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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Secretary of Labor on behalf of Mary Jane Osbon v. R. E. Grills Construction Co.
Temporary reinstatement case withdrawn after voluntary return
The Secretary sought temporary reinstatement for Mary Jane Osbon after her discharge from a haul-truck position. R. E. Grills Construction agreed to return her to equivalent work with the same pay, benefits, hours, and duties. The Secretary withdrew the application without giving up the right to…
Smith Farm Enterprises, L.L.C.
In re Smith Farm Enterprises, L.L.C. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 05-05): jurisdictional remand after Rapanos
An ALJ had found Smith Farm Enterprises liable for two Clean Water Act violations involving fill material placed in wetlands and stormwater discharges from construction activities. While the appeal was pending, the Supreme Court decided Rapanos, which changed the legal landscape for federal…
Vico Construction Corporation and Amelia Venture Properties, L.L.C.
In re Vico Construction Corporation and Amelia Venture Properties, L.L.C. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 05-01): jurisdictional remand after Rapanos
The Board had previously upheld an ALJ decision finding Vico Construction Corporation and Amelia Venture Properties liable for two Clean Water Act violations and assessing a $126,800 penalty. The Fourth Circuit later remanded the case to the Board so it could assess the effect of the Supreme…
City of Springfield, Illinois
In re City of Springfield, Illinois (EAB PSD Appeal No. 06-07): petition dismissed as moot
Illinois EPA issued the City of Springfield a federal PSD permit for a new 250-megawatt coal-fired generating unit. David Maulding challenged conditions that had been added after the public-comment period under an agreement between the City and the Sierra Club. The permit provided that those…
Brockton Advanced Water Reclamation Facility
In re Brockton Advanced Water Reclamation Facility (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 05-04): petition dismissed after settlement
Timothy and Douglas Watts, EPA Region 1, and the City of Brockton, Massachusetts, concluded settlement negotiations concerning the Brockton NPDES permit. The parties reported that a federal court had entered a consent decree memorializing the settlement. The Environmental Appeals Board granted the…
Speed Mining, Inc.
Owner-operator citation dismissal remanded after circuit ruling
An administrative law judge dismissed citations and a penalty case against Speed Mining for violations committed by an independent contractor. The judge relied on Commission precedent that had allowed review of the Secretary's decision to cite the mine owner. The D.C. Circuit later reversed that…
QMAX Company
Six citations upheld and six vacated at portable plant
MSHA issued twelve citations at QMAX's small portable crushing and screening plant, covering equipment safety, access, fall protection, accident reporting, and training records. Judge Michael E. Zielinski affirmed two citations, affirmed four with reduced gravity or other modifications, and vacated…
Imerys Pigments, LLC
Contractor citation and increased penalty remanded
An administrative law judge dismissed a citation against Imerys Pigments for a violation committed by an independent contractor's employee. The D.C. Circuit later held that the Secretary's decision to cite both an owner-operator and its contractor was unreviewable prosecutorial discretion. The…
Cagle’s, Inc.
