1. law, govt and politics

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:
Mary McNatt – Chairman
Jerry Davidson- Vice Chairman
Kellie Ramar - Secretary
Andrew Siegmund – Treasurer
Dan Kauffman
Bert Brundige
Melissa Mullins
Roy Garrison
Jim Jeffries
A publication of the
Oregon Independent Aggregate Association
PO Box 571
Stayton, Oregon 97383
www.oraggregate.com
Oregon Independent Aggregate Association
Newsletter
June 2015
Independence Day is one of the most important dates in the history of a nation. It celebrates the freedom to
govern our country, free from tyranny of another nation. With this great gift of freedom comes responsibility.
Responsibility to do the right thing; to create and follow fair laws, to provide for our families, to help others
when they need help, and to be informed citizens so that we can continue to enjoy the gift of freedom. There
are many other responsibilities included, of course, but they are too many to name. As business owners it is
our responsibility to know and follow the laws that apply to the safe operation of our businesses for the
welfare of everyone concerned. Knowing and applying all local, county, state and federal laws is a fulfillment
of the privilege to live in a free society. Knowledge is also a protection if someone is abusing the privilege of
enforcement. Although some of us will be working this July 4th, I hope you will take time to reflect on the
importance of Independence Day. Celebrate your good fortune of living and working in the greatest nation on
earth.
Have a Safe Fourth of July
Mary McNatt
Chairman
Unfortunately due to very busy summer schedules we had to cancel the OIAA Board meeting
and tour of the Oregon Gardens. Hopefully we will be able to reschedule in the fall when
things slow down.
ADELE ABRAMS will be stopping by our August meeting (note the date change)
OIAA will hold its next board meeting on August 19th at the office of KPD Insurance. Adele Abrams
will be traveling thru Oregon on vacation and will be stopping by the meeting to update us on anything
new that is happing in the MSHA world. The meeting will be held at 10AM . Continental Breakfast will
be served. If you plan to attend, please let us know by replying to
[email protected] or giving Kellie or Mary a call.
From the Desk of Jim Sharpe
MSHA’s Part 46 Machinations Breed Distrust
A mine judge’s rejection April 29 of a recordkeeping citation and the measly $112 proposed fine associated
with it seem trivial until you understand the historical context, and then his decision takes on a significance so
profound it shakes the very foundation of trust between a government agency and the sector of mining it
regulates.
Judge L. Zane Gill could find no legal reason to uphold a citation the U.S. Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA) had written against Midwest Fuels, Inc., a Minnesota fuel delivery service. The
company was cited when an MSHA inspector observed a Midwest Fuels truck driver delivering fuel to a quarry
in the state in September 2012. The ticket was for the company’s failure to provide certification its driver had
received comprehensive training under MSHA’s 30 CFR §46 miner training regulation.
Midwest Fuels disputed the alleged violation because it believed it had fully satisfied the law by assuring its
driver had received training on the specific hazards at the mine site, called site-specific hazard awareness
training. MSHA disagreed, contending the driver needed the full panoply of new miner training required by
the Part 46 law; namely, 24 hours of instruction in a host of mine safety and health topics.
The disagreement was the second go-around between the government and the fuel supplier. Three years
earlier, MSHA had cited Midwest Fuels because one of its drivers lacked new miner training. That case hit a
dead end when MSHA withdrew its opposition following a hearing before another administrative law judge.
The agency did so without explaining why, but you can bet it was because MSHA realized it was not going to
win. Then for the next three years, MSHA let Midwest Fuels make fuel deliveries unopposed.
After the 2012 citation, it dinged Midwest Fuels again 14 months later for the same alleged recordkeeping
violation. The company has taken that one to court, too.
At best, if MSHA’s persistence turns on the belief in the rightness of its accusations, however misguided, then
its leadership is suffering from a serious bout of amnesia. But something more insidious could be afoot. Grayhaired hard-liners within the agency who have never warmed to Part 46 may now have the upper hand, and
may be using their clout to try and undo the 16-year-old regulation. If so, they risk seriously undermining a
bond of trust forged between MSHA and its largest regulated constituency: stone, sand and gravel mine
operators.
