INTRODUCTION
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) announced a new 90-day conferencing program in hopes of reducing the number of cases pending before the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (“Commission”).

The program will begin on August 31, 2010, and will impact three mining districts – Coal District 2; Coal District 6; and Metal/Nonmetal Southeast District. The Metal/Nonmetal Southeast District is the district that oversees metal/nonmetal operators in Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Puerto Rico.

The Federal Regulations allow mine operators to request a conference with MSHA officials to dispute citations and orders issued by mine inspectors. Conferences were common prior to 2007, when some districts – notably Coal District 4 – refused to grant any conference requests because of the number of cases being handled by Conference and Litigation Representatives. Under the new program, mine operators, the miners’ representatives and MSHA will attempt to resolve any outstanding factual issues prior to the issuance of the civil penalty.

According to Joseph A. Main, the Assistant Labor Secretary for Mine Safety and Health, the purpose of the pre-assessment conference is to determine the facts before a violation is contested. Main believes that the conferencing program will help reduce the number of cases before the Commission and also to improve the consistency in MSHA’s enforcement of the Mine Safety and Health Act.

IMPACT GOING FORWARD
Mine operators in South Carolina should take advantage of this limited opportunity to conference any citation or order. The conferencing program will run from August 31, 2010 through November 30, 2010. At the conference, operators (or their legal counsel) will have the opportunity to present facts, examination records, reports, and other evidence of compliance with the cited regulation.

Prior to 2007, operators were successful in reducing S&S violations to non-S&S violations; having the negligence reduced from high to moderate or even low; and even having the condition or practice alleged by the inspector amended. In the past, depending on when the conference was scheduled, some operators were also successful in reducing the civil penalty during these conferences and settle a number of citations prior to or shortly after litigation had commenced.

PROCEDURE
The mine operator will need to send a written request (fax or email is acceptable) for a pre-assessment conference to the local field office supervisor within 10 calendar days of the issuance of the citation or order. This written request must include the specific reasons for the need for the conference. During this 10-day period, MSHA may request additional information. The local field office supervisor does not have to grant a conference request. If a request is granted, MSHA is to schedule and conduct the conference within 15 calendar days of the request. According to the Southeast District, the field office supervisor will be the primary conferencing official. [Top]

Check it out...MASC is now on Facebook
MASC is excited to announce that they are now on Facebook. Please visit our Facebook page and tell us what you think...The page will be updated with MASC scheduled meetings and current events. [Top]

You Still Have Time to Register for the 2010 MASC Annual Meeting & Golf Tournament
The "NEW" Timberlake Clubhouse

You still have time to join us for the 2010 MASC Annual Meeting & Golf Tournament on Thursday, September 30, 2010 at The "NEW" Timberlake Plantation Golf Club in Chapin, SC. We will have a brief Annual Board Meeting beginning at 10:00 am (open attendance for all MASC Members). Lunch will be served at 11:30 am and golfers will tee off at approximately 12:00 noon. This event will provide an excellent networking opportunity for Associate and Regular Members. Please contact the MASC Office for registration and sponsorship information!

***Please note that Mulligans may be purchased on-site for $10.00 a piece***

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Join MASC for SEWE
The 2011 Southeastern Wildlife Exposition will be held in Charleston on February 17 - 20, 2011. For the past twelve years the Mining Association of South Carolina has participated in the Exposition by setting up and manning a booth at a conservation exhibit area. The Exposition is attended by conservationists, environmentalists and educators from across the country and has been an excellent public relations opportunity for mining in South Carolina.

This year we would encourage even more of you to plan to attend and work in the MASC booth to inform environmentalists and educators about mining in South Carolina. In addition to working in the MASC booth, your *$700.00 sponsorship provides you the following privileges at the Southeastern Wildlife Expo:

• Two Benefactor Badges

• Entry for Two to Preview Night Gala

• Entry into VIP Hospitality Suite at The Charleston Place Hotel

• Listing in Expo Directory

• Two SWE Benefactor Lapel Pins

• Complimentary Copy of Official Expo Directory

If you have any questions, please contact the MASC office at 800.438.7106 or 803.772.5354, or email to: kellysmith@as-irmo.com

*To participate, payment is required by October 8, 2010. [Top]

Slowing Down to see The Real South Carolina

***Dialogue: By Mike Couick, Pres. & CEO Elec. Coop of SC***

Significant parts of my work days are spent driving up and down the roads and highways of our state. If time allows, I'll choose a back-road over an interstate every time. When I do, I turn off the radio, back off the accelerator and start to search for that rural South Carolina of my youth. I begin to wonder about what I see:

- Does that little girl's momma know she's out in the front yard "nekkid as a jaybird," trying to catch a cat?

- How does that elderly man picking blackberries avoid getting bit by a copperhead or by chiggers?

- I bet by the looks of those whiteface cows that somebody on that farm is or was in 4-H.

- Portable lighted sign in front says "5-K Orientation Aug. 11" School looks like it's ready to fall in.

- Are those peaches cling or freestone? Do they have Silver Queen corn?

- That cooter in the road is as big around as a basketball.

- It's awfully early in the day to be that intoxicated- I hope nobody hits him as he walks along the shoulder.

- Why did they close that Bantam Chef? It had the best chili cheeseburgers.

- Yard full of cars, kids playing ball, men rocking on the porch, Sunday afternoon- Momma's cooking brings them home.

- Two large and three little crosses on a ditch bank-were they all one family?

- Fishing with cane poles off a bridge- are those fish safe to eat?

- Massey Ferguson 135 tractor-just like the one on which I learned to drive.

- Sure are a lot of possums here!

- Very, very old lady sitting under a mimosa tree poking the ground with her stick. Surrounded by game chickens. Her driveway marked by white-painted halves of tires and pinwheels in red, white and blue. She waves. I wave. I wonder what she wonders about.

Drive up the entry ramp to the interstate. Heading to my "temporary" home in Columbia. Some day, one day-I am going to live back home.

SC Living, July, 2010.

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Save the Date...For the 2011 MASC Workshop
The Mining Association of South Carolina (MASC) will launch its fifth annual workshop April 18-20, 2011, and you are invited to participate. The MASC Annual Workshop has enjoyed a growing success over the years mainly due to your tremendous level of support and our primary goal to provide more and better quality time for the suppliers to mix with a larger number of the producers. We appreciate the support your company has been making to the mining industry in South Carolina. And again, we hope you will seriously consider being a part of this unique upcoming event. We are confident it is the right forum for you to build on your relationships with the South Carolina mining community, and to explore for additional business opportunities.

Registration and sponsorship information will be sent in the near future...SAVE THE DATE! [Top]

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