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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
G.A. West & Co., Inc.
Pulp-machine lockout citation vacated for lack of close-contact proof
G.A. West was a resident contractor at an Alabama pulp mill where an employee was seriously injured near a pulp machine and later died. OSHA's citation addressed different employees who had installed electrical conduit beneath the operating machine several days earlier without locking it out. The…
Shell Offshore, Inc.
In re Shell Offshore, Inc. (EAB OCS Appeal Nos. 08-01, 08-02, and 08-03): petitions dismissed as moot
EPA Region 10 issued Shell Offshore, Inc. a minor-source air permit for the Kulluk drilling vessel to operate in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska. Bill MacClarence, the North Slope Borough and other Alaska organizations, and the Alaska Wilderness League and other environmental organizations petitioned…
Muht-Hei Inc. d/b/a Campo Materials
Tribal-election disruption required a good-cause hearing
Campo Materials, a tribal company owned by the Campo Band of Mission Indians, missed both the assessment and delinquency-response deadlines. It attributed the delay to two contested tribal elections. The Secretary opposed reopening and argued that the explanation was inadequate. The Commission…
The Banner Company, LLC
Unsupported belief that penalties were contested was insufficient
Banner's safety director believed he had contested penalties for two citations, but MSHA had no record of receiving a contest and the company supplied no filing evidence. Banner also did not explain why it waited until August to seek reopening after receiving a delinquency notice in May. The…
Old Dominion Energy, Inc.
Omitted fax attachment supported reconsideration and reopening
The Commission had previously denied Old Dominion's reopening motion without prejudice. On reconsideration, the company supplied materials showing that the assessment form had been inadvertently left out of a fax sent to its counsel, causing the missed contest. The Secretary had not opposed the…
Cintas Corporation
Timely telephone contest supported reopening
Cintas apparently contacted an MSHA district office within 30 days of receiving the assessment and told agency employees by telephone that it was contesting the penalty. MSHA had no written record of receiving a contest form. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened and…
Webster County Coal, LLC
Paired-assessment processing error required a good-cause hearing
Webster County Coal had already contested two related withdrawal orders when MSHA issued their penalty assessments separately. The company timely returned the form for one assessment and believed the second had been processed at the same time, but an internal mistake left it unfiled. Webster sought…
Orlowski Company, Inc.
Stairway and willful fall-protection penalties totaled $56,600
Orlowski Company admitted one serious stairway violation and two willful fall-protection violations at a Chicago construction site, contesting only the penalty amounts. Employees used stairways without handrails, a foreman performed masonry work on an unguarded scaffold more than 12 feet high, and…
Black Butte Coal Company
Safety-manager transition supported reopening
A transition between Black Butte's outgoing and incoming safety managers led to a miscommunication with counsel about whether the penalty contest form had been sent. The assessment became final as a result. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened and remanded the assessment…
Penn Virginia Resource Partners
Good-faith reliance on underlying contest supported reopening
Penn Virginia believed in good faith that its contest of the underlying order was enough to preserve its challenge and that no separate penalty contest was required. It moved promptly after learning that the Secretary considered the assessment final. The Secretary did not oppose reopening on that…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 08-25): petition dismissed with prejudice
General Electric Company withdrew its petition challenging conditions in NPDES Permit No. MA0003891. EPA Region 1 told the Board that it also intended to withdraw the contested conditions and propose modified conditions for public review and comment. The Board approved GE’s withdrawal and dismissed…
John P. Vidiksis
In re John P. Vidiksis (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 07-02): 69 lead-disclosure violations and $97,545 penalty affirmed
John P. Vidiksis leased residential property covered by the federal lead-based paint Disclosure Rule. An Administrative Law Judge found 69 violations of requirements governing the Lead Warning Statement and disclosure of known lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards, and assessed a $97,545…
Matter of Ajmal Hussain Shah HASHMI
Factors for continuing removal proceedings during a pending visa petition
The Board reviewed a Pakistani visitor's removal case after he married a United States citizen and became the beneficiary of a pending family-based visa petition. The Immigration Judge denied a fifth continuance while the petition remained pending, relying in part on case-completion goals, and the…
Hopkins County Coal, LLC
Personnel-file enforcement dispute stayed
MSHA cited Hopkins County Coal for refusing to produce personnel records requested during a miner-discrimination investigation, issued a withdrawal order, and cited the company again for continuing to operate. The company challenged MSHA's authority, the breadth and clarity of the request, and…
Matter of Jose S. MARTINEZ-MONTALVO
Arriving alien adjustment jurisdiction under the Cuban Adjustment Act
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision granting a Cuban arriving alien adjustment of status under the Cuban Adjustment Act. The Board held that Immigration Judges generally lack jurisdiction over an arriving alien's adjustment…
Extra Energy, Inc.
