ELR Citation: 56 ELR 20055
No(s). 22-1071 (D.C. Cir. Apr 17, 2026)

The D.C. Circuit, 2-1, vacated the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission's decision to set aside the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA's) citations of a truck maintenance facility. The operator had argued MSHA had no jurisdiction over its facility. The Commission held that no facility or truck used in mining was a “mine” under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act (Mine Act) unless it was located at an extraction site or a road appurtenant thereto, and that because the facility was not located on land where extraction occurred or on roads appurtenant, it did not constitute a mine; it vacated the citations. MSHA petitioned for review of the Commission's decision, arguing the facility and trucks were "mines" because they were "used in" mining activity. The appellate court then held that the term “mine” was ambiguous and that such ambiguity generally would warrant deference to MSHA's reasonable interpretation under Chevron. The U.S. Supreme Court then granted the operator's petition for review, vacated the appellate court's judgment, and remanded for further consideration in light of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo. On remand, the appellate court concluded the best reading of the Mine Act defined a "facility" as a mine when it necessarily connected with the use and operation of extracting, milling, or processing coal and other minerals, and thus that the truck maintenance facility, which was close to extraction sites and a preparation plant, was used to service trucks that routinely hauled coal between these locations, and was built specifically for this purpose, was a mine within the meaning of the Act. It vacated the Commission's decision and affirmed MSHA's citations.