UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INC - FORM 10-K - EX-99.2 - March 8, 2011

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10-K - FORM 10-K - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419e10vk.htm
EX-31.1 - EX-31.1 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv31w1.htm
EX-32.1 - EX-32.1 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv32w1.htm
EX-23.1 - EX-23.1 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv23w1.htm
EX-31.2 - EX-31.2 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv31w2.htm
EX-23.2 - EX-23.2 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv23w2.htm
EX-32.2 - EX-32.2 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv32w2.htm
EX-21.1 - EX-21.1 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv21w1.htm
EX-99.1 - EX-99.1 - UNITED STATES LIME & MINERALS INCd80419exv99w1.htm
EXHIBIT 99.2
 
MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
 
The following disclosures are provided pursuant to Section 1503(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), which requires certain disclosures by companies required to file periodic reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, that operate mines regulated under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (the “Mine Act”). Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the SEC has proposed rules to carry out the purposes of these provisions, but has not issued final rules as of the date of this Report. While we believe the following disclosures meet the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act, it is possible that final rulemaking by the SEC will require disclosures to be presented in a form that differs from the following.
 
The Mine Act has been construed as authorizing MSHA to issue citations and orders pursuant to the legal doctrine of strict liability, or liability without fault. If, in the opinion of an MSHA inspector, a condition that violates the Mine Act or regulations promulgated pursuant to it exists, then a citation or order will be issued regardless of whether the operator had any knowledge of, or fault in, the existence of that condition. Many of the Mine Act standards include one or more subjective elements, so that issuance of a citation or order often depends on the opinions or experience of the MSHA inspector involved and the frequency and severity of citations and orders will vary from inspector to inspector.
 
Whenever MSHA believes that a violation of the Mine Act, any health or safety standard, or any regulation has occurred, it may issue a citation or order which describes the violation and fixes a time within which the operator must abate the violation. In some situations, such as when MSHA believes that conditions pose a hazard to miners, MSHA may issue an order requiring cessation of operations, or removal of miners from the area of the mine, affected by the condition until the hazards are corrected. Whenever MSHA issues a citation or order, it has authority to propose a civil penalty or fine, as a result of the violation, that the operator is ordered to pay.
 
The table that follows reflects citations, orders, violations and proposed assessments issued to the Company by MSHA during the year ended December 31, 2010, as well as one fatality during the year, and all pending legal actions as of December 31, 2010. Due to timing and other factors, the data may not agree with the mine data retrieval system maintained by MSHA. The proposed assessments for the year ended December 31, 2010 were taken from the MSHA system as of March 7, 2011.
 
Additional information follows about MSHA references used in the table:
 
  •  Section 104(a) Citations:  The total number of citations received from MSHA under section 104(a) of the Mine Act for alleged violations of health or safety standards that could significantly and substantially contribute to a serious injury if left unabated.
 
  •  Section 104(b) Orders:  The total number of orders issued by MSHA under section 104(b) of the Mine Act, which represents a failure to abate a citation under section 104(a) within the period of time prescribed by MSHA. This results in an order of immediate withdrawal from the area of the mine affected by the condition until MSHA determines that the violation has been abated.
 
  •  Section 104(d) Citations and Orders:  The total number of citations and orders issued by MSHA under section 104(d) of the Mine Act for unwarrantable failure to comply with mandatory health or safety standards.
 
  •  Section 110(b)(2) Violations:  The total number of flagrant violations issued by MSHA under section 110(b)(2) of the Mine Act.
 
  •  Section 107(a) Orders:  The total number of orders issued by MSHA under section 107(a) of the Mine Act for situations in which MSHA determined an imminent danger existed.
 
Citations and orders can be contested before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (the “Commission”), and as part of that process, are often reduced in severity and amount, and are sometimes dismissed. The Commission is an independent adjudicative agency that provides administrative trial and appellate review of legal disputes arising under the Mine Act. These cases may involve, among other questions, challenges by operators to citations, orders and penalties they have received from MSHA, or complaints of discrimination by miners under section 105 of the Mine Act.

 

Year ended December 31, 2010
 
                                                                 
            Section
 		          Proposed
 		       
    Section
 		  Section
 		  104(d)
 		  Section
 		  Section
 		  MSHA
 		      Pending
    104(a)
 		  104(b)
 		  Citations
 		  110(b)(2)
 		  107(a)
 		  Assessments(2)
 		      Legal
Mine(1)
  Citations   Orders   and Orders   Violations   Orders   ($ in thousands)   Fatalities   Actions(3)
 
Texas Lime Company
    10       —       7       —       —       25.9       —       6  
Arkansas Lime Company
                                                               
Plant
    2       —       —       —       —       1.0       —       —  
Limedale Quarry
    7       —       —       —       —       8.6       —       —  
Colorado Lime Company
                                                               
Monarch Quarry
    —       —       —       —       —       —       —       —  
Salida Plant
    4       —       —       —       —       3.4       —       —  
Delta Plant
    —       —       —       —       —       .1       —       —  
U.S. Lime Company — St. Clair
    9       1       4       —       —       250.8       1       15  
 
 
(1) The definition of a mine under section 3 of the Mine Act includes the mine, as well as other items used in, or to be used in, or resulting from, the work of extracting and processing limestone, such as roads, land, structures, facilities, equipment, machines, tools, kilns, and other property. These other items associated with a single mine have been aggregated in the totals for that mine.
 
(2) The proposed MSHA assessments issued during the reporting periods do not necessarily relate to the citations or orders issued by MSHA during the reporting period or to the pending contests reported above.
 
(3) Includes any pending legal action before the Commission involving such mine as of December 31, 2010. All pending legal actions were initiated by the Company and may include multiple citations or orders. The pending legal actions may relate to the citations or orders issued by MSHA during the reporting period or to citations or orders issued in prior periods.
 
Pattern or Potential Pattern of Violations.  During the year ended December 31, 2010, none of the mines operated by the Company received written notice from MSHA of either (a) a pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards that are of such nature as could have significantly and substantially contributed to mine health or safety hazards under section 104(e) of the Mine Act or (b) the potential to have such a pattern.

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