Unexplained filing failures did not justify reopening
Extra Energy asked to reopen three final penalty assessments, stating that an unnamed representative failed to contest them after the company did not return a confirmation call. The Secretary opposed reopening because the explanation was conclusory and the company waited four to five-and-a-half…
S & S Rock
Former representative's failure supported reopening
S & S Rock asked to reopen three penalty assessments that had become final after no timely contests were filed. Its president stated that the company had hired a representative to submit the contests, but the representative failed to do so without the company's knowledge. The Secretary did not…
Graymont (PA) Inc.
Safety director's medical absence supported reopening
Graymont asked to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when the company did not file a timely contest. The company explained that its safety director was away from work for an operation and returned after the contest period had expired. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Manalapan Mining Company
Financial hardship did not justify reopening
Manalapan Mining asked to reopen an assessment because paying its total outstanding penalty balance would cause hardship. The Secretary opposed relief, explaining that inability to pay is not a ground for reopening and that installment arrangements might be available through the Treasury…
Lueders Limestone, LP
Health-related absence supported reopening
Lueders Limestone asked to reopen two penalty assessments that became final when no timely contests were filed. The record showed that the company's general partner was absent from work during much of the relevant period because of health problems. The individuals who took responsibility for…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Roof-control settlement reduced penalties to $56,900
MSHA alleged that Wolf Run Mining violated its approved roof control plan in two orders and attributed both violations to unwarrantable failure. One order involved a crosscut advanced 43 feet beyond permanent roof support when the plan limited advancement to 30 feet, and MSHA initially classified…
Matter of Gabriel ALMANZA-Arenas
Proof required for cancellation of removal after a theft conviction
The Board reviewed a Mexican citizen's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied cancellation of removal and granted voluntary departure. The respondent had a California vehicle-theft conviction and argued that his record did not establish a crime involving moral turpitude, but he did not provide…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Mixed rulings produced a $5,306 penalty
MSHA issued ten citations at three limestone plants operated by Nelson Quarries. The judge affirmed a seat-belt violation but removed its significant and substantial designation because the truck moved only a short distance for inspection, while affirming another seat-belt violation involving…
E. Smalis Painting Co., Inc.
Commission reduced lead-case penalties to $1.09 million
E. Smalis Painting removed lead-based paint from the Tarentum Bridge using abrasive blasting inside a tarp containment. OSHA measured six workers at lead exposure levels ranging from more than 18 to 669 times the permissible exposure limit, then cited four serious and 202 willful violations with…
Clean Energy Mining Company
Failure to send assessment to counsel supported reopening
Clean Energy Mining asked to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when no timely contest was filed. The record showed that an employee inadvertently failed to transmit the assessment to the company's counsel, so counsel never filed the contest. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Brooks Run Mining Co., LLC
Dust-citation findings modified and $7,700 assessed
Brooks Run did not dispute four significant and substantial violations of the respirable-dust limit at its Cucumber Mine, but both sides sought changes to gravity, negligence, and the number of miners affected. The judge found that isolated overexposures in two citations were reasonably likely…
Big Ridge, Inc.
Lost assessment supported reopening of 66 citations
Big Ridge asked to reopen a final assessment containing $143,652 in penalties for 66 citations. The company said the assessment should have been sent through intercompany mail to its safety director, but it was lost and could not be found after MSHA issued a delinquency letter. The Secretary did…
Excel Mining, LLC
Damaged roof-bolter cable was significant and substantial
MSHA cited Excel Mining after an inspector found a three-inch damaged area in the outer insulation of a 575-volt roof-bolter cable at the underground Van Lear Mine. Excel stipulated that the condition violated the requirement that power cables be adequately insulated and fully protected, but…
Big Ridge, Inc.
