Case Name: SEWELL COAL COMPANY, Petitioner, v. FEDERAL MINE SAFETY & HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION, Secretary of Labor, Respondents
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1982-08-30
Citations: 686 F.2d 1066
Docket Number: No. 81-1592
Parties: SEWELL COAL COMPANY, Petitioner, v. FEDERAL MINE SAFETY & HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION, Secretary of Labor, Respondents.
Judges: Before BUTZNER, WIDENER and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.
Reporter: Federal Reporter 2d Series
Volume: 686
Pages: 1066–1074

Head Matter:
SEWELL COAL COMPANY, Petitioner, v. FEDERAL MINE SAFETY & HEALTH REVIEW COMMISSION, Secretary of Labor, Respondents.
No. 81-1592.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued Jan. 6, 1982.
Decided Aug. 30, 1982.
C. Lynch Christian, III (Jackson, Kelly, Holt & O’Farrell, Charleston, W. Va., on brief), for petitioner.
Nancy S. Hyde, Washington, D. C. (T. Timothy Ryan, Jr., Sol. of Labor, Cynthia L. Attwood, Associate Sol., Michael A. McCord, Appellate Litigation, Washington, D. C., on brief), for respondents.
Before BUTZNER, WIDENER and PHILLIPS, Circuit Judges.

Opinion:
BUTZNER, Circuit Judge:
A federal mine inspector cited the Sewell Coal Company for two violations of safety standards. An administrative law judge vacated the citations because he concluded that compliance with the standards was impossible under the circumstances. On review of this decision, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission ac cepted the administrative law judge's factual findings but held that compliance had not been impossible. The administrative law judge then imposed a $1 penalty for each violation, and Sewell petitioned this court for relief. We affirm.
I
From December 1977 to March 1978, the United Mine Workers struck coal mines throughout the nation. Because of the strike, Sewell was able to employ only supervisory personnel in its mine. Thirty-three supervisors worked around-the-clock shifts during the strike, seven days a week, producing no coal, but bending their efforts entirely to maintenance and repair. Nevertheless, the mine deteriorated rapidly. A glassy shale, subject to frequent fractures and crumbling, composed the mine roof; natural water accumulation required pumping at the rate of about 500,000 gallons a day. Undulations in the floor of the mine allowed unpumped water to collect in many places.
In February 1978, during the strike, a federal mine inspector observed two conditions that violated federal mine safety standards. Water up to 16 inches deep filled a 40-foot section of a designated escapeway, making an emergency exit difficult, particularly if a miner were to become disabled. See 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704 (1981). The roof of another area had begun to fracture, already dropping rock debris on the floor. See 30 C.F.R. § 75.200. The inspector issued two notices of violation.
At a hearing before an administrative law judge, Sewell, relying on Buffalo Mining Co., 2 IBMA 226 (1973), contended that the notices should be vacated because the shortage of maintenance workers made compliance with the standards impossible. The judge agreed with Sewell, and the Secretary of Labor appealed to the Commission. Accepting all the factual findings of the administrative law judge, the Commission concluded that Sewell had not made out the defense of impossibility as defined in Buffalo Mining. In its opinion, the Commission said:
The Secretary does not contest these factual findings and the record as a whole supports them. Rather, the Secretary challenges the judge's conclusion from those facts, that compliance was impossible. The Secretary submits that the operator had discretion; it could assign its 33 management personnel to whatever tasks it deemed important. He argues that although it may have been difficult to do a complete examination of the mine so as to detect all violative conditions, such action was not impossible. To the extent violative conditions are found that cannot be corrected promptly, the operator could, argues the Secretary, danger-off and post such areas so as to prevent miner access and exposure.
We agree with the Secretary that the facts relied on by the judge do not support a finding that compliance with the cited standards 'was impossible. In fact, the [violations were] abated by the operator very soon after the citations were issued. When, as here, compliance is difficult but not impossible, the appropriate consideration of such mitigating circum stances is in the assessment of the penalties.
In sum, we hold the judge erred in recognizing an affirmative defense of impossibility of compliance in this case. Accordingly, the notices of violation are reinstated and affirmed and the ease is remanded for the assessment of civil penalties.
On remand from the Commission, the administrative law judge assessed a penalty of $1 for each violation, and Sewell appealed pursuant to 30 U.S.C. § 816(b) (Supp. Ill 1979).
II
Sewell first argues that compliance with the standards was impossible. Buffalo Mining established this defense. In that case, the Interior Board of Mining Appeals held that the 1969 Act did not allow an operator to be penalized for conditions in a mine that "cannot be effectively abated through the use of existing technology." 30 U.S.C. § 814(h)(1) (1970) (current version at 30 U.S.C. § 817(b)(1) (Supp. Ill 1979)). The Board construed that phrase to apply to conditions that violated a mandatory safety standard but that could not be corrected because of "unavailability of equipment, materials, or qualified technicians." Buffalo Mining, 2 IBMA at 259. In this case, Sewell argues that the Commission, successor to the Board of Mining Appeals, should interpret Buffalo Mining to apply to Se-well's violations.
