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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Cipriano Martinez d/b/a Martinez Masonry
Illness did not excuse late contest and $38,000 penalty
OSHA issued Martinez Masonry serious, repeat, and other-than-serious citations involving scaffolds and hazard communication. The owner filed the notice of contest after the 15-working-day deadline and argued that flu-like symptoms prevented timely action. The medical records did not show that he…
Quality Boring Co.
Default dismissal set aside for further proceedings
The judge dismissed Quality Boring's notice of contest after the company failed to answer the Secretary's complaint or respond to an order to show cause. The dismissal also affirmed citations and $7,050 in proposed penalties. The show-cause order had been returned by the Postal Service as…
Webster County Coal, LLC
Permissibility citation and $629 penalty affirmed
Webster County Coal did not dispute that a battery-box locking bar was missing from an electric scoop at its Dotiki Mine, leaving the equipment outside the permissible condition required by 30 C.F.R. § 75.503. The company challenged a later withdrawal order and the penalty consequences of its…
Rakich Masonry
Default dismissal set aside for factual inquiry
The judge dismissed Rakich Masonry's notice of contest after the company failed to answer the Secretary's complaint or respond to a show-cause order. The dismissal affirmed a serious citation and $3,000 in proposed penalties. The company's owner later said he had not abandoned the case and had…
R S & W Coal Company, Inc.
Lifeline withdrawal order affirmed
R S & W Coal did not dispute that its escapeway lacked the continuous directional lifeline required by 30 C.F.R. § 75.381(c)(5). The company sought relief from a withdrawal order while MSHA considered its petition to modify the standard, arguing that a lifeline would reduce safety in its steeply…
Highland Mining Company
Respirable-dust violation draws a $5,000 penalty
Highland Mining did not dispute that respirable-dust sampling at its underground coal mine averaged 2.472 milligrams per cubic meter, above the limit in 30 C.F.R. § 70.100(a). It also did not contest that the violation was significant and substantial. Judge Avram Weisberger found moderate…
United Mine Workers of America, Local 1248 v. Maple Creek Mining, Inc.
UMWA Local 1248 v. Maple Creek Mining, Inc. (FMSHRC PENN 2002-23-C): Interlocutory review granted in compensation case
UMWA Local 1248 sought compensation under section 111 of the Mine Act for miners idled by an MSHA withdrawal order at Maple Creek Mining. The judge denied Maple Creek's motion for summary decision and later certified for interlocutory review the legal question of whether the withdrawal order had…
Donald Cutler
In re Donald Cutler (EAB EAJA Appeal No. 05-01): fees denied
Donald Cutler sought attorneys' fees and other expenses after an EPA enforcement case in which the ALJ found him liable but reduced the proposed penalty from $25,000 to $1,250, and the EAB later assessed $5,548. Cutler argued that the penalty reduction made him a prevailing party or showed that…
Eastern Associated Coal, LLC
Unexplained reopening request denied
Eastern Associated Coal asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after the company failed to contest it within 30 days. Eastern had separately contested the underlying citations, but it gave no reason for missing the penalty-assessment deadline. The…
Parsons Steel Erectors, Inc.
