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.
Hunt Martin Materials, LLC
Unfiled penalty contest remanded for good-cause review
Hunt Martin Materials intended to contest the penalty for Citation No. 6239671. Its human resources manager mistakenly believed he had filed the contest, and the company discovered the omission only after MSHA said the assessment had become final and remained unpaid. The Secretary did not oppose…
Prime Roofing Corporation
Amendment request returned to the judge for a ruling
The ALJ vacated a repeat fall-protection citation against Prime Roofing. Before the decision was docketed, the Secretary moved to amend the complaint to allege a different fall-protection provision in the alternative. The judge received the motion only one day before docketing and did not rule on…
United Mine Workers of America, Local 1248 v. Maple Creek Mining, Inc.
Compensation case dismissed after claims paid
The Commission had rejected the union's claim for up to one week's compensation under the third sentence of Mine Act section 111 and remanded to determine whether other compensation claims remained. The union identified miners who had not received compensation under the section's first two…
Evergreen Energy, Inc.
Examination-record order upheld with $2,000 penalty
Evergreen Energy stipulated that its shift supervisor failed to record on-shift examinations on two days, an unwarrantable violation of section 77.1713(c). Judge Richard W. Manning agreed that examination records matter because they help ensure identified hazards are corrected and noted that…
Mach Mining, LLC
One slope-plan violation upheld, two vacated
MSHA cited Mach Mining after two roof falls during construction of the Mach No. 1 Mine slope, alleging several failures to follow the approved slope sinking plan. Judge David F. Barbour found that miners lawfully went no more than five feet beyond permanent roof support to build temporary support…
In re N-A-M-
Reliable information may establish a particularly serious crime
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found that a Colorado felony-menacing conviction was a particularly serious crime and denied withholding of removal. The Board held that an offense need not be an aggravated felony to qualify as a particularly serious…
Griffin Contracting, Inc.
One unprotected excavation wall was enough to violate the cave-in rule
Griffin employees worked in a six-foot-deep utility excavation where one wall was near vertical and lacked shoring, benching, or an adequate slope. OSHA's laboratory confirmed that the fissured soil was Type B, and an employee was observed within 18 inches of the unprotected wall. The ALJ rejected…
Twentymile Coal Company
Outby refuge-area requirement affirmed
Twentymile's emergency response plan relied on multiple escape routes and an intake shaft for miners working in the roughly four miles of main entries between the portal and the 6 Main North shaft. MSHA required an additional refuge area with breathable air near the midpoint. Judge Richard W…
St. Lawrence Food Corp., dba Primo Foods
Most dairy-plant health and safety citations affirmed
OSHA conducted health and safety inspections at Primo Foods, a kosher dairy, and cited hazards involving ammonia refrigeration, respirators, confined spaces, chemical training, noise, machine guarding, electrical work, lockout/tagout, powered industrial trucks, and recordkeeping. The ALJ found that…
Progress Coal
Assessment addressed to former employee remanded
MSHA's assessment proposed penalties for 23 citations and orders at Progress Coal's Twilight surface mine. Progress said the assessment was addressed to an employee who had left the company the prior year and that an unknown person signed the return receipt. The safety director learned of the…
In re Yadvender SINGH
Hardship evidence outside the relevant period is insufficient
The Board reconsidered a respondent's request to remand proceedings so he could pursue an extreme-hardship waiver connected to his conditional permanent resident status. The respondent submitted evidence about family circumstances, including a second child and a U.S. citizen mother-in-law. The…
Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc., Red Dog Mine
In re Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc., Red Dog Mine (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 07-08 and 07-09): petitions dismissed without prejudice
EPA Region 10 issued an NPDES permit to Teck Cominco Alaska, Inc. for the Red Dog Mine. The City of Kivalina, the Native Village of Kivalina IRA Council, and other Kivalina petitioners challenged permit conditions in NPDES Appeal No. 07-08, while Teck Cominco filed a separate petition in NPDES…
MarChem Corporation
In re MarChem Corporation (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 07-08C): $300,000 new-chemical penalty
MarChem Corporation operated a facility in Maryland Heights, Missouri. EPA alleged that MarChem manufactured three chemical substances, identified in the agreement as Chemicals A, B, and C, that were not listed on the TSCA Inventory, without submitting the required premanufacture notifications. EPA…
Kanto Corporation
In re Kanto Corporation (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 07-07C): $95,370 reporting penalty
Kanto Corporation manufactured or imported six chemical substances at its Portland, Oregon facility in amounts that triggered reporting under EPA's Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory Update Rule. EPA alleged that Kanto failed to submit a required Form U for the 2002 reporting period by the…
Harry C. Crooker & Sons, Inc.
