Circuit Judge Wilkins wrote the opinion in Secretary of Labor v. KC Transport, Inc., No. 22-1071. Circuit Judge Pan concurred. Circuit Judge Walker dissented.
KC Transport operates a maintenance shop in Emmett, West Virginia, approximately one mile from a client's coal processing plant and several miles from active mines. MSHA inspectors cited the company after observing two haul trucks undergoing maintenance with the vehicles raised and unblocked, and one person standing underneath one of them.
The company contested the citations, arguing that MSHA lacked jurisdiction because the facility was not located on land where mineral extraction occurs or on roads "appurtenant" to such land. An administrative law judge sided with the agency, finding that the facility and the trucks were "used in" mining activity and thus fell within the statutory definition of a mine.
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission reversed, holding that no facility or truck used in mining is a "mine" unless it is located at an extraction site or on appurtenant roads.
The Secretary of Labor petitioned the D.C. Circuit for review. In a 2023 decision, the court vacated the Commission's ruling, finding the term "mine" ambiguous and remanding for the Secretary to provide a reasonable interpretation. The Supreme Court then granted certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded for reconsideration in light of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which overruled Chevron deference.
On remand, the D.C. Circuit exercised independent judgment, applying traditional tools of statutory construction to resolve the ambiguity without deferring to the agency. The panel concluded that the facility and the trucks were "used in" mining-related activity, bringing them within the Mine Act's definition of a mine.