Waste-breading hazard items partly affirmed
Cagle's operated a chicken-processing plant where two employees died in a waste-breading trailer after carbon dioxide created an oxygen-deficient atmosphere. OSHA alleged that the trailer was a permit-required confined space and that Cagle's failed to label containers and train employees about…
Spartan Mining Company
Twenty-eight citation contests stayed for penalty cases
Spartan Mining filed 28 immediate citation contests but did not oppose staying them until MSHA assessed penalties. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon said routine pre-penalty contests without a need for an immediate hearing clogged the Commission's docket and violated the spirit of the Mine Act process. He…
In re Juan Francisco GUERRA
Custody bond decisions may consider serious charges without conviction
The Board reviewed an appeal from a custody redetermination in which an Immigration Judge denied release on bond because the respondent posed a danger to the community. The Board held that an Immigration Judge may consider specific and probative evidence of serious criminal activity, including…
In re Jimmy Roberto JURADO-Delgado
Uncharged crimes can stop continuous residence
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from a grant of cancellation of removal to a lawful permanent resident from Ecuador. It held that a crime can stop the continuous-residence period for cancellation of removal even when the Department of Homeland Security did not charge…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Pre-penalty citation contests dismissed
Marfork Coal filed immediate contests of three citations, then agreed to stay the cases until MSHA proposed the related civil penalties. Judge Jerold Feldman held that the filings did not state valid relief under Commission Rule 20 because Marfork admitted that it did not seek an early hearing and…
Indeck-Elwood, LLC
In re Indeck-Elwood, LLC (EAB PSD Appeal No. 03-04): permit partly remanded
Indeck-Elwood, LLC sought a permit for a coal-fired power plant near the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois. Environmental groups challenged the permit's treatment of plant capacity, soils and vegetation impacts, sulfur dioxide and other emissions, startup and shutdown limits…
In re Marco Antonio ROBLES-Urrea
Misprision of felony is moral turpitude
The Board granted a motion to reconsider but reaffirmed its earlier decision dismissing the respondent's appeal and denying cancellation of removal. It held that when the Attorney General reverses one holding in a Board precedent on another ground, an alternative holding can retain precedential…
Diamond Installations, Inc.
Willful forklift and fall violations reduced to serious
Diamond installed exterior wall panels on a high-rise construction project in New York City. A gang foreman gave a forklift key to an employee who had not completed the required operator training, and the employee died when the forklift tipped over. OSHA also observed three Diamond employees…
StarTran, Inc.
Record-production citation affirmed
StarTran was a nonprofit corporation that provided bus transportation services for Austin, Texas, under an agreement with the public transit authority Capital Metro. OSHA cited StarTran for failing to provide injury and illness records to an authorized government representative. StarTran stipulated…
Motiva Enterprises, LLC
Propane-terminal process-safety citations vacated
Motiva operated a propane distribution terminal next to a refinery where storage tanks supplied propane to customer tanker trucks through connecting pipes. OSHA cited the terminal under the process safety management standard, relying on refinery tanks that normally held more than the 10,000-pound…
Lewis County Dairy Corp.
Widespread safety violations result in $72,750 penalty
OSHA found extensive safety deficiencies at Lewis County Dairy's kosher dairy plant, including missing safety programs, inadequate lockout practices, unguarded equipment, electrical hazards, deficient fall protection, and insufficient hazard communication. Of the 33 serious citation items, the…
In re S-L-L-
Spouse and partner claims under coercive population-control law
The Board reconsidered how asylum claims are analyzed when a person's spouse or unmarried partner was forced to undergo an abortion or sterilization under China's coercive population-control program. It reaffirmed that a legally married applicant who opposed the procedure may establish past…
Beverly Healthcare-Hillview
Bloodborne-pathogen cost citations vacated
Two nurses at Beverly's nursing home received needlesticks and obtained post-exposure medical treatment during non-working hours. Beverly paid the medical charges but did not pay the employees for their time or travel expenses. The Commission found that the bloodborne-pathogens requirement to…
In re Vladimir LIADOV et al.
Overnight delivery did not excuse a late appeal
The Board considered a remand from the Eighth Circuit concerning an appeal that arrived one day after the filing deadline because an overnight delivery service missed its guarantee. The Board held that neither the Immigration and Nationality Act nor the regulations authorize it to extend the 30-day…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Secretary ordered to clarify position on dismissal
Marfork Coal opposed dismissal of three immediate citation contests but acknowledged that it did not seek an early hearing and instead wanted discovery while the cases were stayed. The Secretary said the contests served no discernible reason and that discovery was not relief, but she did not…
Bob Bak Construction
Mixed equipment rulings produce $750 penalty
Bob Bak Construction operated a small mobile crusher at locations in central South Dakota. Judge Richard W. Manning affirmed two S&S seatbelt violations, an S&S handrail violation, one guarding violation, and a citation the company withdrew from contest. He vacated a training order because MSHA did…
Midwest Roofing & Custom Metals
Parapet work without fall protection results in $1,000 penalty
Two Midwest Roofing employees stood on a narrow parapet wall while installing metal capping about 23 feet above the ground. Midwest argued that the roof and an exterior scaffold were less than six feet below the workers. The judge found that the scaffold was at least six feet below and, because it…
Austin Bridge and Road, L.P.