Excavator had to maintain clearance from an energized service line
A foreman operated an excavator with its boom six to seven feet from an energized 240-volt service drop while performing street reconstruction work. The applicable construction standard required at least ten feet of clearance. The ALJ held that the general-industry electrical rule did not displace…
Consolidation Coal Company
Mistaken payment during staff transition remanded
Consolidation Coal intended to contest an order issued at its Loveridge mine but paid the proposed penalty instead. The safety supervisor who normally processed assessments retired without completing the contest, and his replacement was unfamiliar with the procedure. Consol discovered the error…
Consolidation Coal Company
Safety-supervisor transition remanded for good-cause review
MSHA assessed penalties for 27 citations and orders at Consolidation Coal's Loveridge mine. The mine's safety supervisor had retired shortly before the assessment arrived, and his replacement was unfamiliar with the contest process and did not forward the paperwork to headquarters until after the…
Offield Mining Company
Claimed lost penalty contest remanded
MSHA proposed penalties for one order and 19 citations issued to Offield Mining. Offield said it mailed a contest within 30 days but that the filing was lost. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission remanded for the Chief Administrative Law Judge to determine whether the claimed lost…
G. S. Materials, Inc.
Timely penalty contest makes reopening moot
G. S. Materials believed its contest of seven proposed penalties might have been late because assessment papers were misplaced at the mine. The Secretary confirmed that the August 20 contest was timely and that the matter had already been assigned for hearing. The Commission therefore held that the…
In re S-I-K-
Conspiracy can be an aggravated felony based on fraud loss
The Board reviewed a Ukrainian respondent's appeal after he was found removable based on federal conspiracy and fraud convictions. The Board held that a conspiracy is an aggravated felony under the fraud and conspiracy provisions when the substantive crime that was the object of the conspiracy…
J.E. Amorello, Inc.
Blocked ramp and missing cave-in protection led to two trench violations
Two employees worked in a trench that OSHA measured at 5 feet 4 inches deep. The ALJ found that a backhoe blocked access to the available ramp, leaving no safe means of egress, and that the trench lacked required cave-in protection. He credited OSHA's testimony over the employer's conflicting…
In re Yuriy Il Yavmaniyevich BABAISAKOV
Fraud-loss proof may use evidence beyond the conviction record
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal in the removal case of an Uzbek respondent who had been a lawful permanent resident since 1998. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud arising from a scheme to submit fraudulent insurance claims, and the criminal court ordered…
Cagle's Inc.
Confined-space issue remanded after court review
Two Cagle's employees died from an oxygen-deficient atmosphere caused by carbon dioxide inside a poultry plant's waste-breading trailer. The Commission had previously vacated a citation alleging that the company failed to inform employees about a permit-required confined space. The Eleventh Circuit…
Spartan Mining Company
Mistaken penalty payments sent back for good-cause review
Spartan sought to reopen two penalty assessments that became final after its safety director mistakenly paid penalties the company intended to contest. The Secretary opposed reopening the first docket because status reports had disclosed the payment problem months before Spartan moved, and the…
Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Defective show-cause order voids default
Oak Grove failed to answer a penalty petition, a show-cause order, and the resulting default order, asserting that the papers went to the wrong person and address. The ALJ's default had already become a final Commission decision because no review was directed within 40 days. The Commission found…
Dominion Energy Brayton Point, L.L.C.
