Federal Agency Decisions
Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB), each with a plain-English summary, the law it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 16-05): Cleanup permit largely upheld, two issues remanded
EPA Region 1 issued General Electric Company a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective-action permit to address polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination in the Housatonic River, its banks, backwaters, and floodplains in Massachusetts and Connecticut. General Electric and four other…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 16-04): Cleanup permit largely upheld, two issues remanded
EPA Region 1 issued General Electric Company a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective-action permit to address polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination in the Housatonic River, its banks, backwaters, and floodplains in Massachusetts and Connecticut. General Electric and four other…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 16-03): Cleanup permit largely upheld, two issues remanded
EPA Region 1 issued General Electric Company a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective-action permit to address polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination in the Housatonic River, its banks, backwaters, and floodplains in Massachusetts and Connecticut. General Electric and four other…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 16-02): Cleanup permit largely upheld, two issues remanded
EPA Region 1 issued General Electric Company a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective-action permit to address polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination in the Housatonic River, its banks, backwaters, and floodplains in Massachusetts and Connecticut. General Electric and four other…
General Electric Company
In re General Electric Company (EAB RCRA Appeal Nos. 16-01 to 16-05): Cleanup permit largely upheld, two issues remanded
EPA Region 1 issued General Electric Company a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act corrective-action permit to address polychlorinated-biphenyl contamination in the Housatonic River, its banks, backwaters, and floodplains in Massachusetts and Connecticut. General Electric and four other…
Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Violations upheld but six unwarrantable findings removed
MSHA issued Peabody Midwest Mining seven section 104(d)(2) orders involving loose ribs, missed or inadequate preshift examinations, and damaged or missing belt rollers at the Francisco Underground Pit. Judge William B. Moran upheld every violation, including the S&S findings for the loose-rib…
D.F. and Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Boise, ID
Board affirms existing right arm impairment award (ECAB 17-1474)
D.F. sought a larger schedule award for permanent impairment of his right arm. After a prior remand, OWCP compared accepted impairment rating methods and reviewed his shoulder motion measurements. The Board found that the record supported no more than the 38 percent impairment for which he had…
J.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Onset, MA
Board rejects claimed consequential arm injury (ECAB 17-1419)
J.M. had accepted right arm injuries from a 2009 work incident. He later claimed that left arm injuries from a motor vehicle accident while traveling to a medical appointment should be covered as a consequence. The Board found that the accident was an intervening event and that the record did not…
E.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Kearny, NJ
Board affirms denial of postal worker’s disability periods (ECAB 17-1155)
E.B. sought total disability compensation for periods in 2013 after accepted spinal sprains. Her physician described additional neck and shoulder conditions, but those had not been accepted as work related. The Board found that the reports did not adequately explain why the accepted sprains…
M.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Miami Gardens Branch, Hialeah, FL
Board orders combined files for postal worker’s disc claim (ECAB 17-1150)
M.M. attributed a herniated disc to delivering mail and packages. A prior accepted lumbar strain claim involved the same area of his back. In the November 28, 2016 decision under appeal, OWCP’s hearing representative affirmed the denial and instructed OWCP to combine the related files. The Board…
Earth Developers, Inc.
Citations vacated for untimely service
OSHA inspected an Earth Developers worksite and proposed three serious violations with $5,976 in penalties. OSHA generated a citation within six months, but postal tracking showed no evidence that it was ever deposited in the mail. After discovering the problem more than two months later, OSHA…
J.P. and Department of Agriculture, Farm & Foreign Service Agency, Riverdale, MD
Board remands migraine issue but upholds recliner denial (ECAB 17-0929)
J.P. asked OWCP to accept light sensitivity, migraines with aura, and episodic blindness as related to an accepted emotional condition. The Board found that question needed further development and set aside the denial. It separately upheld OWCP’s refusal to pay for a zero-gravity recliner because…
R.O. and Department of Justice, La Tuna Federal Correctional Institution, El Paso, TX
Board remands amount of wage-loss overpayment (ECAB 17-0894)
R.O. continued to receive total disability compensation after returning to full-duty work. The Board upheld OWCP’s finding that this produced an overpayment. It found that OWCP had improperly offset another payment when calculating the amount, leaving the stated total unsupported. It set aside the…
L.M. and Department of the Army, Pentagon, Arlington, VA
Board affirms denial of renewed condition and claim expansion (ECAB 17-0279)
L.M. had an accepted aggravation of contact dermatitis from her Army work. She sought recognition of a renewed condition and additional illnesses, including lymphoma and lung conditions, that she attributed to workplace exposures. The Board found the medical reports insufficient to connect those…
Guzzo Masonry Inc.
