agency Disclosures of Information” published at 70 Fed. Reg. 75, 373. Pursuant to Section 2(d) 

of the Executive Order, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission designated its 

Executive Director as its chief Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) officer and the Office of the 

Executive Director as its FOIA request service center. 

Pursuant to Section 3(a) of the Executive Order, the Commission conducted a 

comprehensive review of its operations under FOIA, which are centralized, and the results of this 

review are set forth below. Further, pursuant to Section 3(b) of the Executive Order, and in 

accordance with the standard reporting and planning format that the Department of Justice 

prescribed for use by all agencies, the following plan for the improvement of FOIA 

administration throughout the Commission is hereby established, effective as of this date. 

The Commission is an independent adjudicative agency that provides administrative trial 

and appellate review of legal disputes arising under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 

1977 as amended. 

Most cases that come before the Commission involve civil penalties proposed by the 

Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) against mine operators 

and address whether the alleged violations occurred as well as the appropriateness of the 

proposed penalty. Other types of cases include contests of MSHA orders to close a mine for 

health and safety reasons, miner’s charges of discrimination based on their complaints regarding 

health or safety, miner’s request for compensation after being idled by a mine closure order, and 

disputes involving underground coal mine accident response plans. 

The Commission’s Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) decide cases at the trial level, a 

five-member Commission provides discretionary appellate review. An ALJ decision that is not 

accepted for review becomes a final, non-precedential order of the Commission. Appeals from 

the Commission’s decisions are to the federal circuit courts of appeals. 

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
 

601 NEW JERSEY AVE, NW • SUITE 9500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20001-2021
 

TELEPHONE: 202-434-9900 | www.fmshrc.gov
 
 

A. Nature of the Commission’s FOIA Operations 

FOIA requests to the Commission are insufficient to warrant a full-time FOIA 

specialist. A staff member of the Office of the Executive Director, who has been 

trained in FOIA matters, is responsible for the Commission’s FOIA activities in 

addition to other office assignments. Over the past four years, the Commission’s 

FOIA requests have ranged from a high of 39 in FY 03 to a low of 23 in FY 05. 

The majority of FOIA requests are related to its docketed cases, i.e. copies of 

transcripts of hearings or other legal filings. There is no FOIA case backlog. 

B. Area Selected for Review 

The Commission reviewed the following potential improvement areas: 

– Customer Service 

– Website Improvements 

C. Narrative Statement Summarizing the Results of Review 

The Commission reviewed its FOIA operations and determined that, because of 

its low volume of FOIA requests and its response time being normally within the 

statutory time period, it would focus on continued professional delivery of 

customer service and on the continued prompt updating of its website posting of 

case decisions, thus providing the Commission’s clientele with information on its 

mission responsibilities, absent the need of FOIA requests. 

D. Areas Chosen as Improvement Areas for Plan 

– Customer Service 

– Website improvements 

E. Improvement Areas Plans 

1. Customer Service: 

Goal: Provide training and orientation to Commission program staff to 

ensure that FOIA staff provides continued professional delivery of 

customer service. 

Target Completion: December 31, 2006. 

Steps: Issue revised written instructions to Commission staff on 

procedures for control, information gathering, and response to FOIA 

requests. 

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
 

601 NEW JERSEY AVE, NW • SUITE 9500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20001-2021
 

TELEPHONE: 202-434-9900 | www.fmshrc.gov
 
 

2. Website Improvement 

Goal: Continue to improve the Commission’s website in order to continue 

to provide historical and current information on its mission responsibilities 

thus lessening the need for FOIA requests. 

Target Completion: December 31, 2007 

Steps: 

- Document and refine the process of decisional website postings 

- Document and refine the process of audio website postings of meetings 

and oral arguments 

- Document and review procedures for deleting obsolete website material 

- Examine ways to increase the historical database of Commission’s 

decisions 

- Explore economical methods of using website decisional postings as 

citable reference. 

F. Improvement Time Periods 

Areas anticipated to be completed by December 31, 2006 

– Customer Service 

Areas anticipated to be completed by December 31, 2007 

– Commission Website Improvement 

MICHAEL F. DUFFY 

CHAIRMAN 

June 28, 2006 

FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION
 

601 NEW JERSEY AVE, NW • SUITE 9500 • WASHINGTON, DC 20001-2021
 

TELEPHONE: 202-434-9900 | www.fmshrc.gov