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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Bedwell v. Spirit Miller NE, LLC
STAA complaint dismissed as untimely
Carl Bedwell alleged that Spirit Miller NE terminated him after he reported insurance fraud. He filed his Surface Transportation Assistance Act complaint in September 2008, almost three years after his last day of employment in December 2005. Bedwell relied on a later Internal Revenue Service…
Secretary of Labor v. Pine Ridge Coal Company, LLC
Vague clerical-error request denied before renewal
Pine Ridge intended to contest 12 penalties from an assessment covering 22 citations and paid the other ten. It attributed the missed contest deadline only to a clerical error, without explaining what happened. The Secretary opposed reopening, and the Commission found the bare statement too vague…
Secretary of Labor v. Double Bonus Coal Company, et al.
Reopening results split across 13 assessments
The Commission consolidated 13 late penalty-contest requests involving related coal companies after the Secretary alleged a pattern of careless assessment handling. The operators placed $649,740.14, representing the penalties plus interest, fees, and costs, into escrow. Commissioners Duffy and…
Billy Brannon v. Panther Mining, LLC and Mark D. Shelton
Discovery partly compelled and cases consolidated
Billy Brannon moved to compel additional employee identities, personnel records, investigation materials, and other discovery from Panther Mining. Judge David F. Barbour ordered disclosure of relevant employee and policy information and nonprivileged investigative material, but denied requests for…
International Transportation Service, Inc.
Marine-terminal fall citation affirmed with a reduced penalty
International Transportation Service operated a marine terminal where containers were being unloaded from a vessel. During an OSHA inspection, a hatch boss came to the unguarded edge of a hatch cover to speak with a senior manager and stood within three feet of a drop exceeding nine feet without…
Secretary of Labor v. East Tennessee Zinc Company, LLC
Drug and training-plan citations vacated
MSHA cited East Tennessee Zinc after marijuana was found hidden in a contractor work area and after an inspector said the approved training plan was not available at the mine site. Judge Gary Melick vacated the drug citation because the Secretary did not show that the operator knowingly consented…
Secretary of Labor v. Penny Creek Quarry, LLC
Assessment hidden by departing bookkeeper reopened
Penny Creek's bookkeeper filed away a proposed assessment and then stopped working at the mine without notice. No one else knew about the assessment until MSHA sent a delinquency notice. The operator immediately sought to contest all three penalties, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Secretary of Labor v. Pacific Rock Products, LLC
Management-change explanation was too vague
Pacific Rock intended to contest penalties for seven citations but missed the deadline. It attributed the failure to management changes in its regional health and safety department caused by economic conditions. Although the Secretary did not oppose reopening, the Commission found that the company…
Secretary of Labor v. South Ridge Granite Quarry
First-time conference misunderstanding excused
South Ridge held an informal MSHA conference about a citation on the same day the proposed penalty assessment was issued. Because it had never contested an assessment before, the operator mistakenly believed the conference would lead automatically to a formal hearing and ignored both the assessment…
Secretary of Labor v. Michael Diamond
One-day-late individual penalty contest reopened
Michael Diamond had asked MSHA to send his individual penalty assessment to counsel, but MSHA did not do so. Diamond did not realize counsel lacked the assessment until the response deadline had nearly passed, and counsel returned the form one day late. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Las Delicias Community
In re Las Delicias Community (EAB SDWA Appeal No. 08-07): default liability and $500 penalty affirmed
Las Delicias Community consisted of about 48 people in 12 households in Ciales, Puerto Rico, and owned or operated a public water system that drew water from a creek. EPA Region II brought an enforcement action alleging violations of section 1414(g) of the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Surface…
JPC Group, Inc.
Excavation violations affirmed after an adjoining building collapsed
JPC Group was hired to perform foundation underpinning beside two buildings at a Philadelphia construction site. Test digs revealed a deteriorated foundation wall, but JPC later excavated along it without shoring or another support system, and the rear of the building collapsed. Workers had…
Milestone Materials, Division of Mathy Construction
Training citation vacated and contest dismissed
Milestone contested a citation alleging that an experienced newly employed miner lacked required training. The company argued that the person named in the citation was not a miner under Part 46, while the Secretary initially defended the citation. After trial, the parties resolved the dispute and…
Texas Erectors, Inc.