Scaffold safety items mostly affirmed
Guzzo Masonry employees performed stucco repair from a two-level scaffold at a Delaware home. OSHA observed an employee working about 14 feet above the ground on a partially planked platform without guardrails, and another employee used the scaffold cross-braces for access because no ladder was…
Alon USA, LP
In re Alon USA, LP (EAB CAA Appeal No. 18-01C): consent agreement ratified
The EPA EAB order concerns Alon USA, LP in a Clean Air Act enforcement matter. The two-page release does not describe the alleged violation, the penalty, or the specific obligations in the incorporated Consent Agreement. The Board ratified the Consent Agreement under EPA's Consolidated Rules of…
Daniel L. Wofford v. Eighty Four Mining Company
Black lung benefits award affirmed
Daniel Wofford won black lung benefits after the judge found qualifying coal mine work and total respiratory disability. His employer challenged the disability finding. The Board upheld the judge's weighing of medical opinions and refused to reweigh the evidence. The statutory presumption applied…
Donna L. Short (widow of David L. Short) v. Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Survivor award vacated and remanded
Donna Short sought survivor benefits for her late husband's death. The Board vacated the findings on legal pneumoconiosis under 20 C.F.R. § 718.202(a)(4) and death causation under 20 C.F.R. § 718.205(b), and it further vacated the award of benefits. It remanded for the judge to reconsider the…
Margie Napier (widow of Elhannon Napier) v. Star Fire Coals, Incorporated and Old Republic Insurance Company
Margie Napier (widow of Elhannon Napier) v. Star Fire Coals, Incorporated (BRB 17-0149 BLA): survivor benefits on modification affirmed
Margie Napier sought modification of an earlier denial of black lung survivor benefits. The judge reopened the claim and awarded benefits. The Board upheld the judge's finding that modification would render justice under the Act because Napier acted timely, accuracy favored reopening, and the…
E.C. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Atlanta, GA
Board affirms denial of TSA worker’s shoulder claim (ECAB 17-1640)
E.C. carried a heavy backpack with testing materials on her left shoulder at work. OWCP accepted that activity but denied the claimed injury. The Board found that the submitted physicians named shoulder conditions without explaining how this specific activity caused or worsened them. It affirmed…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, White Plains, NY
Board affirms denial of postal worker’s back injury claim (ECAB 17-1619)
M.R. claimed a back injury after dropping mail during her postal duties. OWCP accepted the incident. The Board found that the medical reports described low back pain but did not establish a diagnosed injury connected to the event. It affirmed denial of the claim.
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Upland, CA
Board upholds refusal to reopen impairment claim (ECAB 17-1446)
D.P. sought reconsideration of a schedule award that rated each arm at three percent permanent impairment. Her new report discussed examination findings and possible conditions but did not rate impairment under the applicable standards. The Board found that it was not relevant new evidence on the…
G.B. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Rogue River Basin Project, Trail, OR
Board orders correct review of late reconsideration request (ECAB 17-1298)
G.B. requested reconsideration more than a year after the last merit decision. OWCP reviewed the request under the rule for timely filings. The Board found that the late request instead required a limited clear evidence of error review. It set aside the decision and remanded without deciding the…
C.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
Board reverses benefit forfeiture and remands impairment rating (ECAB 17-1142)
OWCP terminated C.G.’s compensation based on an asserted guilty plea, then left her left leg schedule award at two percent impairment. The Board found no plea agreement or court judgment in the record to support the forfeiture and reversed the termination. It also found a medical conflict over the…
J.M. and Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Holtsville, NY
Board orders impartial review of spinal subluxation claim (ECAB 17-0079)
J.M. sought recognition of spinal subluxations after a fall at work. Her physician attributed the conditions to the fall, while an OWCP medical adviser found that the changes predated it. The Board found that the conflicting opinions required an impartial specialist. It set aside OWCP’s denial and…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Oakland, CA
