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Court gives coal, MSHA more time to negotiate Obama-era pattern violator changes

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Court gives coal, MSHA more time to negotiate Obama-era pattern violator changes

A group of coal operators and the U.S. government were granted an extended stay to negotiate a settlement over an Obama-era change to a mine safety rule that targets repeat violators of federal mine safety law.

The plaintiffs, including the Ohio Coal Association and Murray Energy Corp., now have until September 10 to negotiate a resolution to the lawsuit. The rule was introduced in January 2013 and designed to make it easier for federal regulators to identify a mine as having a pattern of violations, a designation that subjects the operator to increased regulatory scrutiny. The entities challenging the law said the rule interfered with a company's due process rights because operations could be paused or slowed over citations that may later be contested or overturned.

The parties challenging the rule made a detailed proposal to the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration in December 2017 and MSHA provided a responsive proposal on April 20, an order filed in the U.S. District Southern District of Ohio states. The parties believe that additional discussions will allow them to narrow the remaining differences or allow them to figure out if they have reached an "impasse on key issues."