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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Jindal United Steel Corp.
Recordkeeping penalties remanded after court review
The ALJ affirmed 110 violations for failing to properly record occupational injuries and illnesses at Jindal's steel facility. He treated 82 violations as willful and 28 as other-than-serious, but grouped the willful items into a single $70,000 penalty and assessed $7,000 for the remaining items…
Independence Coal Company
Missed penalty contests remanded for good-cause review
Independence Coal sought to reopen four penalty assessments that became final when it did not contest them within 30 days. The company said its safety director faxed the assessment form to outside counsel, but transmission problems prevented counsel from receiving and filing the contests…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Pre-penalty contests may proceed without an immediate hearing
Marfork Coal filed notices contesting three citations and orders before MSHA proposed civil penalties, then agreed to a continuance requested by the Secretary. An administrative law judge dismissed the contests because Marfork did not seek an immediate hearing and because he viewed the filings as a…
Vurnun Edwurd Jaxun v. Asarco, LLC
Pro se right clarified but dismissal left standing
Vurnun Edwurd Jaxun filed his own Mine Act discrimination complaint after MSHA found no violation, and an administrative law judge later dismissed it without prejudice after ordering him to obtain representation. On review, the Commission majority held that the Mine Act, the Administrative…
In re Luis Samuel JARA RIERO; In re Paul Andres JARA ESPINOL
In re JARA RIERO and JARA ESPINOL (BIA ID 3577): marriage-based adjustment denied
The Board reviewed a father and son from Ecuador who sought adjustment of status under section 245(i) based on a marriage-based visa petition filed for the father. The Board held that a petition must have been based on a bona fide marriage at its inception to be considered meritorious in fact and…
San Juan Coal Company
Original settlement order superseded by corrected citation label
The Commission remanded San Juan Coal's case for further analysis of whether a coal-accumulation violation resulted from an unwarrantable failure. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved a settlement that reduced the penalty from $6,300 to $3,500 and modified two enforcement actions under section 104(d)(1)…
VersaCold Corporation
In re VersaCold Corporation (EAB CWA Appeal No. 07-02C): $6,431 settlement
VersaCold Corporation operated refrigerated warehouse facilities in the United States, including facilities in Darien, Wisconsin and Lynden, Washington. The Consent Agreement addressed alleged failures to prepare and implement spill prevention and stormwater plans, install adequate secondary…
Elk Run Coal Company
Lost assessment remanded for good-cause review
Elk Run Coal timely contested a citation and order when MSHA issued them, but did not separately respond within 30 days after MSHA later proposed the penalties. The company said the assessment was inadvertently lost in its safety director's office and that counsel tried to file a response as soon…
Premier Chemicals, LLC
Fatality-reporting citation vacated after brief hazard investigation
A Premier Chemicals mechanic collapsed shortly after arriving for work and died despite immediate lifesaving efforts. The safety coordinator reached the scene, confirmed that lifesaving measures had been taken, checked for hazards to other employees, and then reported the death to MSHA. The…
Copperstate Companies, Inc.
Misrouted assessment remanded for good-cause review
Copperstate Companies sought to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The company said it intended to appeal, but MSHA sent the assessment for its Alabama facility to an Arizona office where it was not expected. Copperstate discovered the omission…
New Blue Shield Construction Inc.
Six-month filing delay was not excusable neglect
OSHA inspected a New Blue Shield Construction work site in the Bronx and issued a citation on August 8, 2006. The company did not file a notice of contest by the 15-working-day deadline, then waited nearly six months after OSHA explained the late-contest procedure before writing to the Commission…
Praxair Distribution, Inc.
Liftgate citation vacated for lack of employer knowledge
Praxair Distribution supplied cylinder gases to customers and used delivery trucks equipped with hydraulic liftgates. A driver was killed when a liftgate suddenly fell while he was making a delivery at a Veterans' Administration medical center in Cleveland. OSHA cited Praxair under the general duty…
In re J-Y-C-
REAL ID Act credibility review upheld
The Board reviewed a Chinese respondent's applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The Immigration Judge found that the respondent's account of persecution based on Christian faith was not credible because of conflicting testimony…
Geo-Environmental Associates
Penalty and fee cases dismissed after citation vacated
The Commission had earlier reinstated Citation No. 7044409 and remanded the civil penalty case for assessment of a penalty. The parties later reported that the underlying citation had been vacated and jointly asked to dismiss the penalty proceeding. Geo-Environmental Associates also agreed to…