Board orders proper review of wage-earning capacity request (ECAB 16-1202)
L.W. asked OWCP to revisit a wage-earning capacity determination. OWCP denied reconsideration without properly applying the standard for her untimely request. The Board set aside the denial and ordered OWCP to consider whether the request showed clear evidence of error. It did not decide whether…
Peabody Twentymile Mining, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Subpoenas for two MSHA inspectors quashed
Peabody Twentymile Mining subpoenaed two current MSHA inspectors to testify about the mine's practice of using a metal hook to remove material from a conveyor. The underlying citation alleged that a miner performed this work while the feeder conveyor was moving, in violation of 30 C.F.R. §…
Isaac Lazar v. Worldwide Language Resources and Allied World National Assurance Company
Isaac Lazar v. Worldwide Language Resources (BRB 17-0417): benefits denial affirmed
Isaac Lazar appealed a denial of compensation under the Defense Base Act. The judge found his subjective complaints unreliable and gave greater weight to the opposing physicians' opinions. The Board found that Lazar had not shown legal error or a lack of substantial evidence. It affirmed the denial…
Roy L. Hassell v. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Incorporated
Hip injury causation remanded
Roy Hassell sought Longshore Act benefits for hip pain following a 2015 workplace incident. The judge found that the employer rebutted the statutory causation presumption. The Board vacated that finding because the judge had not adequately considered whether the medical opinion addressed the later…
Ruby Fay Maggard (widow of and on behalf of James Maggard) v. Black Mountain Resources and Chartis Casualty Company
Ruby Fay Maggard (widow of and on behalf of James Maggard) v. Black Mountain Resources (BRB 17-0216 BLA): miner and survivor awards affirmed
Ruby Maggard pursued her late husband's black lung claim and her own survivor claim. The Board upheld the miner's award because the employer did not rebut the presumption of disability due to pneumoconiosis. With the miner's award intact, the Board also upheld Ruby Maggard's derivative survivor…
N.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New York, NY
Board upholds two refusals to reopen shoulder claim (ECAB 17-1898)
N.L. sought reconsideration of a claim involving shoulder injuries reported after lifting mail. The Board found that she submitted no new evidence with her first request. Her second request repeated medical reports already reviewed and offered no relevant new evidence. It affirmed both refusals…
S.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Easton, MD
Board upholds denial of late oral hearing request (ECAB 17-1876)
S.M. requested an oral hearing after OWCP terminated compensation benefits. The request was postmarked after the 30-day period for a hearing as a matter of right. The Board found that OWCP had considered its discretion and reasonably declined a hearing because reconsideration remained available. It…
W.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Staten Island, NY
Board affirms denial of mail carrier’s knee injury claim (ECAB 17-1824)
W.C. felt his left knee pop while climbing stairs during mail delivery. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred. The Board found that the submitted treatment and imaging records did not provide a reasoned medical opinion linking a diagnosed injury to the incident. It affirmed the claim denial.
E.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Vienna, VA
Board affirms denial of postal worker’s stress claim (ECAB 17-1765)
E.C. claimed an emotional condition after a young man entered behind the postal window counter and hugged her. The work incident was accepted. After an earlier Board ruling, she submitted new physician reports diagnosing PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The Board found that one report omitted the…
N.M. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Buffalo Veterans Administration Medical Center, Buffalo, NY
Board affirms denial of VA worker’s shoulder and arm claim (ECAB 17-1655)
N.M. sought benefits for left shoulder and arm conditions after an accepted work incident. The Board found that the treating records and a checked causation box did not give a reasoned explanation connecting the diagnoses to that incident. It affirmed the claim denial.