General explanations did not support reopening
Big Ridge asked the Commission to reopen a final assessment covering 50 citations and $259,795 in proposed penalties. The company filed its contest after the 30-day deadline and attributed the delay to overwhelming business matters, inadvertence, mistake, and internal miscommunication. The…
A. G. Carter Construction Company
Repeated trench warnings supported two willful violations
A. G. Carter Construction installed underground utilities in trenches near Prattville, Alabama. After a fire marshal warned owner Alton Carter about the lack of cave-in protection, a ladder, proper spoil-pile placement, and water controls, similar conditions remained when OSHA inspected one week…
Big Sky Well Service
Grinder use near crude-oil vapors led to $10,150 in penalties
Big Sky Well Service sent two employees to remove and replace a leaking crude-oil storage tank at an Ohio well site. A supervisor used an electric grinder to cut a notch in the tank while another employee worked on top, and the tank exploded, throwing that employee into nearby woods and causing a…
Dierzen-Kewanee Heavy Industries, LTD
Unabated hazards resulted in $133,100 in penalties
Dierzen-Kewanee manufactured dump-truck bodies at a former boiler factory in Illinois. After settling earlier OSHA citations, the company paid only the first penalty installment, did not provide requested abatement information, and left many cited conditions uncorrected for a follow-up inspection…
Matter of Juan Carlos ZORILLA-VIDAL
Solicitation of a controlled-substance offense
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Colombian citizen. The respondent had a Florida conviction for soliciting the delivery of cocaine and argued that the conviction did not relate to a controlled…
Double Bonus Coal Company
Undelivered assessments had not become final
Double Bonus asked to reopen two penalty assessments that it said it never received. Evidence showed that one assessment was returned to MSHA as undeliverable and that the other was delivered to a neighboring mine. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission concluded that the assessments…
Matter of M-A-S-
Detention may continue during voluntary departure
The Board reviewed a Qatari student's appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture, together with an order granting voluntary departure while he remained detained. The respondent claimed he would face persecution or…
Michael Cline
Contest was timely after actual notice
MSHA proposed a personal penalty against Michael Cline under section 110(c) of the Mine Act, but the assessment was sent to his former office after he transferred from New York to Texas. Cline first learned of it through a forwarded delinquency letter, and his attorney obtained the assessment from…
XMV, Inc.
Routing explanation was too general for reopening
XMV asked to reopen two final penalty assessments after missing the 30-day contest deadline. The company attributed the delay to confusion among employees who signed for the assessments and a failure to follow normal internal routing procedures. The Secretary did not oppose reopening but urged XMV…
Sierra Cascade, LLC
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Sierra Cascade asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not contest it within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed…
Shelton Brothers Enterprises, Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Shelton Brothers asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the company did not contest it within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed…
Matter of Leroinex LOUISSAINT
Florida burglary is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Haitian lawful permanent resident who had been convicted of burglary of an occupied Florida dwelling. The Board applied the categorical approach and held that a…
Ohio County Coal Company
Settlement set $14,424 penalty and equipment-cleaning measures
The consolidated cases involved contests and civil penalties arising from 79 alleged violations at Ohio County Coal's underground Freedom Mine. After extended negotiations, the parties resolved the remaining citation, significant and substantial, penalty, and contest issues. Ohio County also agreed…
Secretary of Labor v. Double Bonus Coal Company, et al.
Commission required detailed reopening evidence
The Commission consolidated 13 requests by related operators to reopen final penalty assessments after the Secretary opposed relief in one case and indicated that similar objections might follow in others. It gave the Secretary 10 days to file any amended responses across the cases. The operators…
Swallow Construction Corp.
Eighth cave-in violation drew a $33,000 penalty
OSHA inspected Swallow Construction's Illinois sewer and water project after an employee was electrocuted when a backhoe contacted live overhead power lines. The parties settled all citation items except an allegation that employees worked without cave-in protection in a trench more than five feet…
Mt. View Resources
Vague lost-assessment claim did not support reopening
Mt. View sought to reopen a final assessment so it could contest penalties for nine citations. The operator accepted that the assessment had been properly served but said it was misplaced or lost before reaching its accounting department. It also referred generally to changing office staff and some…
Matter of Jose AGUILAR-AQUINO
Electronic monitoring and home confinement are terms of release, not custody
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal of an Immigration Judge's order setting a $1,500 bond and ordering removal of an electronic monitoring device and waiver of home confinement after the bond was posted. The Board held that custody under 8 C.F.R. § 1236.1(d)(1) requires…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Explosives rulings and foreman agency findings affirmed
Nelson Quarries challenged findings involving improperly stored shock tubing, an inexperienced employee's unsupervised use of explosives, defective vehicle brakes, and whether three plant foremen were company agents. The Commission upheld the significant and substantial finding for shock tubing…
Moltan Company, LP
Fall-protection and crusher-access violations affirmed
Moltan operated a clay mine and processing plant that produced products including kitty litter and oil absorbents. An inspector saw a maintenance electrician working 87 inches above a platform without fall protection and found that workers greased a crusher by traveling along a six-inch-wide area…
Rowan Construction Company
Delivery to another tenant delayed notice
A proposed penalty assessment was delivered to Rowan Construction's building, but another tenant accepted it and passed it to Rowan later. Rowan notified the Secretary that it wanted to contest the assessment after receiving it, and the Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission held that…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Safeguard violation affirmed as S&S and settlements approved
Wolf Run was cited after someone crossed beneath a moving conveyor return belt where the mine lacked a suitable crossover required by a mine-specific safeguard. The operator stipulated to the violation, moderate negligence, serious gravity, and a $1,304 penalty, but argued that safeguard violations…
West Ridge Resources, Inc.
