Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Summit Contractors, Inc.
General contractor liable for a subcontractor's unprotected scaffold work
Summit was the general contractor for a college dormitory project where a subcontractor's employees worked on scaffolds more than ten feet above a lower level without fall protection. OSHA cited Summit under its multi-employer citation policy even though Summit did not create the condition and its…
Bresee Trucking Co., Inc.
Address dispute remanded for finality findings
Bresee Trucking asked to reopen five penalty assessments after delivery attempts at several addresses failed and the company later learned the assessments were delinquent. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged Bresee to keep its official MSHA address current. The record did not show…
Quality Aggregates, Inc.
Revised-assessment mistake remanded for good-cause findings
Quality Aggregates missed the deadline to contest a penalty assessment after MSHA separately vacated two citations included in it. The company's safety director believed MSHA would issue a revised assessment, even though MSHA's letter stated the total assessment before and after the two citations…
Panther Mining, LLC
Discovery partly compelled and cases consolidated
Billy Brannon sought additional employee identities, personnel policies, investigation notes, witness statements, and other discovery from Panther Mining. Judge David F. Barbour ordered production of relevant employee information, company policies, and nonprivileged investigation material, while…
Matter of Jaime Armando LAMUS-Pava
Government opposition is not a veto over marriage motions
The Board reviewed a motion to reopen based on a marriage entered into after removal proceedings began. It held that the Government's opposition is one factor to consider and does not automatically defeat an otherwise approvable motion. Because the Immigration Judge denied the motion based only on…
Genwal Resources, Inc.
Filing delays did not justify dismissal
Genwal Resources sought dismissal because MSHA proposed penalties more than a year and a half after the citations were terminated and filed the penalty petitions about 30 days after the procedural deadline. The company also cited a change in ownership, the former safety director's move to MSHA, and…
BRI OP Limited Partnership
In re BRI OP Limited Partnership (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 09-03C): $22,000 lead-paint disclosure settlement
BRI OP Limited Partnership managed residential properties built before 1978. EPA alleged that the company did not fully provide required lead-based paint disclosures and related records or signatures when leasing units at six properties. BRI OP conducted lease-file audits, inspections, and…
Matter of Olivia BULNES-Nolasco
Departure does not eliminate notice-based reopening jurisdiction
The Board reviewed a motion to reopen an in absentia deportation order based on a claimed lack of notice. It held that an alien's departure from the United States while under an outstanding in absentia deportation or removal order does not, by itself, deprive the Immigration Judge of jurisdiction…
Ash Grove Cement Company
Counsel's missed contest reopened
Ash Grove Cement intended to contest a proposed assessment covering nine citations and sent it to counsel for processing. Counsel failed to file the contest because of specifically described work commitments and related travel. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged the company to ensure…
Lehigh Northeast Cement Company
Expected citation revisions supported reopening
Lehigh Northeast Cement received 28 citations designated as high negligence and sought an MSHA conference to reduce those findings. The company was apparently told the citations would be changed, but the assessment still proposed penalties based on high negligence. Believing revised penalties would…
Spartan Mining Company, Inc.
Failed delivery meant assessment was not final
MSHA assessed Spartan Mining $208,985 for 163 citations and orders, but Federal Express twice failed to deliver the package. After an initial reopening request lacked a properly marked contest form, Spartan filed an amended motion identifying 73 penalties it wished to contest and documenting the…
Petroleum Fueling, Inc.
Wrong-assessment contest error excused
Petroleum Fueling intended to contest an assessment involving a truck accident. Its counsel confused that assessment with another arising from a similar incident and submitted the notice of contest for the wrong assessment and citations. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission…
C.S.A. Mining Incorporated
Four reopening requests denied without prejudice
C.S.A. Mining asked to reopen four final assessments totaling $163,381, explaining that the citations and orders caused its president financial and personal stress. The Secretary opposed relief because that explanation did not establish exceptional circumstances, identify a meritorious defense, or…
Left Fork Mining Company, Inc.