Crane crushing citation vacated for lack of hazard recognition
An Austin Bridge crew installed concrete traffic barriers using a truck crane parked close behind a flatbed trailer. The crane carrier was inadvertently left in reverse and moved backward, fatally crushing one employee and injuring another. OSHA alleged that employees should have been kept out of…
In re Guang Li FU
Visa petition revocation did not bar a waiver
The Board reviewed an appeal involving an immigrant visa petition approved for the respondent before his father died, after which the petition was automatically revoked. The Board dismissed the challenge to removability because the respondent lacked a valid visa when he was admitted, but it held…
A.E.Y. Enterprises
Excavation-shoring case remanded for factual findings
A.E.Y. Enterprises installed a shoring system in an excavation at the University of Rochester. OSHA cited the company for failing to provide an adequate cave-in protective system, but the judge vacated the citation after finding OSHA had not proved the excavation was at least five feet deep. The…
Joseph Watson, D/B/A Joseph Watson Masonry
Attorney-fee case partly reversed and remanded
Joseph Watson Masonry sought fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act after several construction citations were vacated, reclassified, or assessed at lower penalties. The Commission held that an employer can be a prevailing party on a discrete issue when it succeeds in reducing a…
Meridian Construction and Development, LLC
General contractor receives $2,000 penalty for site hazards
Meridian was the controlling general contractor on a condominium project where subcontractors created electrical, falling-object, and ladder hazards. OSHA found open temporary power boxes, an inadequately insulated cord splice, missing toeboards above a busy breezeway, and a job-made ladder that…
Boston & Maine Corporation
In re Boston & Maine Corporation (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 05-17): petition dismissed after permit modification
Jamison Colburn and the Connecticut River Watershed Council voluntarily dismissed their petition challenging Boston & Maine Corporation's NPDES permit. They told the Environmental Appeals Board that the issues raised in the petition had been resolved through a permit modification. The Board…
Paul J. Bennett, Gloria W. Holmes, and Steven K. Hanks, employed by Bennett Mineral Company
Paul J. Bennett, Gloria W. Holmes, and Steven K. Hanks (FMSHRC VA 2006-33-M, et al.): Reopening requests dismissed as moot
MSHA assessed individual penalties against three Bennett Mineral Company employees, and the assessments became final after no timely contests were recorded. The employees asked the Commission to reopen the cases, explaining that they believed their appeals had been filed and that dismissal of the…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Violation rulings affirmed, penalties remanded
This case followed two explosions at Jim Walter Resources' No. 5 Mine that killed 13 miners and injured several others. On the issues presented for review, the Commission affirmed dismissal of an evacuation order because the approved plan did not specify that an explosion triggered evacuation. It…
In re Sean O’CEALLEAGH
Political-offense exception requires a truly political crime
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision that a conviction for aiding and abetting the murders of two British soldiers in Northern Ireland qualified for the purely political offense exception to inadmissibility. The Board held that the…
Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc.
