About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


64 Admin. L. Rev. 441 (2012)
Mine Safety: Penalty Structure and Enforcement Mechanisms of the Mine Act in the Wake of the upper Big Branch Explosion

handle is hein.journals/admin64 and id is 465 raw text is: COMMENTS MINE SAFETY: PENALTY STRUCTURE AND ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS OF THE MINE ACT IN THE WAKE OF THE UPPER BIG BRANCH EXPLOSION CYNTHIA WILDFIRE* TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................... 442 I. Background, Terminology, and Administrative Structure ............. 445 A. Background on Mining Terminology and Common V iolations ................................................................................ 445 B. The Split Enforcement Scheme of MSHA and FMSHRC ..... 448 II. Optimal Penalties to Increase Compliance with Safety P rovisions ........................................................................................ 45 1 A. Discouraging Frivolous Appeals Through FMSHRC R eform s ................................................................................... 454 B. The Impacts of Corporate Culture on Noncompliance with R egulations ............................................................................. 458 C. The Potential for the Flagrant Violations Provision of the 2006 Amendments to Increase Compliance ............................ 461 III. Production Shutdowns As an Enforcement Mechanism to Protect Miners and Increase the Cost of Noncompliance .............. 463 A. Imminent Danger Shutdowns ................................................. 463 * J.D. Candidate 2013, American University Washington College of Law; B.A. 2009, Amherst College. I would like to thank Professor Susan Carle for her feedback and comments on earlier drafts, and Aaron Gleaton for guiding me through the initial writing process. I would also like to dedicate this Comment to my late grandfather, Francis Wildfire, who spent his career as a union coal miner.