The birth of the Part 46 regulation was highly unusual because it was largely authored, not by government rule
writers, but by the very people it was designed to regulate ‒ aggregate stone producers. Their effort was not
altogether altruistic, but it was unique. The industry actually petitioned Congress and the agency to
promulgate a new enforceable regulatory requirement. The big producers, motivated largely but not
completely by self-interest, realized they were likely to get an onerous training regulation shoved down their
throats unless they took control of the development process.
Aggregates producers, along with others involved in shell dredging, surface clay and colloidal phosphate
mining, were already subject to a burdensome training regulation, Part 48, but these operators had once
lobbied Congress for a rider to be placed on MSHA’s annual appropriation forbidding the agency from
enforcing the rule on them, and for 19 years the rider had stuck. But by 1998 support for it was unraveling in
Congress, fatalities were up, there was evidence some producers were flouting the law by doing no training at
all and MSHA was applying public pressure for a change. With the blessing of Congress and MSHA’s top
leadership, the industry-authored Part 46 went through notice-and-comment rulemaking and became the
training law for surface aggregate and the other above-named interests in September 1999.
Part 46 deviated from the rigidity of Part 48 in a number of important ways, one being that non-miners ‒
delivery workers, customers (including commercial over-the-road truck drivers), scientific workers, vendors,
visitors, as well as maintenance and service workers who make only infrequent or short-duration visits to Part
46-regulated mines ‒ need only have familiarization training on hazards specific to the visited mine. Longer,
more in-depth training mandated for new miners or follow-up eight-hour refresher training annually is not
required.
MSHA spelled out these changes in the regulation itself, in the preamble to the rule and in compliance
materials. Yet, despite clear language exempting these categories of workers from comprehensive training,
MSHA has made several attempts to impose such training not just on fuel delivery drivers, but on commercial
over-the-road truckers and scientific workers; i.e., technicians, as well. Whether or not Judge Gill’s ruling will
put an end to such perfidy remains to be seen.
At the end of the 20th century, MSHA and a major sector of mining struck a deal that would enable the agency
to enforce a training regulation for the first time in nearly two decades, one sufficiently flexible to meet the
needs of the sector’s mine operators. But, by contriving fanciful ‒ and unlawful ‒ interpretations of the rule in
litigation, MSHA has reneged on that agreement. The painful lesson for an industry where some small
producers still do business with a handshake is that MSHA cannot be trusted to keep its word.
Copyright 2015, James Sharpe. All Rights Reserved.
Next Safepro Law Institute – Savannah Georgia – November 2015
Independence day is one of the most important days in history of any nation. The 4th of July is therefore an
important day for the citizens of the United States as the country became free by declaring our independence
from unreasonable demands. Independence day could only be possible by efforts made by leaders and great
personalities. Their efforts as well as their sacrifices finally broke the chains to become a free nation. Safepro
encourages all operators to ensure they keep their hard earned rights under the Federal Mine Safety and
Health Act of 1977 by providing training to all management and lead hourly people within their company. The
Safepro Law Institute will be held in Savannah, Georgia in the first week on November. Join us in learning
what your rights are under the law!
Exclusive for OIAA Members!
Adele Abrams has offered to have a monthly drawing for one free hour of legal consultation services. The
services will include a review of MSHA citations or general discussion via phone on any MSHA-related issues
by one of her 10 MSHA-focused attorneys. We will randomly draw a member’s name each month. I will post
the name of the company in that month’s newsletter. It will be the responsibility of the member to contact
Adele’s office for the hour of free legal consultation. To do this you will call 301-595-3520 ask for Adele
Abrams or you can contact her via e-mail at [email protected] to set up your consultation. Be sure to put
“OIAA Consultation” in the subject line.
You can find more information about Adele on her website
www.safety-law.com. Our association is very fortunate to have this opportunity offered to us. This offer
expires one year after the month it is posted in the newsletter.
Congratulations ………Siegmund Excavation & Construction
Siegmund Excavation & Construction is the winner of the Adele Abrams free drawing for June 2015.
Remember it is your responsibility to contact Adele.
Kim Redding continues to offer a “FREE” Compliance Inspection for OIAA Members
Kim Redding, N-Compliance Safety Services, Inc., will conduct a FREE Compliance Inspection of an OIAA
member every month. To qualify, you must be a current member in good standing. We will select, at random,
a winner each month. The inspection will last for two hours. The value of this free inspection is approximately
$ 1,000. N-Compliance Safety Services, Inc. has approximately 250 clients in the Western United States,
including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. parks.