In re Dominion Energy Brayton Point, L.L.C. (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 07-01): remand-stage permit review denied
Dominion Energy Brayton Point operated a power plant on Mount Hope Bay in Massachusetts under an NPDES permit addressing thermal discharges and cooling-water intake structures. After an earlier remand, EPA Region 1 reaffirmed the permit conditions, including a five-day maximum…
The American Coal Company
Late penalty contest sent back for good-cause review
American Coal failed to contest a proposed penalty assessment within the Mine Act's 30-day deadline, so the assessment became a final Commission order. The company said the failure was a mistake but did not explain it. The Secretary did not oppose reopening because the company's safety director had…
In re A-T-
One-time FGM does not establish continuing persecution
The Board reviewed a Malian respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The respondent had undergone female genital mutilation as a child and feared family consequences after learning that her father had…
Lattimore Materials Company, LP
Three safety violations affirmed after shaker-deck accident
Three miners were seriously injured when a 4,200-pound replacement shaker deck slid into place while they worked in its path. Judge Gary Melick found that the deck remained a suspended load and that the plant manager rejected a miner's proposal to use a come-along as a brake. He affirmed the…
Otis Elevator Company
Fatal car-sling incident did not establish employer knowledge
An Otis employee died after riding on an elevator car sling that fell about 60 feet down a shaft while he removed rail-alignment clips. The Commission found that a falling load presented a recognized hazard, but the record did not establish employer knowledge of the employee's conduct. Otis had a…
Rinker Materials Western, Inc.
Safety director's absence leads to good-cause remand
Rinker failed to contest penalties for 12 citations and one order within the Mine Act's 30-day deadline. The company said its safety director was away on business during most of July and August and did not realize the assessment had arrived until August 27. Rinker promptly moved to reopen after…
R S & W Coal Company
Weekly seal examination and records-access actions upheld
R S & W contested enforcement actions that closed the underground portion of its mine for failure to conduct weekly examinations at seals and cited the company for denying MSHA access to mine records. Judge David F. Barbour found that the seals existed in a return or bleeder air course, were not…
Sherman Equipment Company, Inc.
Unclaimed penalty assessment sent back for explanation
Sherman Equipment asked to reopen a penalty assessment after receiving a collection letter, saying it believed the matter had closed and did not know a penalty remained outstanding. The Secretary said the assessment was mailed to the correct address but returned unclaimed, and that MSHA later…
In re Carlo JEAN-JOSEPH, Attorney
Reinstatement denied after unauthorized practice
The Board considered an attorney's motion to be reinstated to practice before the Board, the Immigration Courts, and the Department of Homeland Security. The attorney had been suspended by the Florida Supreme Court and had also practiced before the Miami Immigration Court while under the Board's…
In re Boris A. KRIVONOS, Attorney
Reinstatement denied after immigration fraud
The Board considered an attorney's motion for reinstatement after he had been expelled from practice before the Board, the Immigration Courts, and the Department of Homeland Security. He had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with diversity immigrant visa…
Rizing Sun, L.L.C.
