Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission FMSHRC

After a series of deadly mine disasters, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act, signed on November 9, 1977, moved mine safety enforcement to the Labor Department's Mine Safety and Health Administration and created the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission as an independent body to decide disputes. Like its counterpart for general workplaces, it follows the split-enforcement model. The Commission has five members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to staggered six-year terms.

Mine operators who contest citations, orders to withdraw miners from unsafe areas, or proposed penalties from MSHA bring their cases before the Commission's administrative law judges. The judges also hear complaints from miners who say they were fired or punished for reporting safety hazards, and they can order temporary reinstatement while those cases proceed. The five-member Commission reviews judges' decisions on appeal, and its rulings can be challenged in the federal courts of appeals. Its caseload covers coal mines as well as metal and nonmetal mines and quarries.

Like other small adjudicatory bodies, the Commission has at times lacked enough members for a quorum, slowing reviews. Recent Supreme Court rulings on the right to a jury trial and on the status of administrative law judges have led some mine operators to challenge whether agency tribunals can impose civil penalties at all. Supporters of the current system say expert judges resolve technical safety disputes faster than courts, while critics argue that penalties should be decided by federal judges and juries.