KC Transport, Inc. v. Julie A. Su, Acting Secretary of Labor, et al.

A federal mine inspector cited Petitioner KC Transport, Inc., for two alleged mining safety violations for trucks located in the company’s maintenance yard, which the inspector held was a “coal or other mine,” 30 U.S.C. § 802(h)(1), under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Amendments Act, id. §§ 801–966. This yard is not located at nor is it adjacent to any mining extraction site, processing plant, or appurtenant road. Acknowledging a circuit split, the D.C. Circuit panel majority held below that a truck repair shop can be a mine even if it is not located at an extraction or processing site. Over a dissent, the majority found the statutory definition of “coal or other mine” to be ambiguous despite both the Secretary and KC having argued that the definition is unambiguous. But rather than resolve for itself this new-found ambiguity, the majority remanded the case, pursuant to the so-called Chevron Step One-and-a-Half doctrine, to give the Secretary yet another chance to override court decisions that the Secretary disagrees with by articulating a deference-worthy interpretation of the ambiguous statute. The questions presented are:

1. Whether a truck or a truck repair shop that is not located at nor is adjacent to an extraction or processing site or an appurtenant road is a “coal or other mine” under 30 U.S.C. § 802(h)(1).

2. Whether the D.C. Circuit’s Chevron Step Oneand-a-Half doctrine should be abrogated.