D.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Portland, OR
Board affirms denial of postal clerk’s shoulder claim (ECAB 17-0704)
D.G. claimed a right shoulder injury while placing mail trays on a rack. OWCP accepted the work incident. The Board found that physician notes discussed work restrictions without explaining whether the incident caused or aggravated a diagnosed shoulder condition. Other reports did not supply…
Donald R. Bell, Sr. v. Mountain Laurel Coal Company and West Virginia Coal Workers Pneumoconiosis Fund
Donald R. Bell, Sr. v. Mountain Laurel Coal Company (BRB 17-0175 BLA): black lung award on remand affirmed
Donald Bell received black lung benefits after a second remand. The Board upheld the judge's finding that the employer had not disproved legal pneumoconiosis. The employer did not challenge the separate finding that it failed to rule out pneumoconiosis as a cause of disability. The Board affirmed…
Johnny Smith v. Hawkeye Coal Company
Modification and black lung award affirmed
Johnny Smith sought modification and won black lung benefits. His employer challenged the entitlement findings and the decision to reopen the claim. The Board upheld the judge's assessment of the evidence and found no abuse of discretion in granting timely modification. The benefits award was…
Benny Brodis Garrison v. Bell County Coal Corporation and Old Republic Insurance Company
Benny Brodis Garrison v. Bell County Coal Corporation (BRB 17-0155 BLA): award partly vacated; employment length and legal pneumoconiosis remanded
Benny Garrison received black lung benefits after an earlier remand. The Board vacated the finding that he had more than ten years of coal mine employment and the finding of legal pneumoconiosis under 20 C.F.R. § 718.202(a)(4). As a consequence, it also vacated the disability causation finding…
C.S. and Department of Affairs, Ioannis A. Lougaris Veterans Administration Medical Center, Reno, NV
Board orders consistent rating of left arm impairment (ECAB 17-1871)
C.S. sought a larger left arm schedule award after a shoulder injury and a prior 12 percent rating. The Board found that OWCP had applied upper extremity impairment methods inconsistently. It ordered a new rating using a uniform method and set aside both the impairment and reconsideration…
D.S. and Department of the Army, Army National Guard, Latham, NY
Board remands hearing loss claim for medical clarification (ECAB 17-1749)
D.S. claimed hearing loss from federal work noise. OWCP relied on a second-opinion physician to deny the claim. The Board found that the physician’s answers about whether the work exposure caused the loss were inconsistent and lacked an explanation. It ordered OWCP to clarify the medical evidence…
M.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Cleveland Annex, Cleveland, OH
Board affirms denial of right leg schedule award (ECAB 17-1691)
M.K. sought a schedule award after accepted right leg and Achilles tendon conditions. An impartial specialist examined her to resolve conflicting medical ratings and found no permanent impairment attributable to the work injury. The Board gave that reasoned opinion special weight and affirmed…
L.D. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Temple Veterans Administration Hospital, Temple, TX
Board affirms denial of social worker’s typing injury claim (ECAB 17-1581)
L.D. attributed shoulder, arm, and hand symptoms to repetitive typing as a VA social worker. OWCP accepted the typing duties. The Board found that the submitted reports either lacked a firm diagnosis or did not explain how the duties caused a diagnosed condition. It affirmed the claim denial.
M.M. and Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Norfolk, VA
Board affirms denial of consequential hip condition (ECAB 17-1532)
M.M. sought to add a right hip condition as a consequence of an accepted 1996 back injury. The Board reviewed reports discussing hip symptoms and diagnoses. It found that they did not provide a sufficiently reasoned medical explanation connecting the hip condition to the accepted injury. It…
M.E. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Indianapolis, IN
Board leaves postal worker’s wage-earning capacity ruling in place (ECAB 17-1462)
M.E. argued that a modified mail distribution job used for a 2003 wage-earning capacity determination was makeshift. The Board found that the position was a bona fide job and that the evidence did not establish a basis for changing the determination. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal to modify it.
N.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Bay Station Post Office, Brooklyn, NY
Board upholds denial of late reconsideration request (ECAB 17-1420)
N.S. requested reconsideration after the one-year filing period. The Board found that OWCP’s system recorded the request on December 20, 2016, one day after the extended deadline. It also found that the request did not show clear evidence of error. It affirmed OWCP’s refusal without reaching the…
R.B. and Department of the Interior, George Washington Memorial Park, McLean, VA
Board orders explanation of schedule award reconsideration ruling (ECAB 17-0912)
R.B. requested reconsideration of a denied schedule award. OWCP refused merit review without discussing the evidence she submitted or explaining why it failed to meet the reopening rule. The Board found that the decision did not state a clear factual and legal basis. It set the refusal aside and…
L.J. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Marfa, TX
Board orders fact development on border officer’s ankle injury (ECAB 17-0807)
L.J. twisted his ankle while stepping onto a curb during a lunch trip in a government vehicle. OWCP denied the claim on the ground that he was outside the performance of duty. The Board found the employer record too thin to determine whether the vehicle trip fell within his compensated duties as a…
M.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, City of Industry, CA
Board orders combined wrist claim files (ECAB 17-0743)
M.W. filed a new occupational disease claim after an earlier accepted wrist condition. The record before the Board lacked the earlier claim file, though both matters involved the same part of the body. The Board found that OWCP needed to combine the files before deciding the new claim. It set aside…
O.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Embarcadero Post Office, San Francisco, CA
Board orders further review of wage-earning capacity challenge (ECAB 17-0255)
O.H. sought modification of a 2013 wage-earning capacity determination. New physician reports addressed progression of her physical injuries and a possible consequential emotional condition. The Board found those opinions sufficiently probative to require further medical development. It set aside…
D.S. and U.S. Postal Service, North Houston Processing & Distribution Center, Houston, TX
Board affirms termination of postal worker’s wage loss (ECAB 17-0084)
D.S. challenged termination of wage-loss benefits after an accepted left arm injury. The Board found that OWCP met its burden to show she could work as of July 1, 2012. It also found that she had not established continuing work-related disability after that date. It affirmed the decision.
