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Office of Assessments

The Office of Assessments assesses and collects civil monetary penalties for violations of the Mine Act and mine safety and health standards.  This mission includes determination of the civil penalty amounts, collection of and accounting for all delinquent penalties, as well as tracking all penalty cases in litigation before the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and the Federal courts.

The Office of Assessments is also responsible for MSHA’s Special Investigations Program, which includes the investigations of discrimination complaints filed under Section 105(c) of the Mine Act by miners, representatives of miners, or applicants for employment, as well as investigation of knowing or willful violations under Section 110 of the Mine Act.  The Office also manages MSHA’s Pattern of Violations (POV) Program, which identifies mines exhibiting a potential POV for enhanced enforcement.  

Finally, Assessments administers MSHA’s accountability program, which ensures enforcement policies and procedures are executed properly and efficiently.  During FY 2020, they measured the effectiveness of cross-trained inspectors and provided assistance to the districts in developing corrective action plans as warranted.  The plans identify root causes and corrective actions used to prevent recurrences of specific violations of policy.

The Office of Assessments is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, and has a field office in Wilkes-Barre, PA as well as duty stations located in Madisonville, KY, Pineville, WV, Beckley, WV and Lakewood, CO.

Key Contacts
Contact Email Phone
Assessments Main Number   202-693-9700
Thomas Charboneau 
Director
Charboneau.Thomas@dol.gov 202-693-9812
Kelvin Blue 
Deputy Director
Blue.Kelvin@dol.gov 202-693-9514
Melanie Garris 
Chief, Civil Penalty Compliance Division
Garris.Melanie@dol.gov 202-693-9715
Carolyn Settles 
Management Officer
Settles.Carolyn@dol.gov 202-693-9550
Eric McMurray 
Chief, Technical 
Compliance and 
Investigations Division
McMurray.Eric@dol.gov 202-693-9562
Mohamed M. Aboelmagd 
Chief, Division of Accountability 
 
Aboelmagd.Mohamed@dol.gov 202-693-9706
Karen Curham 
Chief, Assessment Center 
Wilkes-Barre, PA
Curham.Karen@dol.gov 570-831-7570