Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/75471
ensure compliance with accident reporting regulations where "relevant and necessary." The Commission determined that the material sought was relevant and necessary to a determi- nation of compliance because it will ensure that operators are properly complying by fully and accurately reporting ac- cidents as required. The Commission held that its holdings, with respect to the Mine Act and Section 50.41, were consistent with its past precedent concluding that the process and information sought were distinguishable from prior cases in which MSHA information requests had been denied or circumscribed. It held, instead, that the requests for material herein were lim- ited in time and scope and were, therefore, permissible. Last, the Commission rejected the intervener's privacy challenges, as well as the operators' constitutional challenges to MSHA's information requests. On the contrary, the Com- mission determined that MSHA's requests were "narrowly focused, clearly explained, and limited." Commissioner Duffy was the lone dissenter. In a well-crafted opinion, he concluded that the auditing policy and the pro- cess by which it was carried out were unconstitutional. He determined that MSHA's limited authority to conduct war- rantless searches did not encompass the information sought herein. Commissioner Duffy's core concern was that MSHA was requiring operators to turn over information that was not required to be collected or maintained by statute or regulation. He examined prior decisions and determined that even where warrantless searches were permitted, they only encompassed such documents as were specifically required to be maintained. In the absence of sufficient restrictions on the "unbridled dis- cretion of executive and administrative officers," he determined that it was necessary for MSHA to proceed via notice and comment rulemaking to "set forth requirements for the genera- tion, maintenance, and release of such records." Commissioner Duffy also would have ruled in favor of the miners, finding that the request for their personal medical records necessarily im- pinged upon legitimate privacy interests. For mine operators going forward, unless the Seventh Circuit overturns the Commission's decision, it is clear that MSHA has more power to demand records of operators. While the expansive language used by the Commission describing the scope of MSHA's right to seek documents will likely give op- erators pause, it does not mean that any operator should make a spare set of keys to the filing cabinet for the inspector. On the contrary, the Commission emphasized that, while MSHA has broad authority to seek documents not otherwise required, the request must be reasonable and the information sought must be relevant and necessary to a legitimate agency purpose. Moreover, given the strength of Commissioner Duffy's dissent, it is unlikely that we have heard the last of this case. AM Printed version of the Aggregates Manager 2012 Aggregates Industry Atlas not enough for you? While the printed version of the Aggregates Manager 2012 Aggregates Industry Atlas, will become an integral part of doing your job, perhaps you'll need additional information about companies listed in the atlas. If so, we have the perfect companion, the Atlas on CD contains information about mine locations, types of rock mined, GPS coordinates, pertinent facts about companies listed in the atlas, and more. Atlas on CD contains compete information on more the entire 2012 Aggregates Industry Atlas in pdf format. Order the Aggregates Manager 2012 Aggregates Industry Atlas on CD or the printed version of the Atlas today! To order call or visit: .AggManAtlas.com AGGREGATES MANAGER August 2012 43 Then you'll want its companion… Atlas on CD