Premature interlocutory petition dismissed
Hosea O. Weaver & Sons sought Commission review of an ALJ ruling that MSHA had jurisdiction over the disputed activities. The ruling was not a final decision, and Weaver also asked the judge to certify the jurisdiction question for interlocutory review. Weaver filed its Commission petition before…
Cumberland Coal Resources, LP
Bleeder citations stand, two imminent-danger orders vacated
Cumberland used a wraparound bleeder system to ventilate a large underground longwall panel where methane readings and airflow raised concerns about whether the system worked effectively. The Commission affirmed a January 16 citation because the system did not continuously dilute and move methane…
Highland Mining Company
Operator ordered to justify routine contests
Highland Mining filed immediate contests of two S&S citations and did not oppose the Secretary's request to continue the cases until the related civil penalties were filed. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon questioned the routine filing of contests when the operator did not need an immediate hearing and could…
Spartan Mining Company
Operator ordered to justify 28 routine contests
Spartan Mining filed 28 immediate contests of citations and an order, then did not oppose the Secretary's request to continue the cases until related civil penalties were filed. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon questioned the routine filing of contests when the operator did not need an immediate hearing and…
Aracoma Coal Company, Inc.
Operator ordered to justify stayed contests
Aracoma Coal filed immediate contests of a citation and an order, seeking rulings that both were invalid. Soon afterward, it did not oppose the Secretary's request to stay the cases until the related civil penalties were filed. Judge Jerold Feldman questioned whether Aracoma had adequately stated…
Longview Construction and Development, Inc.
Address-change defaults remanded
Longview Construction changed its legal name to Superior Sand & Gravel and moved to a new address. Superior said MSHA mailed two proposed penalty assessments to the former address, so the 30-day contest periods expired before the company received them. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Late penalty contests remanded for good-cause findings
Three proposed penalties against Nelson Quarries became final when the company did not contest them within 30 days. Nelson Quarries said it overlooked these dockets when submitting an earlier reopening request and had been confused by information from MSHA about whether the assessments should be…
Prairie State Generating Company
In re Prairie State Generating Company (EAB PSD Appeal No. 05-05): permit review denied
Prairie State Generating Company sought a PSD permit for a proposed 1,500-megawatt coal-fired power plant and associated underground mine in Illinois. Environmental groups challenged the permitting agency's BACT analyses for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and related emissions…
Independence Coal Company
Discovery barred during stay, Secretary retains reporting duty
Sixteen Independence Coal contest proceedings were stayed while MSHA prepared the related civil penalty cases. The Secretary asked the judge to allow discovery during the stay and transfer the duty to report on the penalty cases to the operator. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon denied both requests, reasoning…
Spartan Mining Company
Discovery barred during stay, Secretary retains reporting duty
Seven Spartan Mining contest proceedings were stayed while MSHA prepared the related civil penalty cases. The Secretary asked the judge to allow discovery during the stay and transfer the duty to report on the penalty cases to the operator. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon denied both requests, reasoning that…
Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 05-01 and 05-02): petitions dismissed and one issue stayed
EPA Region 3 withdrew the disputed parts of the Blue Plains NPDES permit issued to the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. Friends of the Earth and the Sierra Club agreed to dismissal of their petition, and WASA agreed to dismissal of its petition except for a challenge concerning a…
Plateau Mining Corporation
Plan citation vacated, bleeder violation stands
MSHA issued two ventilation citations after an accident at Plateau Mining's Willow Creek Mine killed two miners and injured others. The Commission reversed the ventilation-plan violation because a breached undercast no longer separated or controlled airflow and was not an adjustable regulator that…
Summit Anthracite, Inc.
Fan violation affirmed, two citations vacated
Summit Anthracite was driving the Brockton Slope to support future coal production, so Judge Gary Melick held that the site was a mine covered by the Mine Act. He vacated a slope-plan citation because the cited standard required submitting and obtaining approval of a plan, which Summit had done…
Martin County Coal Corp.
