The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently released changes to the conferencing system. The new structure centralizes authority under national supervisors rather than local District Managers.
Under 30 CFR Part 100, Section 100.6, mine operators have ten calendar days from receipt of a citation or order to request a safety and health conference. Until recently, these conferences were handled at the district level, with Conference Litigation Representatives (CLRs) reporting to their respective District Managers who had authority to approve settlements.
Recently, MSHA implemented changes to how conferences are administered and centralized this process. National supervisors now oversee all CLR dockets and approve all settlements nationwide. CLRs report to these national supervisors instead of District Managers, shifting how conference requests are processed and decided. Citations are now reviewed outside the issuing inspector’s direct supervisory chain, resulting in a more independent review of the issues raised.
The most immediate practical change for mine operators is where conference request must be sent. Rather than directing requests to individual district managers, parties may now email requests for review to the regional Conference and Litigation Representative mailbox. The email address for conferencing citations in the Rocky Mountain region is msha.den.clr@dol.gov. See Rocky Mountain Conference Request Letter. Inspectors should be providing operators with updated conference information during the inspections.
This change presents several benefits. National review may promote more consistent application of MSHA enforcement policies across districts, while review by someone outside the issuing inspector’s direct chain of command may lead to more impartial settlement decisions.
Please contact a Husch Blackwell Workplace Safety & Health attorney with any questions about this new process.
Written with the assistance of Elise Cloonan, a summer associate in Husch Blackwell’s Denver office.