If your company is chosen you will need to contact Kim Redding directly to set up an appointment. Kim may
be reached at [email protected] or via cell phone (360) 870-2371. Offers expire one year after
announcement posted in the newsletter
Congratulations…………Tigard Sand & Gravel
Tigard Sand and Gravel is the winner of the Free N-Compliance Safety Services, Inc compliance inspection for
the month of June 2015. Don’t forget to give Kim Redding a call to get your appointment scheduled (Kim’s
information is listed in the article above)
The deadline is fast approaching. Spread the word about our Scholarship to your employees
and their families. You can get all the information on our website at www.oraggregate.com
2015 SCHOLARSHIP
OIAA IS PROUD TO PRESENT OUR Third ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP
Do you know of a deserving student that is pursuing a career related to the construction, aggregate or
forestry industry?
This year’s scholarship is named in Honor of the Siegmund Family, Louis K. Siegmund and in
Memory of Ralph L. Siegmund .
The Siegmund family has been serving customers in northwest Oregon for more than 60 years.
Siegmund Excavation & Construction, Inc. is led by the father-and-son team of Lou and Andrew
Siegmund, who work in both the construction and forestry sectors. Andrew is the third generation
of the Siegmund family to work in the Oregon woods. Lou’s father, Ralph, started his own logging
company in the 1940s, and have been doing this line of work ever since! For more information
about Siegmund Excavation and Construction go to their webpage www.siegmundexcavation.com
Andrew also currently serves as an officer and board member for OIAA.
Scholarship Information and applications are available on our website
Deadline for completing the application is July 31, 2015
Winner will be announced September 2015
www.oraggregate.com
Summer Heat Safety
Heat can cause serious problems. When the weather is hot, your body works overtime trying to
stay cool. Excess heat escapes through sweating, exhalation of air, and increased blood flow to
the skin. Hot weather can overwhelm those mechanisms, leading to uncomfortable and
oftentimes harmful symptoms.
Heat problems are preventable with the proper precautions. Be aware and enjoy the summer.
Symptoms of Heat-Induced Ailments:
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Dehydration – thirst, less frequent urination
Prickly heat bumps – irritating skin rash
Cramps – painful muscle contractions
Edema – swelling of hands and feet
Exhaustion / Fatigue – characterized by clammy skin, paleness, dizziness, nausea, fever, and
headache
Seek immediate medical help if you or a coworker develops the following symptoms that may be
a Heat Stroke – the most severe of heat illness which is a life threatening situation:
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Lethargy, sluggishness
Rapid heart rate and breathing
Confusion, disorientation, agitation, irritability
High body temperature, Intense muscle aches, fever, diarrhea, or nausea, convulsion, fainting,
seizure, loss of consciousness
HEAT STROKE IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY – CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY
Support an employee suffering from Heat Stroke while you are waiting for help to arrive. You can
assist the person by doing the following:
Get the person out of the heat to a cooler environment – take indoors if possible
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Fan the person with a newspaper or towel – to cool the body
Loosen clothing and sprinkle the skin lightly with water
Elevate feet to direct blood flow back towards the head
If available: apply icepacks to the groin area or to armpits
2015 Board Meeting Schedule
Please try and attend the October 14th meeting. We will be discussing our training class
schedule and instructors for the year 2016. We really would like your input. We will be
making our final decision at the Board Member work session meeting on December 9th.
August 19th
10 AM – KPD Office Conference Room- Adele Abrams- Guest Speaker
October 14th
10 AM - KPD Office Conference Room – Springfield
December 9th
10 AM - KPD Office Conference Room – Springfield
(December 9th will be the annual work session meeting for Board Members Only)
Our meetings are open to all our members. We would love to hear what is happening
at your company and if there is anything you would like to share with the association.
Remember your association can only be as good as you help make it.
Please continue to check our website and newsletters for updates. If you have any questions regarding the association,
please contact us at [email protected].
If you have an article or information you would like to share with our members
you can submit them to the newsletter editor for review. Upon approval by the
board of directors your article will be published in the following newsletter.
Please send your information to [email protected] or
[email protected]. Please write the words Newsletter in the
subject line.