Stay denied and citation contest set for hearing
Martin County Coal immediately contested a citation and did not agree to the Secretary's request to wait for the related civil penalty case. Judge Jerold Feldman denied the stay and scheduled a merits hearing for October 4, 2006. He directed the parties to pursue settlement, identify disputed…
Seaboard Foods LP
In re Seaboard Foods LP (EAB CAA 06-2466C, CERCLA 06-2466C, and EPCRA 06-2466C): consent agreement ratified subject to condition
EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance submitted Seaboard Foods LP's Consent Agreement and Proposed Final Order for review and ratification. The agreement addressed potential liabilities under the Clean Air Act, CERCLA, and EPCRA as part of EPA's nationwide animal feeding operations…
Western Rock Reduction
Operating plants subject to inspection, $6,469 settlement approved
MSHA issued 35 citations at two Western Rock portable crushing operations in Oregon. The company argued that the plants were not operating for production during the inspections because one had just restarted after electrical repairs and employees were repairing equipment at the other. Judge Richard…
Ronald H. Hunt, et al.
In re Ronald H. Hunt, et al. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 05-01): lead-paint disclosure penalty affirmed
The appellants owned or managed four pre-1978 rental homes in Richmond, Virginia. They admitted violating federal lead-based paint disclosure requirements by failing to include required lease disclosures and failing to provide or identify available lead-related records. The Board affirmed the ALJ's…
Hosea O. Weaver & Sons, Inc.
Jurisdiction ruling not certified for immediate review
Hosea O. Weaver & Sons challenged MSHA jurisdiction over its gravel transportation, crushing, and sizing operation. Judge David F. Barbour had ruled that the activity qualified as milling under the Mine Act and then considered Weaver's request to certify that ruling for immediate Commission review…
QMAX Company
And James L. Fann (FMSHRC WEST 2005-61-M): Individual penalty claim likely abated by death
MSHA sought an individual civil penalty against QMAX agent James L. Fann under Mine Act section 110(c), but Fann died after the hearing. Judge Michael E. Zielinski explained that federal claims generally survive death when remedial and abate when penal, and he viewed the personal civil penalty…
Masonary Solutions, LLC
Misplaced citation packet leaves $4,500 penalty final
After a construction inspection, OSHA hand-delivered two citations to Masonary Solutions when an earlier certified mailing was returned unclaimed. The company president refused to sign for the packet, placed it unopened on a desk, and later said it had been shuffled around and lost. He did not file…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Operator ordered to explain stayed contests
Marfork Coal filed immediate contests of three citations and asked that they be vacated, but soon agreed to the Secretary's request to stay the cases until related civil penalties were filed. Judge Jerold Feldman questioned whether Marfork had adequately stated the relief it wanted when it…
Kokosing Construction Co., Inc.
Electrical-cord protection violation affirmed
Kokosing employees tried to pull a braided wire choker from beneath energized 480-volt electrical cords and water hoses at a sewer project. A protruding wire strand pierced a cord, energized the choker, and shocked two employees; one required CPR and both recovered. The Commission upheld a…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Twenty-four contests stayed and discovery paused
The Secretary asked to stay 24 Marfork Coal citation contests until the related civil penalty case was docketed, and Marfork did not object. Judge Jerold Feldman granted the stay and required the parties to contact him after the penalty case was assigned so the matters could be consolidated for…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc.
Unilateral depositions rejected and discovery paused
During a stay of six Marfork Coal citation contests, the operator unilaterally scheduled depositions of three MSHA inspectors and warned of sanctions if they did not appear. Judge Jerold Feldman held that a party cannot set a deposition date unilaterally when the parties disagree, so the…
Drummond Company, Inc.
Inadvertent penalty default remanded for good-cause findings
Drummond had timely contested two MSHA orders, but it inadvertently failed to contest the later proposed penalty assessment for those same orders within 30 days. The related order contests were already stayed before an ALJ, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening the penalty case. The Commission…
Consent Agreements and Proposed Final Orders for Animal Feeding Operations
In re Consent Agreements and Proposed Final Orders for Animal Feeding Operations (EAB CAA, CERCLA, and EPCRA appeals): 353 animal feeding operation consent agreements ratified
EPA made a nationwide offer to animal feeding operations in the egg, broiler, chicken, turkey, dairy, and swine industries. Operations that signed a standard consent agreement would pay a civil penalty, help fund a two-year national air emissions monitoring study, and receive a release and covenant…
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.