In re Rizing Sun, L.L.C. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 07-02): penalty-unit conclusion vacated, $10,000 penalty affirmed
EPA alleged that Rizing Sun, L.L.C. sold or distributed an unregistered and misbranded pesticide in 31 transactions. The ALJ found violations of both FIFRA sections 12(a)(1)(A) and 12(a)(1)(E), but concluded that the same transaction could support only one penalty and assessed $10,000 after…
C.D. Smith Construction
Unsupported plywood was not an intended work surface
A C.D. Smith employee suffered serious injuries after falling into a stairwell where unsupported plywood remained from partially dismantled concrete formwork. The plywood was behind a guardrail and danger tape, and the employee's assigned task could be performed directly from the vertical formwork…
Aggregate Industries, Northeast Region
Inadvertent penalty payment sent back for explanation
Aggregate Industries timely contested two citations but later paid the related proposed penalties instead of contesting the assessment. The company said personnel overlooked the existing citation contests and authorized payment through mistake and internal miscommunication. The Secretary responded…
Massachusetts Port Authority, Logan International Airport
In re Massachusetts Port Authority, Logan International Airport (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 07-16): review denied
EPA Region 1 issued an NPDES permit for stormwater discharges from Logan International Airport in Boston. Joseph J. Cappuccio objected that the permit would harm Boston Harbor, but he did not identify specific permit conditions or explain how the permitting decision was clearly erroneous, an abuse…
Shell Offshore, Inc., Kulluk Drilling Unit and Frontier Discoverer Drilling Unit
In re Shell Offshore, Inc. (EAB OCS Appeals No. 07-01 and 07-02): stationary-source issue remanded, other review denied
EPA Region 10 issued Shell Offshore minor-source air permits for two drilling vessels that would operate at locations in the Beaufort Sea Outer Continental Shelf off Alaska. The petitions challenged how the Region defined an OCS source and a stationary source, as well as nitrogen-oxide emissions…
Carmeuse Lime and Stone, Inc.
Mixed ruling reduces consolidated penalties to $511
Carmeuse contested enforcement actions involving contractor training, a mine-fire investigation, and several settled citations and orders. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held the mine operator strictly liable because seven contractor employees had not received required Part 48 training, even though Carmeuse…
In re S-K-
Material-support exception requires further review
The Attorney General reviewed a Burmese respondent's asylum and withholding case after the Immigration Judge found that she had provided material support to the Chin National Front and denied relief under the terrorism-related inadmissibility bar. The Board had affirmed the denial before the…
Atlanta Sand and Supply Company, Inc.
Omitted assessment sent back for good-cause review
Atlanta Sand intended to contest an assessment covering twelve citations and retained legal counsel. The company said it inadvertently omitted the assessment from the records transferred to counsel, allowing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The Secretary did not oppose reopening…
Vulcan Materials Company
Inadvertently paid penalty sent back for good-cause review
Vulcan asked to reopen a penalty assessment covering one citation after the assessment became a final Commission order. The company said it inadvertently paid the proposed penalty rather than contesting it. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission remanded the matter for the Chief ALJ…
In re Anil SHAH, Attorney
Discipline warranted for misleading USCIS
The Board reviewed attorney-discipline proceedings involving Anil Shah, who owned and operated a law office that handled immigration matters. The Department of Homeland Security alleged that he submitted an H-1B petition to USCIS supported by a Labor Condition Application containing a knowing and…
Parkstone
Mine Act jurisdiction question sent back despite late request
Parkstone sought to reopen an assessment nearly two years after it became final, saying it mistakenly believed the citations had been dismissed in other litigation and that MSHA lacked jurisdiction over its activities. The Commission held that relief based on mistake was outside Rule 60(b)'s…
Twentymile Coal Company
Flooded alternate escapeway citation reduced to $3,000
Water, hidden ruts, wire, and ventilation tubing obstructed part of the alternate escapeway in Twentymile's 20 Right section. Judge Richard W. Manning found that these conditions could slow an emergency evacuation and endanger miners carrying or assisting a disabled person. He affirmed the…
Leominster Water Pollution Control Facility
In re Leominster Water Pollution Control Facility (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 06-16): petition dismissed after withdrawal