Final penalty assessment sent for reopening inquiry
Parsons Steel Erectors asked the Commission to reopen a $184 proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after no timely contest was recorded. Parsons said it returned the assessment form contesting two citations, later paid $184.40 after an MSHA demand, and then received a refund…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Conveyor-maintenance violation and $32,500 penalty affirmed
MSHA cited Jim Walter Resources after a miner clearing material near underground conveyor chutes was fatally transported through the belt system. The Commission held that clearing a clogged chute is repair or maintenance under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1725(c), which requires power to be off and machinery…
Aracoma Coal Company
Mistaken penalty payments sent for reopening inquiry
MSHA issued about 220 citations to Aracoma Coal after investigating a fatal mine fire, and Aracoma timely contested them. The company later said its safety director mistakenly paid proposed assessments for about 75 citations that it intended to continue contesting. Aracoma notified the Secretary of…
FMC Corporation
Late penalty contest remanded for good-cause findings
FMC Corporation asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after no timely contest was recorded. FMC said it received the assessment well after its stated date and delayed filing because MSHA told it to await completion of an informal conference on the…
Hibbing Taconite Company
Timeliness of penalty contest sent for fact-finding
Hibbing Taconite said it paid one citation from a proposed assessment and timely marked the other for contest, but MSHA had no record of receiving the contest form. The Secretary did not question the company's account and did not oppose reopening. The Commission explained that a timely contest…
Stillhouse Mining Company
Missed penalty contest remanded for good-cause findings
Stillhouse Mining asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that became final after the company failed to contest it within 30 days. Stillhouse had already contested the underlying citations and said it mistakenly believed the assessment had been sent to its lawyer for handling. The…
B. S. Carter Construction, Inc.
Willful cave-in violation results in $7,000 total penalty
Two Carter Construction employees entered a 17-foot-deep excavation in Class C soil without shoring, sloping, or a trench box. A wall collapsed and broke one employee's leg. The access ladder extended only eight inches above the surface, and the injured employee had not received training to…
Gaskey Construction Corporation
In re Gaskey Construction Corporation (EAB CWA Appeal No. 06-07): default and $10,155 penalty affirmed
EPA Region 6 alleged that Gaskey Construction Corporation discharged pollutants from a construction site into waters of the United States without a permit. The Regional Judicial Officer found Gaskey in default for failing to answer the administrative complaint and assessed a $10,155 penalty. The…
Moltan Company, LP
Disputed assessment receipt sent for timeliness findings
Moltan Company said it timely contested a proposed penalty assessment and disputed the Secretary's claimed date of receipt. Moltan had asked MSHA for proof of delivery, but neither side supplied the assessment or documents showing when it was received. The Secretary did not oppose reopening…
Premier Elkhorn Coal Company
Mistaken penalty payment sent for reopening inquiry
Premier Elkhorn had already contested one citation but later mistakenly paid its proposed penalty together with penalties for citations it did not challenge. The company asked the Commission to reopen the resulting final assessment, and the Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission…
Advent Mining, LLC
Allegedly mailed penalty contest sent for fact-finding
Advent Mining said it timely mailed a contest of a proposed penalty assessment, but MSHA's Civil Penalty Compliance Office had no record of receiving it. The Secretary said she had no reason to question Advent's account and did not oppose reopening. The Commission remanded for the chief judge to…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Stayed citation contest dismissed for stating no requested relief
Marfork Coal contested a citation alleging that a beltline fire-hose outlet lacked the valve handle needed to connect a hose. At the same time, the company agreed to stay the contest until the Secretary proposed a civil penalty. Judge Jerold Feldman concluded that this approach sought no early…
Animal Feeding Operations
In re Animal Feeding Operations (EAB CAA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, CERCLA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C, and EPCRA 06-2468C thru 06-2618C): 52 consent agreements ratified
EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance submitted 52 Consent Agreements and Proposed Final Orders for animal feeding operations. The agreements addressed potential liabilities under the Clean Air Act, CERCLA, and EPCRA and were part of EPA's nationwide animal feeding operations…
E.C. Voit & Sons
Four-year-late reopening request denied
E.C. Voit & Sons sought to reopen penalties tied to citations from a 2002 assessment. The company had timely contested only one citation from that assessment, and that citation was later vacated. More than four years later, it asked to reopen the remaining citations without explaining its earlier…
In re O-S-G-
Requirements for reconsidering an affirmance without opinion
The Board denied a respondent's motion to reconsider an earlier summary affirmance of an Immigration Judge's decision. The Board held that a motion to reconsider must identify material factual or legal errors in the prior decision and support them with pertinent authority. When the prior decision…
Greer Limestone Company
Missing penalty contest sent for reopening inquiry
Greer Limestone said it mailed a timely contest of one citation's proposed penalty, but MSHA had no record of receiving the form and later treated the penalty as delinquent. Greer also argued that an earlier MSHA letter had closed the matter. The Secretary did not dispute that the contest may have…
Grand Street Mercury Site, General Electric Company
In re Grand Street Mercury Site, General Electric Company (EAB CERCLA 106(b) Petition Nos. 05-01 and 05-03): petitions dismissed with prejudice
General Electric Company sought reimbursement of costs and interest incurred while complying with two unilateral administrative orders concerning the Grand Street Mercury Superfund Site in Hoboken, New Jersey. GE filed a second petition that incorporated the first, and the Board consolidated the…
Unimin Corporation
Misdirected penalty contest sent for good-cause findings
Unimin Corporation said it mistakenly mailed its penalty contest to MSHA's Pittsburgh office instead of the designated Arlington office. It supplied a return receipt indicating that MSHA received the filing in Pittsburgh, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission remanded for the…
Upper Valley Materials, Inc.