J. B. Coxwell Contracting, Inc.
Two excavation violations affirmed and two vacated
J. B. Coxwell Contracting was building an underground concrete junction box for a highway storm drain system in Florida. OSHA cited the company for four excavation violations after employees worked in an excavation about 6 feet 8 inches deep. The judge affirmed a serious violation because the…
Kenneth D. Bowles, employed by New River Mining Company
Late summary-decision motion denied
The Secretary asked for summary decision that mine manager Kenneth Bowles knowingly violated the mine's approved roof control plan and should pay a $1,500 individual penalty. Judge David F. Barbour found the motion persuasive on its face but denied it because it was filed fewer than 25 days before…
In re S-Y-G-
Motion to reopen denied for insufficient changed-country evidence
The Board reconsidered a Chinese applicant's motion to reopen removal proceedings so she could pursue an asylum claim based on alleged family-planning consequences from having a second child in the United States. The Board held that the applicant had to provide material, previously unavailable…
ICG Hazard, LLC
Misplaced assessment remanded after responsible employee's discharge
ICG Hazard sought to reopen a citation penalty assessment that became final when the company missed the 30-day contest deadline. ICG said the employee responsible for returning the assessment form was discharged during the response period, and the company did not find and submit the form until…
E.C.H. Construction
Dismissal set aside over possible service failure
OSHA cited E.C.H. Construction for failing to certify abatement of earlier uncontested violations and proposed a $300 penalty. After E.C.H. contested the citation, later filings were sent to a Holmes Lumber Companies address shown on the employer's handwritten notice of contest. The judge dismissed…
Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Unchecked citation remanded for good-cause review
Oak Grove timely returned an MSHA assessment form and contested two orders, but failed to check the contest box for Citation No. 7687956. Its safety director submitted an affidavit stating that he intended to contest the citation and inadvertently omitted the check mark. The Secretary opposed…
Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc.
In re Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal No. 07-01): reconsideration denied
Environmental Geo-Technologies, LLC sought to transfer two underground injection control permits from Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc. to Environmental Geo-Technologies for Class I commercial hazardous-waste injection wells in Romulus, Michigan. The Board had previously declined to review the…
Higgins Ranch
Off-site quarry scale falls within MSHA jurisdiction
Higgins Ranch contested two citations involving its quarry operations, including a guardrail citation at a truck scale located about 0.59 mile from the mine entrance. The company argued that MSHA lacked jurisdiction because the scale was separated from the quarry, reached by public roads, and also…
NCS, LLC.
Ladder-lashing citation affirmed after fatal fall
NCS provided telecommunications support services and assigned an employee to relocate overhead telephone cable in Florida after hurricane damage. The employee died after he and a 28-foot extension ladder fell while he was working alone at a utility pole. The Secretary withdrew one citation item and…
Wampum Hardware Company
Hearing request assigned for further consideration
Wampum Hardware Company asked for a prompt hearing on its contest of an MSHA citation but gave no reason for expedited treatment. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick explained that a formal expedited hearing under Commission Rule 52 requires extraordinary or unique circumstances causing continuing harm…
West Valley Construction Company, Inc.
Two trench items affirmed and three vacated
West Valley Construction employees briefly entered a six-foot-deep trench at a naval air station in Washington while their superintendent watched. The trench had vertical walls in disturbed Type C soil and no cave-in protective system. The judge affirmed a repeat cave-in-protection violation…
In re Ernst SOLON
Third-degree assault is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed a Haitian respondent's appeal from the denial of a waiver under former section 212(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The respondent had convictions for conspiracy to import cocaine and third-degree assault under New York law, and the Immigration Judge found him removable…
In re Liber Remberto SEJAS
Virginia domestic assault not categorically turpitudinous
The Board reviewed a Bolivian respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him inadmissible based on two Virginia convictions for assault and battery against a family or household member. The Board held that the Virginia offense is not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude because…
Phelps Dodge Tyrone, Inc.
Late fire-reporting citation affirmed with low negligence
Contractors using torches to dismantle a shovel body at Phelps Dodge's surface copper mine ignited accumulated grease. The company argued that visible flames occurred only in short intervals and that no single fire lasted more than 30 minutes. Judge Richard W. Manning found that flames began soon…
The American Coal Company
Personnel-change default remanded for good-cause review
American Coal asked to reopen penalty assessments that became final after it missed the 30-day contest deadline. Its counsel said a personnel change in the company's in-house legal department caused the failure, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening but noted that three penalties had already…
Higgins Stone, Inc.
Noise penalty reduced for partial good-faith abatement
Higgins Stone stipulated that a hydro-splitter operator was exposed to noise above the permissible level and contested only the penalty credit for good-faith abatement. The company redirected mufflers, moved one splitter, wrapped an engine, and arranged for a sound-absorbing enclosure, but it did…
Salco Construction, Inc.