We believe that the Secretary's and the Commission's interpretation of Buffalo Mining, like an agency's interpretation of its own regulations, "if reasonable, . is controlling despite the existence of other interpretations that may seem even more reasonable." Lucas Coal Co. v. Interior Board of Mine Operations Appeals, 522 F.2d 581, 584 (3d Cir. 1975). See also Bowles v. Seminole Rock & Sand Co., 325 U.S. 410, 414, 65 S.Ct. 1215, 1217, 89 L.Ed. 1700 (1945) (an agency's interpretation of its own regulation is "of controlling weight unless it is plainly erroneous or inconsistent with the regulation."). Indeed, the legislative history of the 1977 Act states plainly Congress's intention "that the Secretary [of Labor's] interpretations of the law and regulations shall be given weight by both the Commission and the courts." The Commission's rejection of the impossibility defense is not unreasonable, plainly erroneous, arbitrary, or inconsistent with mine safety regulations.
Sewell also argues that if the Secretary should announce ahead of time a requirement for posting signs, Sewell would comply in the future; but a rule unknown to Sewell at the time should not be retroactively applied.
We think that this argument, compelling though it appears, is foreclosed by a number of Supreme Court decisions beginning with SEC v. Chenery Corp., 332 U.S. 194, 67 S.Ct. 1760, 91 L.Ed. 1995 (1947) (Chenery II). In that case, the SEC had applied an innovative, adjudicatory order retroactively. The Supreme Court upheld the SEC. After expressing a preference for rule making over adjudication as a means of filling in statutory gaps, the Court observed, nevertheless, that "any rigid requirement [that rule making be used instead of adjudication] would make the administrative process inflexible and incapable of dealing with many of the specialized problems which arise." Chenery II, 332 U.S. at 202, 67 S.Ct. at 1580. The Court went on at some length to make this point clear:
Not every principle essential to the effective administration of a statute can or should be cast immediately into the mold of a general rule. Some principles must await their own development, while others must be adjusted to meet particular, unforeseeable situations. In performing its important functions in these respects, therefore, an administrative agency must be equipped to act either by general rule or by individual order. To insist upon one' form of action to the exclusion of the other is to exalt form over necessity.
In other words, problems may arise in a case which the administrative agency could not reasonably foresee, problems which must be solved despite the absence of a relevant general rule. Or the agency may not have had sufficient experience with a particular problem to warrant rigidifying its tentative judgment into a hard and fast rule. Or the problem may be so specialized and varying in nature as to be impossible of capture within the boundaries of a general rule. In those situations, the agency must retain power to deal with the problems on a case-to-case basis if the administrative process is to be effective. There is thus a very definite place for the case-by-case evolution of statutory standards. And the choice made between proceeding by general rule or by individual, ad hoc litigation is one that lies primarily in the informed discretion of the administrative agency.
332 U.S. at 202-03, 67 S.Ct. at 1580. Retroactive application of the SEC's new rule was expressly found to be "not necessarily fatal to its validity." 332 U.S. at 203, 67 S.Ct. at 1580.
In a more recent decision, the Supreme Court relied on Chenery II to reaffirm that an administrative agency may announce and apply new principles in an adjudicative proceeding, particularly where the situations to be governed by the principle may vary in factual detail. In NLRB v. Bell Aerospace Co., 416 U.S. 267, 294, 94 S.Ct. 1757, 1771, 40 L.Ed.2d 134 (1974), the Court wrote: "The views expressed in Chenery II and [NLRB v. Wyman-Gordon Co., 394 U.S. 759, 89 S.Ct. 1426, 22 L.Ed.2d 709 (1969)] make plain that the Board is not precluded from announcing new principles in an adjudicative proceeding and that the choice between rulemaking and adjudication lies in the first instance within the Board's discretion."
Neither the 1969 nor the 1977 Act exempts struck mines from safety standards. Indeed, neither these Acts nor their implementing regulations expressly recognize the defense of impossibility when violations can be corrected through the application of existing technology. The defense of impossibility, on which Sewell relies, was created by administrative adjudication from principles that are implicit in the 1969 Act. Because the circumstances for invoking the defense are diverse and not readily foreseeable, we conclude that case-by-case adjudication rather than rule making is appropriate for defining its scope. Certainly we cannot say that undertaking this task through adjudication amounted to "abuse of discretion or a violation of the Act." See Bell Aerospace, 416 U.S. at 294, 94 S.Ct. at 1771. Chenery II and Bell Aerospace also demonstrate that retroactive application of a novel principle expounded in an adjudicatory proceeding does not infringe the rights secured by the due process clause.
Ill
Sewell also contends that inspections during a strike, and consequently the issuance of citations, are not authorized by either the 1969 or 1977 Act or by the Secretary's regulations. Sewell's major premise is that the mine was idle. It relies on 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704-2(c)(l), which provides that escapeways must be inspected at least once a week, though inspections "need not be made during any week in which the mine is idle for the entire week, except that such examination shall be made before any miner . . returns to the mine."
