Opinion ID: 520277
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: roof bolt and support removal regulations

Text: 48 It is now a fairly simple matter to conclude that the Secretary has failed in this instance to adequately comply with the procedural and substantive requirements of the Mine Act and that her new regulations governing roof bolts and support removal are, consequently, arbitrary and capricious. 49 The pre-existing regulation on roof bolts was one of the plan-approval criteria for roof control plans. 30 C.F.R. Sec. 75.200-7 (1986). As we have explained, since district managers were not authorized to approve plans which did not provide as much protection as the criterion, 30 C.F.R. Sec. 75.200-6 (1986), the criterion established a mandatory level of protection that the new regulations had to meet or improve upon under the no-less protection rule. The prior regulations governing the removal of roof support were also styled as plan-approval criteria, 30 C.F.R. Sec. 75.200-14 (1986), and again the MSHA district manager was precluded from approving plans providing less protection than the criteria. In addition, in the case of removal of roof bolts (as opposed to other types of support), a specific regulation made the criteria themselves mandatory. 30 C.F.R. Sec. 75.204-1 (1986). Thus the new roof bolt regulations and the new roof support removal regulations replaced existing mandatory standards; the Secretary was therefore required to ensure that the new regulations did not reduce miner protection below the level afforded by that mandatory standard. 50 The Secretary's statement of basis and purpose, however, is virtually silent on this issue. While she did discuss the general safety features of the new regulations, she did not discuss how protective the old regulations were nor how the new regulations maintain or improve upon this level of protection. 18 Indeed, the complete absense of any discussion of the no-less protection rule and the Secretary's hazy post hoc arguments to the court attempting to belatedly supply the necessary justification leave us no alternative but to conclude that the Secretary simply failed to take account of this statutory limitation on her authority. 19 The statement of basis and purpose is therefore patently inadequate and the rulemaking was arbitrary and capricious with respect to the roof bolt and support removal standards.
51 The inadequacy of the Secretary's statement of basis and purpose leaves us with the question of an appropriate remedy. This court has recently set out the remedial options available in a case such as this: 52 In fashioning a remedy for an agency's failure to present an adequate statement of basis and purpose, this court may either remand for specific procedures to cure the deficiency without vacating the rule [ ] or it may vacate the rule, thus requiring the agency to initiate another rulemaking proceeding if it would seek to confront the problem anew. 53 Independent U.S. Tanker Owners Committee v. Dole, 809 F.2d 847, 854 (D.C.Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Independent U.S. Tanker Owners Committee, --- U.S. ----, 108 S.Ct. 76, 98 L.Ed.2d 39 (1987). In choosing the appropriate course of action, we consider both the seriousness of the deficiencies in the completed rulemaking and the doubts the deficiencies raise about whether the agency chose properly from the various alternatives open to it in light of statutory objectives. Id. at 855. 54 Our review of the rulemaking record suggests that the deficiencies in the rulemaking were fundamental and may well have affected the Secretary's choices. This is not a case in which the court is easily able to find a lawful basis for the regulations but unable to uphold the regulations because the agency itself has rested on other, unreasonable, grounds. Cf. Nation al Nutritional Foods Association v. Weinberger, 512 F.2d 688, 703 (2d Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. National Nutritional Foods Association v. Mathews, 423 U.S. 827, 96 S.Ct. 44, 46 L.Ed.2d 44 (1975) (remand and not vacatur of regulations appropriate where indications are that agency made rational choice but failed to fully include rationale in record). 55 We are inclined to the view that, due to her past misinterpretation that the plan-approval criteria did not establish any mandatory level of protection for Sec. 101(a)(9)'s purposes, 20 the appropriate remedy here is to require the Secretary to initiate a new rulemaking or minimally to reopen the old record for further evidence and comment on the no-less protection requirement. Burdened by the view that the criteria regulations were advisory, MSHA neither explored for itself nor elicited comments from all interested parties focused on the comparative level of protection afforded miners under the old and new regulations. The Secretary's arguments to the court and the complete absence of any discussion of the no-less protection rule in her statement of basis and purpose suggests strongly, as we have noted, that she did not conduct the rulemaking with this constraint on her authority in mind. A new or reopened rulemaking seems the only way to effectuate the intent of Congress in Sec. 101(a)(9) to maintain, if not improve, the safety of underground mining. 56 In order to minimize disruption to the mining industry 21 , however, we are requesting supplementary briefs on the most appropriate form of relief in this case, i.e., whether the existing regulations should be vacated pending action by the Secretary in compliance with our opinion or whether they should remain in place until the Secretary has acted within a reasonable time to correct the deficiencies in the original proceedings. Our mandate will accordingly issue at a later date when we have had the benefit of supplementary briefing.