Attorney-fee application denied
Salco Construction prevailed on one scaffold fall-protection item after the judge found that the Secretary had not proved a platform moved more than 14 inches from a building's eaves. Salco then sought $29,735.82 in fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Commission found that…
Town of Marion, Massachusetts
In re Town of Marion, Massachusetts (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 06-15): petition dismissed
The Town of Marion, Massachusetts withdrew its petition for review of NPDES Permit No. MA0100030 and jointly moved with EPA Region 1 to dismiss the appeal. The parties reported that they had settled their differences through a permit modification issued by Region 1 on May 22, 2007. No other entity…
DHL Express, Inc.
Default vacated after internal miscommunication
OSHA issued DHL Express thirteen serious citation items and one other-than-serious item after inspecting its Miami Gateway facility, with $25,500 in proposed penalties. DHL's site manager timely contested the citations but did not answer the complaint or respond to a show-cause order after…
Performance Coal Company
Missed penalty boxes remanded for good-cause review
Performance Coal timely contested two MSHA citations but later failed to mark the corresponding penalties as contested on an assessment form. MSHA treated the penalties as closed, and a judge dismissed the citation contests after the Secretary reported that the penalties had been paid. Performance…
Performance Coal Company
Three-month contest delay remanded for fact-finding
Performance Coal timely contested two MSHA orders but did not contest the later penalty assessment within 30 days. It waited until after receiving a delinquency notice and sent its hearing request almost three months after receiving the assessment. The company attributed the delay to internal mail…
Emerald Coal Resources, LP
Manufacturer-installed insulation satisfied the standard
Emerald Coal Resources contested a citation alleging that a telephone communication wire at its longwall belt starter lacked additional insulation where it contacted energized 480-volt power cables. The evidence showed that the wire had additional insulation supplied by its manufacturer, that the…
United Mine Workers of America, on behalf of Local 1248, District 2 v. Maple Creek Mining, Inc.
UMWA Local 1248 v. Maple Creek Mining, Inc. (FMSHRC PENN 2002-23-C): Vacated withdrawal order defeats week-pay claim
The UMWA sought up to one week's pay for miners idled by a section 104(b) withdrawal order at Maple Creek's underground coal mine. The operator later contested a penalty form labeled for both the underlying citation and the withdrawal order, and a settlement approved by another judge vacated the…
Valley Interior Systems, Inc.
Malfunctioning aerial lift should have been removed from service
Valley Interior Systems used a rented 80-foot articulating aerial lift to install exterior framing at an Ohio college construction project. The lift's tower assembly stopped operating properly, but the field foreman allowed an employee to continue working from it while waiting for a service…
Major Drilling America, Inc.
Vacated citation made penalty dispute moot
Major Drilling America asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty that had become final when the company did not return the assessment form. The contractor said it believed that e-mail exchanges with local MSHA officials had already contested the citation. After Major supplied details and…
Burkes Mechanical, Inc.
Conveyor lockout violations affirmed but willful item reduced to serious
Burkes Mechanical employees cleaned debris beneath a running fuel-wood conveyor at a paper mill, and one employee was killed when his arm and shovel became caught between an idler and the belt. The Commission held that both the general lockout/tagout standard and the paper-mill-specific lockout…
Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc.
In re Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc. (EAB UIC Appeal No. 07-01): appeal declined as premature
Environmental Geo-Technologies, LLC appealed EPA Region 5's alleged denial of its request to transfer two Safe Drinking Water Act underground injection control permits from Environmental Disposal Systems, Inc. to Environmental Geo-Technologies. The Board concluded that the petition was premature…
In re Kattia Guadalupe ESCOBAR
Parent's lawful permanent residence cannot be imputed to a child
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent's appeal from an Immigration Judge's finding that she was removable for alien smuggling and ineligible for cancellation of removal. She argued that her mother's years as a lawful permanent resident should count toward the five-year lawful permanent…
City of Wilkes-Barre, A.R. Popple, Inc., & Wyoming S. & P.
In re City of Wilkes-Barre, A.R. Popple, Inc., & Wyoming S. & P. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 06-03): penalty assessment modified
EPA Region III appealed an administrative law judge's penalty assessment against the City of Wilkes-Barre, A.R. Popple, Inc., and Wyoming S. & P., Inc. The case arose from the 2002 demolition of a steam heat plant and alleged asbestos NESHAP violations involving notice, wetting asbestos material…
Marine Terminals Corp.
Four longshoring citation items vacated
Marine Terminals handled container cargo aboard the M/V Ever Deluxe at a California terminal. A hatch boss was killed when descending crane lifting gear struck him while he was on top of a container, although the record did not establish why he entered that location. OSHA cited the company for…
Powder River Coal, LLC
Public county road fell outside MSHA jurisdiction
Powder River Coal contested a citation for failing to submit an injury report after an employee was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident on County Road 31 near its surface coal mine. The company had built and maintained the road, and most traffic served the mine, but Campbell County had…
CSA Materials, Inc.
