As most California mine operators are aware, Cal/OSHA maintains a “Mining and Tunneling Division” that duplicates the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration’s safety oversight over mining operations. And, just like MSHA, Cal/OSHA Mining… Read More

On January 14, 2021, the United States Department of Labor published a final rule in the Federal Register that increases the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s (“MSHA”) civil monetary penalties. As is required every year, the civil penalti… Read More

April 2020 This article summarizes operational changes the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) will make in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes were discussed in MSHA’s April 16, 2020 Quarterly Stakeholder Call. To begin… Read More

April 1, 2020 Yesterday, March 31, six Bay Area counties (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco [County/City], and San Mateo) and one city (Berkeley) issued an updated shelter-in-place order. THE ORDER IS IDENTICAL FOR EACH COUNTY/… Read More

March 23, 2020 This is an update to our March 20 article. Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-33-20 requires “all individuals living in the State of California to stay home or at their place of residence except as needed to maintain continuity of… Read More

February 2020 In just the last year this firm litigated and successfully defended two Section 105(c) complaints filed under the federal Mine Safety and Health Act (the “Mine Act”). (30 USC § 801, et seq.) This section prohibits mine operators fr… Read More

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that an Oregon state law which prohibited certain in-stream mining methods was a reasonable environmental regulation and thus was not preempted by federal law. Read More

July 2018 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (together “Agencies”) have jointly proposed revisions to regulations that implement por… Read More