Allegedly unreceived assessments sent for reopening inquiry
Upper Valley Materials said it did not receive two proposed penalty assessments when MSHA issued them in July and August 2006. The company said it first obtained the assessments when they were faxed to it on October 30, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission remanded for the…
Hanson Aggregates Southeast
Highwall ground-control citation vacated
MSHA cited Hanson Aggregates under 30 C.F.R. § 56.3200, alleging that loose granite blocks on a quarry highwall could fall onto miners using the adjacent haul road. The Secretary's expert relied on photographs and testified that detached rocks might eventually fall, while Hanson's expert inspected…
Shamokin Filler Company, Inc.
Allegedly mailed penalty contest sent for fact-finding
Shamokin Filler said it promptly mailed a contest of a proposed penalty assessment but received no response before the assessment was treated as final. MSHA's Civil Penalty Compliance Office had no record of receiving the form, though the Secretary had no reason to question that it was sent and did…
Ohio County Coal Company
Clerical-error reopening request remanded
Ohio County Coal said a clerical error caused it to miss the deadline for contesting penalties assessed for several citations. The company asked the Commission to reopen the final assessment, and the Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission remanded for the chief judge to determine…
Albemarle Corporation
In re Albemarle Corporation (EAB CAA 06-2467C): $52,000 penalty settled
Albemarle Corporation disclosed that two drums containing bromochloromethane were exported to Canada for transformation, that three export reports were filed late, and that other recordkeeping, reporting, and certification failures occurred. The Consent Agreement states that the violations…
Lake View Rock Products, Inc.
Two reopening requests denied and one remanded
Lake View Rock Products missed the 30-day deadlines to contest three proposed penalty assessments after a change of counsel. It asked the Commission to reopen the final assessments so it could pursue settlements. The Commission denied relief for two assessments because the company waited more than…
Butler Sand Company
Conference-related late contest remanded
Butler Sand received a proposed penalty assessment around the time its assistant manager met with MSHA to discuss the underlying citations. The company took no action on the assessment while waiting for the conference result and later received collection letters for the unpaid penalties. The…
Stoudt's Ferry Preparation Company
Contest-procedure confusion sent for good-cause findings
Stoudt's Ferry had already contested two citations, and those proceedings were stayed while the related penalties were assessed. The company said confusion over the pending citation contests caused it to miss the separate deadline for contesting the penalty assessment. The Secretary did not oppose…
City of Springfield, Illinois
In re City of Springfield, Illinois (EAB PSD Appeal No. 06-08): petition dismissed with prejudice
The Sierra Club petitioned for review of the City of Springfield's PSD permit. The parties reached an agreement that made further litigation unnecessary. The Environmental Appeals Board granted the Sierra Club's motion to dismiss and dismissed the petition with prejudice. The order does not state…
The Ruhlin Company
High-visibility vest citation vacated
Ruhlin was widening a highway and had established a coned work zone next to an open traffic lane. OSHA cited the company because nine employees inside the work zone were not wearing high-visibility vests. The Commission held that 29 C.F.R. § 1926.95(a) did not cover warning garments because the…
United States Postal Service and National Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 51
Reflective-clothing citation vacated
OSHA cited the Postal Service after a vehicle struck a letter carrier's pushcart while she crossed a street near twilight. The Postal Service already offered reflective vests and issued uniforms with reflective strips, but OSHA argued that carriers needed garments meeting an ANSI high-visibility…
In re Mac TRUONG
Seven-year suspension after attorney disbarment
The Board reviewed an attorney's appeal from a seven-year suspension from practice before the Immigration Courts, the Board, and the Department of Homeland Security. The attorney had been disbarred by New York's highest court after state disciplinary proceedings involving a forged lease and false…
Buckeye Ready Mix, Inc.