O.S. and Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service, Camp Echo, Diwaniyah, Iraq
Board affirms denial of renewed disability after overseas injury (ECAB 16-1771)
O.S. sought compensation for renewed disability after a 2010 work injury involving an armored vehicle door. The Board reviewed the medical evidence concerning his claimed inability to work from June 2011 onward. It found that the reports did not establish a recurrence causally related to the…
S.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, White Plains, NY
Board affirms denial of mail handler’s back claim (ECAB 16-1760)
S.S. claimed a low back condition after connecting an overloaded postal container to a cart. OWCP accepted that work incident. The Board found that the submitted medical evidence did not adequately explain how the incident caused or aggravated his claimed back condition. It affirmed the claim…
United States Department of Defense, Defense Contract Management Agency (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2433 (Union)
Defense Contract Management Agency and AFGE Local 2433 (FLRA 0-AR-5285): Late exceptions dismissed
An arbitrator found that the Defense Contract Management Agency violated its agreement by denying recurring sick leave to two employees. The award was served by email and regular mail on the same day, and the agency filed exceptions five days after the deadline calculated from email service. The…
Matter of W-Y-C- & H-O-B-
A proposed social group must be clearly stated before the Immigration Judge
The Board reviewed the appeal of a Honduran mother and her minor son after an Immigration Judge denied their applications for asylum and withholding of removal. The mother had presented one particular social group to the Immigration Judge, then proposed a substantially different group for the first…
T.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI
Board upholds refusal of late written-record review (ECAB 17-1875)
T.B. sought review of the written record after OWCP terminated his wage-loss and medical benefits. His first indication that he wanted further review reached OWCP after the 30-day deadline. The Board found the request untimely and upheld OWCP’s refusal. It did not examine whether the earlier…
R.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bell City, LA
Board affirms denial of continuing disability after vehicle collision (ECAB 17-1742)
R.L. sought continuing disability benefits after a postal vehicle collision that caused accepted head injuries. The physician reports discussed depression, pain, and other conditions, but did not adequately connect her inability to work during the claimed period to the accepted concussion, wound…
S.E. and Department of the Navy, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Washington, DC
Board affirms denial of consequential hearing loss claim (ECAB 17-1601)
S.E. sought to add bilateral hearing loss as a consequence of accepted conditions from an earlier work injury, including severe skin reactions. The Board found that the submitted physician report diagnosed hearing loss but gave no opinion linking it to the accepted conditions. Other evidence did…
L.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
Board affirms denial of postal worker’s new shoulder claim (ECAB 17-1407)
L.D. claimed a shoulder flare-up after shoveling snow and starting a grass trimmer at work. The Board agreed that OWCP should treat the claim as a new injury because she alleged new work activities after an earlier accepted shoulder condition. It found the medical evidence insufficient to link the…
K.B. and Department of the Army, Fort Leonard Wood, Nixa, MO
Board orders further review of work travel stress claim (ECAB 17-0184)
K.B. claimed that work travel and heat exposure contributed to an emotional condition and worsened preexisting chronic fatigue syndrome. The Board found an accepted work conference trip, including exposure to extreme heat, that OWCP needed to address in the medical evidence. It ordered an updated…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Federal workers' compensation appeals from the Department of Labor's Employees' Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB), federal-sector labor-relations cases from the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), Longshore Act and Black Lung Benefits Act appeals from the Department of Labor's Benefits Review Board (BRB), precedent decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB), and whistleblower and other labor appeals from the Department of Labor's Administrative Review Board (ARB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission, Board and Authority decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Authority at FLRA, the Board of Immigration Appeals, the Administrative Review Board at Labor, and 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.