Reconsideration denied for previously available evidence
Left Fork Mining sought reconsideration after the Commission denied reopening three final penalty assessments. Its original requests attributed the missed contests to inadvertence, mistake, or unknown reasons and did not explain why the company waited through delinquency notices until MSHA…
Matter of Efrain LUJAN-QUINTANA
Board lacks jurisdiction over this expedited-removal appeal
The Board considered DHS's appeal from an Immigration Judge's determination that the respondent was a United States citizen and the resulting vacation of an expedited removal order. It held that the governing statute and regulations do not give the Board appellate jurisdiction to review this type…
Rock N Road Quarry
Delivery failure and assessment confusion excused
Rock N Road Quarry sought relief concerning two assessments. The company did not receive the first until MSHA faxed it more than three months after an unsuccessful delivery, and it filed a request the next day identifying all 16 penalties it wished to contest. The Commission held that the first…
Manalapan Mining Company
Conflicting second reopening request denied with prejudice
The Commission had denied Manalapan Mining's first reopening request because financial hardship did not explain its missed contest or establish a Rule 60(b) basis. In a second request, Manalapan said a former secretary lost the assessment and filed the first request without the company's knowledge…
Mach Mining, LLC
Idled area remained a working section
Mach Mining argued that Headgate No. 4 was not a working section when MSHA issued two escapeway citations because the area had been idled for three days, its power was off, and its crew was helping set up another longwall. Judge Avram Weisberger found that production could resume without moving…
Matter of Ismael LOPEZ-ALDANA
TPS review does not require DHS appeal exhaustion
The Board reviewed a removal order in which the Immigration Judge declined to review the respondent's Temporary Protected Status application because the respondent had not exhausted an internal DHS appeal. It held that an applicant whose TPS application was adjudicated and denied by DHS may seek de…
Coal River Mining, LLC
Mistaken payment did not waive timely contest
Coal River Mining timely contested the citation underlying a proposed penalty but later paid the penalty by mistake. It asked the Commission to reopen the assessment so the contest could proceed. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission reopened the assessment, remanded the matter, and…
Markfork Coal Company
Eleven violations settled for $57,813
The Secretary sought $76,555 for eleven alleged violations at Marfork Coal Company's White Queen mine, and related contest proceedings were consolidated with the penalty cases. The settlement retained the full $12,778 assessed for four section 104(a) citations and set $45,035 for the seven matters…
Oil-Dri Production Company
Incomplete reopening request denied without prejudice
Oil-Dri said it intended to contest six penalties and pay six others but never received the assessment, although MSHA's records showed that a named employee signed for it. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but confirmed the recorded delivery. The Commission held that a request seeking partial…
Detroit Salt Company, LLC
Unmailed contest form supported reopening
Detroit Salt intended to pay most proposed penalties while contesting two of them. Its Accounts Payable Department made the intended payment but failed to mail the assessment form identifying the contested penalties. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the final…
Jose Luna Roofing
Serious fall-protection citation affirmed after roofers worked 41 feet above ground
OSHA observed Jose Luna Roofing employees performing roofing work without fall protection on a low-slope roof approximately 41 feet above the ground. The owner was present during the inspection and confirmed that the workers were his employees and that he knew they were on the roof. The company did…
Ram, Inc.
In re Ram, Inc. (EAB RCRA (9006) Appeal Nos. 08-01 and 08-02): UST penalty increased to $86,012
Ram, Inc. owned or operated gasoline and convenience store facilities in Oklahoma. EPA Region 6 alleged violations of Oklahoma underground storage tank requirements involving spill prevention, release detection, cathodic protection, leak detector testing, and inventory control. The Administrative…
Big River Mining, LLC
Renewed motions cured missing penalty details
Big River Mining's new safety director did not discover two recent assessments in the office files and learned of them through MSHA's public delinquency database. The Commission initially denied reopening without prejudice because the company had not identified which individual penalties it…
McQueary Industries, Inc.
Default judgment set aside for further settlement proceedings
An administrative law judge dismissed McQueary Industries' timely notice of contest after the company failed to answer the Secretary's complaint or respond to a show-cause order. That default affirmed several serious and other-than-serious citations with proposed penalties totaling $8,400. In its…
Armstrong Coal Company
Shared-responsibility mix-up supported reopening
Armstrong Coal missed the deadlines for three assessments because its Director of Safety and Accounting Officer each believed the other was sending the contest forms. The company supplied evidence that it had paid the proposed assessments it did not intend to contest. The Secretary did not oppose…
Mountain Coal Company, LLC
Two-year filing delay did not justify dismissal
The Secretary proposed a $963 penalty for an alleged S&S violation of permissible miner noise exposure limits at Mountain Coal's West Elk Mine. Mountain Coal sought dismissal because the Secretary filed the penalty petition more than two years after the 45-day period in Commission Rule 28. Chief…
Five Star Mining, Inc.
Filing delay did not justify dismissal of an S&S citation
The Secretary proposed a $1,026 penalty for one alleged S&S violation of Part 75 at Five Star Mining's Prosperity Mine. Five Star sought dismissal because the Secretary filed the penalty petition nearly four months after the 45-day period in Commission Rule 28. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick…
Five Star Mining, Inc.