We cannot accept Sewell's position. The record establishes that although the mine was not producing coal, it was not idle. The administrative law judge found that 33 men were working in the mine on round-the-clock shifts. These men were engaged in rock dusting, pumping, timbering, and ventilation work — tasks also performed when the mine is producing coal. Moreover, Sewell retained discretion to assign the men to any part of the mine, and the company's safety director testified that he had no way of knowing whether any of the workers had traveled throughout the mine during the strike. Clearly, these employees were exposed to many of the same hazards found in a producing mine.
The purpose of both the 1969 and 1977 Acts is to protect the health and safety of miners. 30 U.S.C. § 801 (1970 & Supp. Ill 1979). Although Sewell's workers were management personnel, they were not denied this protection. On the contrary, they were specifically covered by both Acts. Section 802(g) (1970 & Supp. Ill 1979) defines a miner as "any individual working in a coal . . . mine." We therefore conclude that the regulation on which Sewell relies does not exempt a struck mine from inspection and citation when the operator's employees are working in the mine.
Sewell also relies on 30 U.S.C. § 814(a) (Supp. Ill 1979), which provides that if an inspector "believes that an operator . . . has violated [the Act] or any mandatory health or safety standard, rule, order, or regulation . he shall, with reasonable promptness, issue a citation." This section, Sewell contends, should be construed to authorize citations only when an operator affirmatively commits a violation. Although conceding the existence of the cited conditions, Sewell asserts that they resulted from natural deterioration during the strike and not from its affirmative act.
Sewell's interpretation of § 814(a) would require proof of negligence. This interpretation is warranted by neither the text of the Acts nor their legislative history. Section 814(a), on which Sewell relies, pertains to the duties of mine inspectors. The liability of an operator is governed by § 820(a) (Supp. III 1979) which states: "The operator of a coal or other mine in which a violation occurs of a mandatory health or safety standard or who violates any other provision of this chapter, shall be assessed a civil penalty . . . . " (emphasis added) The legislative history of the predecessor to this section in the 1969 Act discloses that it was intended to provide for "liability for violation of the standards against the operator without regard to fault." Thus, Sewell's contention lacks statutory support. See Secretary of Labor v. Ace Drilling Coal Co., 2 F.M.S.H.R.C. 790, 791 (1980), aff'd without opinion, 642 F.2d 440 (3d Cir. 1981) (imposing liability without fault).
Although an operator may be liable without fault, the question of negligence is not eliminated from the administration of the Act. Section 820(i) (Supp. Ill 1979) provides that a consideration in assessing the amount of a penalty is "whether the operator was negligent." When the case was remanded from the Commission, the administrative law judge applied this provision by assessing two $1 penalties.
Sewell relies for further support on a memorandum from a mine safety official written after the start of the strike. The memorandum recognized the problems of inspections during strikes and called for "spot inspections" the week before and after the strike ended. Because the inspection did not occur within this two-week period, Sewell urges us to read this memorandum as an authoritative directive that the citations should not have been issued. We decline to do so.
The memorandum directs field inspectors to inspect struck mines promptly when it appears that miners will soon return to work. These citations were issued, however, during a regular, rather than a spot, inspection. Unless a mine is closed and sealed, the memorandum did not, and probably could not, modify the statutory provi sion pertaining to regular inspections that requires the Secretary to "make inspections of the entire mine at least four times a year." 30 U.S.C. § 813(a) (1970) (current version at § 813(a) (Supp. Ill 1979)).
We find no merit in Sewell's other contentions. The decision of the Commission is affirmed.
. Secretary of Labor v. Sewell Coal Co., Doc. No. HOPE 78-744-P (F.M.S.H.R.C. June 11, 1981).
. When the inspector issued the notices of violation to Sewell, he acted under the authority of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, Pub. L. No. 91-173, 83 Stat. 742. That Act placed the mine inspection program under the Department of the Interior. Administrative appeals were taken to the Interior Board of Mining Appeals. Shortly after the notices were issued, the 1969 Act was substantially amended by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act of 1977, Pub. L. No. 95-164, 91 Stat. 1290. The new Act transferred the inspection program to the Department of Labor and replaced the Board of Mining Appeals with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
Thus, notices of violation were issued under one statute, but the review procedure was governed by another. The two Acts, however, are nearly identical for our purposes. The 1977 Act refers to "citations," the 1969 Act to "notices of violation;" we use the terms interchangeably.
. Secretary of Labor v. Sewell Coal Company, Doc. No. HOPE 78-744-P (F.M.S.H.R.C. June 11, 1981).
. In his brief before the Commission, the Secretary said:
[T]he proper place for consideration of the argument raised by Sewell — that it could not comply with the Coal Act because it had limited manpower — is in assessment of the civil penalty. The fact that most employees were on strike may well mitigate the gravity and negligence associated with the violations. The Secretary does not question the proprie-
ty of the $1 penalties.
. S.Rep. No. 181, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. 49 (1977), reprinted in 1977 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 3401, 3448.
. This provision of the 1977 Act was also a part of the 1969 Act, 30 U.S.C. § 819(a) (1970).
. Conf.Rep. No. 761, 91st Cong., 1st Sess. 71, reprinted in 1969 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 2503, 2578, 2586.