Steel-erection fall citation affirmed after connector exception rejected
OSHA observed two Texas Erectors employees working more than 16 feet above the ground with harnesses that were not tied off. The company argued that the employees were connectors who did not need fall protection until 30 feet, but the judge found they were not placing or connecting structural…
Secretary of Labor v. SCP Investments, LLC
Walkaround violation did not justify wholesale vacature
An MSHA inspector excluded SCP's owner from the first inspection of its small quarry because the owner lacked new-miner training, then issued a withdrawal order and 11 citations. The judge found that the exclusion violated the operator's statutory walkaround right and vacated every enforcement…
ExxonMobil Oil Corporation
In re ExxonMobil Oil Corporation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 08-23): petition dismissed with prejudice
ExxonMobil Oil Corporation petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board to review NPDES Permit No. MA0000833. On August 7, 2009, ExxonMobil notified the Board that it was withdrawing its petition. The Board dismissed the petition for review with prejudice.
Secretary of Labor v. Newmont USA Limited
Reopening denied after one-year limit expired
Newmont mistakenly mailed a penalty contest with payment for a different citation instead of sending it to the proper MSHA address. After Treasury began collection, Newmont and collection counsel suspended the collection dispute but did not recognize that only the Commission could reopen the final…
Michael Will, employed by Chemical Lime Co. of Alabama
Undelivered individual assessment made reopening moot
Michael Will asked the Commission to reopen an individual penalty assessment under section 110(c) of the Mine Act. He stated that he never received the assessment, and the Secretary confirmed that it had been returned to MSHA as undelivered. The Secretary said she would mail the assessment to the…
Secretary of Labor v. McCoy Elkhorn Coal Corporation
Four reopening requests moot after failed delivery
McCoy Elkhorn said it never received four proposed penalty assessments. Federal Express records showed unsuccessful delivery attempts on December 26, 2008, when the mine offices may have been closed for the holidays. The Secretary agreed to serve the assessments again and give the operator 30 days…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Inaccessible seal plan was unsuitable
Jim Walter Resources challenged a citation alleging that it operated the No. 7 Mine under an unapproved ventilation plan. Its proposed plan supplement would place seals where they became inaccessible as the active longwall advanced, preventing required weekly hazard examinations, methane testing…
Extendicare Health Care Services, Inc., d/b/a Arbors at Delaware
General-duty ladder item vacated for lack of employer knowledge
Arbors at Delaware was a skilled nursing facility where its maintenance director fell about nine feet while descending from an attic using a six-foot stepladder. He broke his wrist, suffered a head injury, and remained in a coma at the time of the hearing. The judge found that standing on the…
GEM, Inc.
Electrical PPE and insulated-equipment items affirmed after an arc blast
GEM repaired an electrical power system at a county courthouse after lightning damage, and an arc blast occurred while its crew performed a polarity test on energized equipment. The judge found that replacing the damaged bus section was maintenance rather than construction, so the general industry…
Black Hills Bentonite, LLC
Lockout penalty reduced to $900
Black Hills Bentonite admitted an S&S violation after an employee injured his hand while clearing mud from a moving briquette screw conveyor without locking and tagging it out. Judge Richard W. Manning found the violation's gravity high because the employee suffered a severe hand injury and the…
Presidium Energy, LC (Lautner #B3-31 SWD)
In re Presidium Energy, LC (EAB UIC Appeal No. 09-01): review denied for failure to meet permit-review requirements
Terry Novak asked the Environmental Appeals Board to review EPA Region 5's decision to issue Presidium Energy, LC a UIC permit for the Lautner #B3-31 SWD well in Michigan. The Board explained that a permit petition must identify the conditions challenged, show that the issues were raised during…
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…
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.