As part of its “Blurring the Lines” initiative, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) is now implementing plans to dramatically change its internal organization for enforcement and has released a map showing the new hierarchy.
Before, individual coal and metal/non-metal districts reported directly to a coal or metal/non-metal administrator at headquarters in Arlington. Now, MSHA will divide the country into three regions, with each district (whether coal or metal/non-metal) reporting to a single regional administrator.
The
geographic regions will be Western, Central, and Eastern. In keeping with the
Blurring initiative, each region will have a mix of both coal and M/NM mines.
District managers will report to the region’s regional administrator. In the
new scheme, districts will be re-named simply after the city where they are
located (e.g., Warrendale).
While Tim Watkins will
remain the national Administrator for Enforcement, his two deputies will now
become two of the three regional administrators. Brian Goepfert, currently the
deputy for M/NM enforcement, will move to Denver to be the Western Regional
Administrator. Dave Weaver, currently the deputy for coal, will move to Dallas
to be the Central Regional Administrator. MSHA currently has a job posting online to
hire a third person as the Eastern Regional Administrator. It may appoint
someone to fill the slot temporarily in the interim.
While this changes the
oversight above the district level, MSHA does not currently anticipate moving
more mines from one district to another after the changes made in the last
couple years. There are currently 213 “cross-over” mines that have been moved
across the divide between coal and M/NM (coal mines overseen by a
metal/non-metal district and vice versa).
There is no particular
date when the new regional structure will officially launch. Rather, it is
rolling out continuously and gradually as various parts – especially the map
and the new regional administrators – fall into place.
Will it make a
difference to most mine operators?
While this is a big
change for MSHA’s hierarchy, it remains to be seen whether it will have impacts
on the ground that are noticeable to the average mine in the normal course of
business. In most enforcement matters, mine operators do not involve MSHA
personnel above the district office level. Moreover, having regional
administrators closer to the districts could mean they are able to keep a
closer eye on what takes place in the field. That could be helpful, especially
in select areas where district management has struggled.
By contrast to this
latest regional change, other Blurring changes likely have had much more
day-to-day significance. The previous steps to move inspectors and districts
across the divide between coal and metal/non-metal raised concerns that MSHA
needed to roll out significant training and orientation to be sure inspectors
and districts were familiar with the mines they are inspecting. Likewise, as
the coal industry has declined in activity, operators have seen surplus coal inspectors
being shifted to the metal/non-metal industry even though there has not been
any need for more inspection time at M/NM mines. As a result, some operators
have reported seeing more inspectors spending more inspection time at their
facilities though safety and health performance remains consistent.
Avi Meyerstein is a Washington, D.C.-based partner with the law firm Husch Blackwell
LLP. He leads the firm’s Safety & Health group.