Four-month filing delay did not justify dismissal
The Secretary proposed $7,229 for four alleged non-S&S violations of Part 75 at Five Star Mining's Prosperity Mine. Five Star sought dismissal because the Secretary filed the penalty petitions more than four months after the 45-day period in Commission Rule 28. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick…
Black Panther Mining, LLC
Seven-month filing delay did not justify dismissal
The Secretary proposed $212 for two alleged non-S&S violations of Part 77 at Black Panther Mining's Oaktown Fuels Mine No. 1. Black Panther sought dismissal because the Secretary filed the penalty petition nearly seven months after the 45-day period in Commission Rule 28. Chief Judge Robert J…
Solar Sources, Inc.
Eight-month filing delay did not justify dismissal
The Secretary proposed $120 for two alleged non-S&S new-miner training violations at Solar Sources' Shamrock and Craney mines. Solar sought dismissal because the Secretary filed the penalty petitions more than eight months after the 45-day period in Commission Rule 28. Judge Jerold Feldman…
Matter of A-W-, Applicant
Visa Waiver custody appeals dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
The Board reviewed an applicant's appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of a request for a custody or bond redetermination hearing. The applicant was admitted under the Visa Waiver Program and was in asylum-only proceedings that began with a Form I-863, not removal proceedings under 8 C.F.R…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC
Assistant's mailing error supported reopening
Canyon Fuel's safety manager intended to contest one penalty and told a new administrative assistant to pay the remaining penalties and mail the contest form. The assistant inadvertently failed to mail the form, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The Secretary did not oppose…
Walter Kuhl
Three violations affirmed and $42,374 ordered
Walter Kuhl operated the Fourmile Gravel Pit and settled all but three of the charging documents in six civil penalty proceedings. Judge Gary Melick found that Kuhl deliberately undercut a 30-to-40-foot highwall in violation of 30 C.F.R. § 56.3130 and directed an employee to work near it. The judge…
KWV Operations, LLC
Reopening explanation lacked detail
KWV Operations' vice president marked the penalties he intended to contest and forwarded the assessments to the corporate office. The company said only that mistake or inadvertence caused the office not to return the contests to MSHA on time. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission…
Youngman Rock, Inc.
Attempts to contact MSHA supported reopening
Youngman Rock missed the 30-day deadline to contest a proposed penalty assessment, causing it to become a final Commission order. The company said it had never previously received MSHA citations and had tried several times by telephone or fax to tell an MSHA official that it wanted to contest the…
Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
Three citations vacated, one later reinstated on review
The Secretary proposed $3,095 for three alleged S&S violations involving a lube truck and dusty haul roads at Nally & Hamilton's Chestnut Flats surface mine. Judge Jerold Feldman vacated the backup-alarm citation because the alarm had worked during the preshift examination and the Secretary did not…
Choice Fabricators, Inc.
Lockout and power-press violations produced $14,000 in penalties
Choice Fabricators manufactured metal parts with mechanical power presses at its Alabama plant. OSHA cited the company for excluding die changes from its lockout/tagout program, improperly using safety blocks, failing to inspect its energy-control procedures, failing to train die-setters, and…
Matter of Olga BARCENAS-BARRERA
False passport birthplace claim establishes removability
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal from an Immigration Judge's finding that the respondent was not removable based on a false-citizenship representation. The respondent had knowingly stated on a passport application that she was born in Texas, although she was a citizen of Mexico, and she was…
Gale Insulation
Residential fall-protection citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
A Gale Insulation employee installed chimney flashing on a residential roof about 25 feet above the ground without fall protection. A harness and lanyards were in the crew's truck, and the employee had been trained in Spanish and English, had demonstrated how to use the equipment, and had…
Dynamic Energy, Incorporated
Grader assist violated the full-control rule
Dynamic Energy used a grader to push loaded coal trucks up a steep haul road when they lost traction at its Coal Mountain No. 1 Surface Mine. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck found that the practice violated 30 C.F.R. § 77.1607(b) because the truck driver shared control over acceleration and…
Moraine Materials Company
Duplicate-assessment mistake supported reopening
Moraine Materials timely contested a citation but later missed the deadline to contest the related proposed penalty assessment. Its counsel mistook that assessment for a duplicate of another assessment in a related case that counsel had contested. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Dennis Demers Trucking
Failed delivery meant the assessment was not final
Federal Express could not deliver a proposed penalty assessment to Dennis Demers Trucking because the office was unattended after the owner's daughter died unexpectedly the previous day. The Commission held that the operator never received the notice required by its procedural rules, so the…
Matter of Xiuyi WANG
CSPA priority-date retention does not cover a fourth-preference derivative
The Board reviewed a certified decision about a lawful permanent resident's petition for his adult unmarried daughter. She had aged out as a derivative beneficiary of a fourth-preference petition filed by her aunt, and her father later filed a second-preference petition seeking to retain the…
West Virginia Mine Power, Inc.