Mixer lockout violations result in $8,000 penalty
A Buckeye Ready Mix crew entered a concrete mixer drum to remove hardened concrete. After the drum was repositioned, the circuit breakers were not locked out again, and the drum closed while an employee remained inside, fatally crushing him. The judge found Buckeye's written energy-control…
In re Jose Dario DIAZ-RUACHO
Unpaid voluntary-departure bond prevented penalties
The Board considered whether a respondent who did not post a required voluntary-departure bond became subject to the statutory penalties for failing to depart. The Board held that posting the bond is a condition precedent to permission for voluntary departure, and that the order automatically…
Knauf Insulation, GmbH
In re Knauf Insulation, GmbH (EAB PSD Appeal Nos. 06-01 through 06-06): review denied on all six petitions
EPA Region 9 issued Knauf Insulation, GmbH a revised PSD permit for its fiberglass plant in Shasta Lake, California. The revision increased limits for nitrogen oxide and particulate matter emissions. Six petitioners challenged the permit on public-health, enforcement, permitting, and timing…
Cam Mining, LLC.
Missed contest after internal miscommunication remanded
Cam Mining received a proposed assessment covering eight citations and orders. A miscommunication between company personnel and counsel delayed delivery of the assessment to counsel until after the contest deadline. Cam asked to reopen the final assessment based on inadvertence or mistake, and the…
Mosaic Phosphates Company
Ambiguous contest form remanded for good-cause review
Mosaic Phosphates returned a penalty contest form that specifically marked one citation but also stated that it wanted a formal hearing on all listed violations. MSHA did not open a contest for the unmarked citation, and its penalty became a final Commission order. Mosaic said it intended to…
Ash Grove Cement Company, Inc.
Unmailed contest form remanded for good-cause review
Ash Grove Cement intended to contest ten citations while paying the penalties for citations it did not dispute. Its accounting department mistakenly filed the contest form internally instead of mailing it to MSHA. The company discovered the error after receiving a delinquency notice, and the…
Decker Construction
Trench violations result in $5,625 penalty
Decker employees worked in a seven-foot excavation while relocating a fire hydrant. The company had not trained one crew member in excavation hazards, provided no ladder or constructed ramp, left spoil at the edge, and did not slope or shore the Type B soil as required. Those four items were…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Mistaken payment of contested assessment remanded
Jim Walter Resources had contested a citation, and the citation case was stayed while MSHA issued the related penalty assessment. When the assessment arrived, the company mistakenly paid that penalty with uncontested penalties instead of filing a separate penalty contest. It discovered the error…
City of Newburyport, Wastewater Treatment Facility
In re City of Newburyport, Wastewater Treatment Facility (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 04-05): petition withdrawn after permit settlement
The City of Newburyport and EPA Region 1 reached a settlement under which the Region agreed to modify the City's NPDES permit. After the permit modification was finalized, the Region asked the Environmental Appeals Board to affirm withdrawal of the City's petition for review. The City did not…
In re S-B-
Pre-REAL ID Act asylum applications use earlier credibility standards
The Board reviewed an appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of asylum and other relief based on an adverse credibility finding. The Board held that the REAL ID Act credibility provisions apply based on when the application was initially filed, whether it was filed with an asylum officer or an…
Austin Powder Company
Parties ordered to arrange citation hearing
Austin Powder contested a non-significant and substantial citation and requested a hearing at a mutually agreeable time and place. Judge Jerold Feldman ordered the parties to agree on a hearing date within six weeks and report the date and location within 15 days. If they could not agree, the party…