The City of Leominster petitioned for review of NPDES Permit No. MA-0100617. The City later reported that it had reached an agreement with EPA Region 1 that would facilitate compliance with the permit and make the appeal unnecessary. The Environmental Appeals Board dismissed the City's petition for…
In re A-K-
Withholding of removal denied based on harm to children
The Board reviewed a Senegalese respondent's claim for withholding of removal based on fear that his United States citizen daughters would be forced to undergo female genital mutilation if they returned with him to Senegal. The Board held that the respondent could not establish his own eligibility…
Morning Glory Gold Mines
Recusal denied, case referred for reassignment
Morning Glory asked Judge Gary Melick to recuse himself, relying on an appellate reversal of part of an earlier decision involving the mine and the judge's use of the owner's prior opening statement. The judge found that the affidavit did not describe detailed facts showing personal bias. He…
In re Gildardo CHAVEZ-Martinez
Motion to reopen denied without proof of vacatur
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's motion to reopen removal proceedings based on his claim that an Illinois criminal conviction had been vacated. The Board held that an alien seeking reopening to show that a conviction was vacated must prove that the vacatur was not based solely on…
Steven C. Collins v. Northfork Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed after voluntary resignation finding
Steven Collins complained about a worn grinder brush after a piece of steel struck a can in his shirt pocket. Judge Gary Melick found that the safety complaints were protected activity under the Mine Act. He credited testimony that Collins quit during the ensuing dispute rather than being…
Aluminum & Vinyl Products, Inc.
Undecided citation item returned to the judge
Aluminum & Vinyl Products contested one item from OSHA's citations and entered an informal settlement covering all other items. The ALJ approved the settlement but did not dispose of the still-contested item. The Commission directed review on its own motion. It remanded the case for the judge to…
Shawn Johnson v. Huffman Trucking, Inc.
Safety-complaint retaliation found and reinstatement ordered
Truck driver Shawn Johnson repeatedly reported defective brakes and a leaking third-axle valve, and MSHA cited the equipment after inspections. Huffman Trucking laid him off after an April 4 inspection and later discharged him after another written defect report. Judge Gary Melick found direct and…
Speed Mining, Inc.
Owner-operator held liable for contractor crane violations
Speed hired Cowin & Company to sink an elevator shaft at the American Eagle Mine, where a crane accident led MSHA to issue six citations to Speed for equipment, inspection, training, and shaft-plan violations. After an earlier decision was reversed and remanded, Judge Avram Weisberger applied…
Easley Combined Utilities
In re Easley Combined Utilities (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 06-10): petition dismissed after settlement
Easley Combined Utilities appealed an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region 4. The Region later issued a final permit incorporating the changes agreed to in settlement of the appealed issues. Easley withdrew its appeal, and the Environmental Appeals Board dismissed the petition for review with…
Marfork Coal Company
Settlement reduces penalty to $783
Marfork Coal contested a citation at its Slip Ridge Cedar Grove Mine, and the related civil penalty case was stayed while the Commission reviewed an earlier dismissal. After the Commission reinstated the contest, Judge Jerold Feldman lifted the stay and consolidated the two proceedings. The…
San Juan Coal Company
Corrected settlement modifies two unwarrantable-failure citations
The Commission remanded San Juan Coal's case for further analysis of whether a coal-accumulation violation resulted from an unwarrantable failure. The parties then agreed that San Juan would accept Citation No. 4768527 as written and pay a reduced penalty of $3,500 instead of $6,300. Judge T. Todd…
Arkema Inc.
In re Arkema Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 07-05C): $15,895 reporting penalty
Arkema Inc. operated a facility in Houston, Texas and manufactured carbon disulfide in an amount that triggered reporting under EPA's Toxic Substances Control Act Inventory Update Rule. EPA alleged that Arkema failed to report the substance on its 2002 Form U by the December 23, 2002 deadline…
Saw Pipes USA, Inc.
Willful recordkeeping penalties remanded after court review
The ALJ affirmed 59 willful violations for failing to properly record occupational injuries and illnesses at Saw Pipes' steel-pipe facility. He grouped the separately cited violations and assessed one $70,000 penalty. The Fifth Circuit held that this grouping produced a penalty below the statutory…
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.