Loader citation modified and fuse citation vacated
CSA Materials contested two citations issued during an inspection of its crushed-limestone mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon affirmed a violation for a worker standing under an unsecured front-end-loader boom, but he removed the significant-and-substantial designation because a spontaneous hydraulic…
In re R-D-
Travel to Canada created a departure and arriving-alien status
The Board reviewed a Guinean respondent's removal case after she traveled from the United States to Canada to seek refugee status and was later returned to the United States. The Board held that she had departed the United States and was an arriving alien when she returned, so the Immigration Judge…
Cliffhangers, Inc.
Default set aside for settlement review
A judge entered default judgment against Cliffhangers in three consolidated cases. The Secretary then filed an unopposed request asking the Commission to vacate the default and approve a signed settlement that affirmed the violations as issued but changed the penalties. Citing its policy of…
J. Phillip Adams
In re J. Phillip Adams (EAB CWA Appeal No. 06-06): farm-road exemption issue remanded
EPA Region 10 appealed an ALJ decision that dismissed an enforcement action against J. Phillip Adams over unpermitted work in wetlands during construction of a farm road crossing in Idaho. The ALJ treated the Clean Water Act farm-road exemption as a jurisdictional defense and found that it applied…
Asphalt Paving Supply Inc.
Cable-bushing violation affirmed without negligence
Asphalt Paving Supply contested a citation involving a 110-volt cable whose outer jacket had pulled away from a junction-box bushing, leaving its insulated conductors exposed. The company did not dispute the condition but argued that it had arisen overnight, likely because of cattle near the pond…
Lone Mountain Processing, Inc.
Cable-splice violation affirmed as non-S&S
Lone Mountain Processing resolved several citations by settlement and litigated a citation involving a trailing-cable splice at an underground coal mine. The company conceded that the splice was not effectively insulated and sealed against moisture, but disputed whether the violation was…
Hein Masonry Inc.
Forklift operated too close to energized power lines
Hein Masonry used a rough-terrain forklift to raise masonry materials beside scaffolding at a Wisconsin construction site. The forklift's metal platform came within about three to five feet of energized 13-kilovolt power lines, although the standard required at least 10 feet of clearance. A utility…
Oxid L.P.
In re Oxid L.P. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 07-03C): $15,895 penalty
Oxid L.P. and EPA consented to entry of a Final Order in a Toxic Substances Control Act penalty matter. The released two-page Final Order incorporates the attached Consent Agreement by reference, orders Oxid L.P. to comply with its terms, and assesses a civil penalty of $15,895. The released order…
Emerald Coal Resources, LP, Cumberland Coal Resources, LP
Emerald Coal Resources, LP and Cumberland Coal Resources, LP (FMSHRC PENN 2007-252-E): Prompt refuge-chamber purchase orders required
Emerald Coal Resources and Cumberland Coal Resources proposed emergency response plans using refuge chambers to supply trapped miners with 96 hours of breathable air, but they wanted 60 days after plan approval to place purchase orders. MSHA required a much shorter commitment because refuge…
In re Sandra Patricia GONZALEZ-SILVA
Pre-1996 conviction does not trigger child-abuse bar
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision pretermitting her application for cancellation of removal. The Immigration Judge treated her 1994 California conviction for willful cruelty or unjustifiable punishment of a child as an offense under the…
In re J-B-N- & S-M-
Protected ground must be a central reason for persecution
The Board reviewed a married couple's appeal from the denial of asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture. The respondents were natives of Burundi and citizens of Rwanda who said relatives threatened them after a land dispute and because of their background…
Hercules Incorporated
In re Hercules Incorporated (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition No. 98-2): petition dismissed with prejudice
The Environmental Appeals Board had stayed Hercules Incorporated's CERCLA reimbursement proceeding while related federal court litigation was pending. After that litigation concluded, Hercules moved to terminate the stay and withdraw its petition with prejudice. Hercules cited the federal court…
State of Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
Timely penalty contest returned for proceedings
The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty after learning that a collection agency was seeking payment. The agency showed that it had filed a timely notice of contest shortly after MSHA issued the assessment, and the Secretary…
Don Erickson, employed by Raymond Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Individual penalty default remanded for good-cause review
MSHA assessed Don Erickson individually for three orders and one citation already contested by his employer, Raymond Sand & Gravel. Acting without counsel, Erickson believed the Secretary's petition against the company also covered his individual penalties and did not file a separate contest. After…
All Around the House Services
Late contest dismissed and $1,500 penalty affirmed
OSHA issued All Around the House Services two serious citation items with proposed penalties totaling $1,500 after a worksite inspection. The employer mailed its notice of contest three days after the statutory deadline. It did not explain the delay, did not present a legally sufficient defense to…
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.