Who Gets the Money from the MSHA Fines?
The Mine Health and Safety Administration operates under the Federal Mine and Health Safety Act, enacted in 1977. Safety and health violations found by the MHSA result in fines for the mine operators. The MHSA considers its fines to be payments of civil penalties.
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Treasury Department
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The MHSA sends all money collected from civil penalties to the federal Treasury Department. Civil penalties are assessed to encourage compliance with MSHA's standards. MHSA charges service fees to fund its own activities. Service fees are charged through private sector tuition, training materials and publications and equipment approvals.
Department of Labor
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The Treasury Department uses the money received from civil penalties to fund the Department of Labor. In the year ending in 2009, $141,178,621 worth of civil penalties were assessed.
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Examples of Fine Amounts
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The minimum regular assessment is $112. The minimum penalty for not notifying the MSHA within 15 minutes of a death or serious injury is $5,000. Unwarrantable failures carry a minimum penalty of $2,000 or $4,000 in some cases. The maximum civil penalty is $220,000 per violation and is considered a flagrant violation. The size of the business, history of violations and whether a company is a repeat violator are all considered when issuing fines.
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References
- Photo Credit mining box image by MLProject from Fotolia.com