One-day-late contest was reopened
West Virginia Mine Power filed its penalty contest one day after the 30-day deadline. Its safety consultant had been away from the mine, and the assessment form had not been date-stamped, leaving the consultant uncertain when it arrived. The consultant forwarded the form to counsel on February 12…
Lehigh Southwest Cement Company
Reopening request lacked an explanation
Lehigh Southwest sought to reopen an assessment containing 22 proposed penalties and indicated that it wanted to contest eight of them. It submitted an earlier citation-contest letter but did not explain why it had failed to file the penalty-contest form on time or whether it had tried to pay the…
Freedom Energy Mining Company
One-year limit barred reopening
Freedom Energy intended to contest a proposed penalty assessment, and its counsel drafted a cover letter, but counsel inadvertently did not file the contest with MSHA. The assessment became a final Commission order on November 14, 2007. Freedom Energy did not request reopening until more than one…
Matter of Juan M. CARDIEL-Guerrero
Receipt of stolen property is an aggravated felony
The Board reviewed a lawful permanent resident's appeal from an order of removal based on a California conviction for receiving stolen property. The conviction was under California Penal Code § 496(a), and the respondent received a sentence of one year and four months. The Board held that the…
Long Branch Energy
Related order contests supported reopening
Long Branch inadvertently paid the penalties for two citations instead of sending MSHA the assessment contest form. The same citations later produced failure-to-abate orders that Long Branch timely contested, and those proceedings remained pending. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. Given the…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Three lightning-arrester citations upheld and two vacated
Wolf Run settled 31 of 36 citations at its Sago Mine for $25,257, leaving five alleged violations of the lightning-arrester rule for decision. The five citations were issued during MSHA's investigation of the January 2006 explosion, although the Secretary did not claim that the cited conditions…
Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC
One-day-late contest and payment were reopened
Dickenson-Russell intended to contest five proposed penalties and pay six others. It inadvertently mailed both the contest form and the check one day after the 30-day deadline. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the final assessment in the interest of justice, remanded…
Unimin Corporation
ALJ to decide whether missed conference response showed good cause
Unimin asked MSHA for a conference on one citation underlying a proposed assessment. The company said MSHA did not respond, causing it to miss the next step for contesting the citation and allowing the assessment to become final. The Secretary did not oppose the request for relief. The Commission…
Oxford Mining Co., LLC
Timely contest sent to the wrong MSHA office was reopened
Oxford Mining timely mailed its penalty contest together with payment for the penalties it did not dispute. It sent the materials to MSHA's office in St. Louis instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office in Arlington. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the final…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Operator could be liable for contractor's fall-protection violation
A contract roofing employee fell about 28 feet and died while dismantling roof panels at Jim Walter Resources' No. 3 Mine without attaching his safety line. MSHA proposed a $60,000 penalty against Jim Walter under 30 C.F.R. § 77.1710(g), even though the company had provided required hazard training…
Matter of A-T-
FGM withholding claim remanded under Attorney General framework
The Board reconsidered a Malian respondent's claim for withholding of removal after the Attorney General vacated an earlier Board decision. The respondent had undergone female genital mutilation as a child and feared future harm connected to an arranged marriage and her membership in a particular…
Higman Barge Lines, Inc.
In re Higman Barge Lines, Inc. (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Appeal No. 08-02): reimbursement petition dismissed with prejudice
Higman Barge Lines, Inc. and EPA Region 6 resolved their obligations under a consent agreement. Higman filed an unopposed motion asking the EAB to dismiss its petition for reimbursement with prejudice. The Board found that the matter had been resolved to Higman's and the Region's satisfaction. It…
Matter of Enrique Salas COMPEAN, Matter of Sylla BANGALY, and Matter of J-E-C-
Matter of COMPEAN, BANGALY, and J-E-C- (BIA ID 3643): Attorney General restores Lozada standards pending rulemaking
The Attorney General reconsidered the January 2009 decision in Matter of Compean, Bangaly & J-E-C-, which had replaced the Board's longstanding Lozada framework for motions to reopen based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The Attorney General vacated that decision in its entirety and directed…
Lehigh Southwest Cement Company
Contest sent to payment address was reopened
Lehigh Southwest sent its penalty contest form to MSHA's St. Louis payment address instead of the Arlington address specified for contests. MSHA forwarded the form to the proper office, which received it four days after the 30-day deadline. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.