MSHA could halt longwall retreat after repeated coal bursts
West Ridge operated a deep-cover underground coal mine that experienced three reportable coal bursts in seven days, including one that knocked a miner into a shield and caused a fractured rib and partially deflated lung. MSHA issued a section 103(k) control order and later allowed the company to…
Andrew Electric Company
Unsecured breaker-box key led to $6,900 in penalties
An Andrew Electric electrician was electrocuted while installing fluorescent light fixtures near an energized junction box at a Georgia dealership remodeling project. The judge found that the company's safety program lacked adequate electrical-safety rules and that the electrician did not receive…
WCI Steel, Inc.
Crane runway-support inspection violation drew a $2,000 penalty
A 40-ton overhead crane collapsed at WCI Steel's Ohio plant while moving steel slabs, but no one was injured. OSHA cited WCI for failing to inspect the crane's runway support structure, maintaining an improperly set hoist limit switch, and overloading the crane. The judge held that a complete…
CPM Constructors
Flagger-sign citation failed under the incorporated traffic-control rules
CPM Constructors performed paving work in a busy pedestrian and retail area in Freeport, Maine. After moving its crew and flagger to another portion of the work zone, CPM left a Flagger Ahead sign about four-tenths of a mile from the remaining flagger for approximately 45 minutes. OSHA cited the…
FM Home Improvement, Inc.
Roofers were employees despite contractor documents
OSHA found seven roofers working without fall protection on a steep residential roof approximately 31 feet above the ground. FM Home Improvement did not dispute the unsafe condition, but argued that the workers belonged to an independent subcontractor and were not its employees. Applying the…
D & H Gravel
Three citations vacated and penalties reduced to $500
D & H Gravel was a very small, seasonal sand-and-gravel quarry with one part-time miner when MSHA issued 21 citations and one training withdrawal order during its first inspection. The owner said he did not know the Mine Act applied, but the judge explained that mine operators are strictly liable…
Northern Michigan University Ripley Heating Plant
In re Northern Michigan University Ripley Heating Plant (EAB PSD Appeal No. 08-02): permit remanded on five issues
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality issued Northern Michigan University's PSD permit for a new circulating fluidized bed boiler at the Ripley Heating Plant in Marquette, Michigan. Sierra Club challenged the permit's best available control technology analysis, PSD increment…
United Taconite
Discovery ordered for drill design and training evidence
The consolidated cases arose from a fatal drilling accident in which a drill positioned on a slope tipped onto its side. MSHA cited United Taconite under standards governing equipment use within its design capacity and employee training. United Taconite sought an order incorporating a…
Omis Ricky Smith
Reopening request dismissed because the assessment was never served
Omis Ricky Smith asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that he believed had become final. The Secretary determined that the assessment had not been served and planned to send it again to the correct address. The Commission held that without service, the assessment never…
ISP Minerals, Inc.
Reopening request dismissed because the assessment was never served
ISP Minerals asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that it believed had become final. The Secretary determined that the assessment had not been served and planned to send it again to the correct address. The Commission held that without service, the assessment never became a…
The Samuels Group, Inc.
Missing scaffold top rail resulted in a $1,000 penalty
The Samuels Group used a scaffold for masonry work approximately 60 feet above the ground. Its cross-bracing was about 32 inches high, which could not substitute for the required top rail, and stacked masonry blocks were neither high nor stable enough to serve as equivalent guarding. 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.