Hecla Mining Company, Lucky Friday Mine
In re Hecla Mining Company, Lucky Friday Mine (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 03-10 and 06-05): permit review denied
Hecla Mining Company operated the Lucky Friday underground mine and mill in Idaho and discharged treated wastewater to the South Fork Coeur d'Alene River under an NPDES permit. Hecla challenged the permit's use of total recoverable metals limits, its upper pH limit of 9.0, and its requirements for…
Hecla Mining Company, Lucky Friday Mine
In re Hecla Mining Company, Lucky Friday Mine (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 03-10 and 06-05): permit review denied
Hecla Mining Company operates the Lucky Friday silver and lead mine and mill in Idaho. Hecla challenged conditions in an EPA NPDES permit for treated wastewater discharged to the South Fork Coeur d'Alene River. The company argued that the permit should express metal limits as dissolved metals…
Drummond Company, Inc.
Reopening denied after nearly two-year delay
Drummond intended to contest a penalty assessment but mistakenly failed to do so. It did not seek reopening until more than one year and ten months after the assessment became a final Commission order. The Commission held that a request based on mistake, inadvertence, or excusable neglect must be…
Oak Grove Resources, LLC.
Default orders vacated for defective show-cause notices
Oak Grove Resources defaulted in three penalty cases after failing to answer the Secretary's petitions. The company said show-cause and default orders went to the mine rather than the address identified by its safety director. The Commission consolidated the cases and found that the wording of the…
Laurel Aggregates, Inc.
Show cause ordered for duplicative citation contests
Laurel Aggregates filed immediate contests of 31 citations and asked for rulings that the citations were invalid. It then did not oppose the Secretary's request to stay the contests until the related civil penalty cases were filed. Judge Jerold Feldman found that this position appeared inconsistent…
Aracoma Coal Company, Inc.
Further delay of show-cause response denied
Aracoma Coal had filed more than 350 immediate citation contests while agreeing to stay them until the related penalty cases. It was ordered to explain why the filings stated inadequate relief and needlessly duplicated Commission work. After a similar operator's contests were dismissed, Aracoma…
Maple Creek Mining, Inc.
Reconsideration denied in miners' compensation case
The United Mine Workers sought compensation for miners idled by a withdrawal order issued after Maple Creek failed to correct a mine ventilation violation. Maple Creek argued that a later settlement of the penalty for the underlying citation had vacated the withdrawal order and prevented the…
George P. Reintjes Company, Inc.
Default vacated after citation was withdrawn
MSHA vacated a citation against George P. Reintjes Company after the company timely contested the proposed penalty. A docket-number error prevented the dismissal motion from being applied to the correct case, and the judge later entered a default when the company did not answer an order. The…
Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc.
Interlocutory review of summary ruling denied
An administrative law judge granted the Secretary summary decision and denied Hosea O. Weaver & Sons summary decision in three penalty cases. After the judge declined to certify the ruling for interlocutory review, Weaver petitioned the Commission directly. The Commission found that Weaver had not…
Trinity Marine Products, Inc.
Five plant-safety items affirmed with $3,050 penalty
OSHA inspected Trinity's Louisiana barge-building plant under a warrant after the company initially denied entry. The judge rejected Trinity's constitutional and inspection-procedure challenges. Safety violations were affirmed for improperly spaced grinder tongue guards, misuse of a junction box…
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.