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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P.F. and Department of the Army, Office of the Secretary, Arlington, VA
P.F. (ECAB 17-0509): Pentagon stair fall claim lacked specific account
P.F., an Army secretary, said she tripped while walking up Pentagon steps. The Board found that she had not given enough detail about how the fall happened, even after OWCP requested more information. Without a specific account, it could not establish the claimed incident in the performance of…
J.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Seaside, OR
J.L. (ECAB 17-1006): Back injury claim lacked physician evidence
J.L., a postal clerk, said lifting a parcel at work aggravated his back. OWCP accepted the October 17, 2016 incident. The record contained older medical material and notes from a physician assistant and physical therapist, but no physician’s opinion explaining a current injury from that incident…
E.S. and Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Jeffersonville, IN
E.S. (ECAB 17-0869): Ring finger impairment and tenosynovitis returned
E.S., a Census Bureau employee, sought a schedule award for right ring finger or arm impairment. The Board found OWCP had used upper extremity rating methods inconsistently across cases. It required a new rating under a uniform method. OWCP also had to address whether the accepted injury caused…
B.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Main Post Office, Columbus, OH
B.W. (ECAB 17-0823): Overpayment hearing request found late
B.W., a postal employee, requested a hearing on a preliminary overpayment determination. OWCP’s December 2014 notice specified the 30-day request period, but the hearing request arrived in December 2016. The Board held that the request missed the regulatory deadline. It affirmed the hearing denial…
M.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Hartford, CT
M.P. (ECAB 17-0275): Wrist impairment decisions returned for uniform rating
M.P., a postal employee, sought an award for left arm impairment involving a wrist fracture and carpal tunnel condition. Physicians gave differing ratings, and OWCP’s adviser did not evaluate the wrist under the range of motion method. The Board also found inconsistent use of rating methods in…
E.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Central Arkansas Healthcare System, Little Rock, AR
E.T. (ECAB 17-1201): Written-record review request found late
E.T., a VA employee, requested written-record review of a March 2016 claim denial more than a year after that decision. The Board found the request missed the 30-day deadline. The decision had been mailed to her address of record, and she did not rebut the presumption of receipt. The Board also…
E.L. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Orlando, FL
E.L. (ECAB 17-0834): One percent knee impairment award upheld
E.L., a VA employee, sought a larger schedule award after an accepted left knee injury. Her physician rated 20 percent using knee motion findings, but did not explain the measurements or why that method was appropriate. Other examinations found full motion. The Board credited OWCP’s medical…
M.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Parkersburg, WV
M.R. (ECAB 17-0678): Knee surgery denial returned for formal decision
M.R., a postal carrier, sought a total left knee replacement for an accepted aggravation of osteoarthritis. OWCP sent him a denial and appeal form, but omitted the referenced notice explaining its findings and reasons. The Board held that the communication did not satisfy the requirements for a…
J.S. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Jackson, MS
J.S. (ECAB 17-0507): Library work not medically linked to back condition
J.S., a VA librarian, attributed a back condition to lifting books and pushing heavy carts. Her physicians documented vertebral fractures and other conditions, but the Board found their causal opinions speculative or unsupported by an explanation of the work mechanism. Imaging did not establish…
B.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
B.C. (ECAB 17-0173): Wrist award returned for consistent arm rating
B.C., a postal employee, sought more than a one percent right arm award after accepted wrist conditions. Her physician and OWCP’s adviser used different methods from the A.M.A. Guides to rate wrist impairment. The Board found inconsistent use of those methods in upper extremity cases. It required a…
G.D. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Youngstown, OH
G.D. (ECAB 16-1712): Two percent awards for both arms upheld
G.D., a postal employee with accepted carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists, sought larger schedule awards. His treating physician rated the arms without reviewing nerve testing that affected the A.M.A. Guides calculation. OWCP’s medical adviser reviewed that testing and explained a two percent…
C.R. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Station, Alameda, CA
C.R. (ECAB 16-0739): Wage-capacity modification denied for missing medical link
C.R., a former Navy aircraft instrument mechanic, argued that worsening back symptoms prevented her from doing an office assistant job used to measure earning capacity. The Board found that her physicians did not explain how the accepted 1992 injury had worsened enough to prevent that work. Some…
E.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Center Moriches, NY
E.H. (ECAB 17-0986): Wrist and hand injury claim lacked reasoned medical link
E.H., a postal carrier, reported wrist and hand symptoms after lifting a heavy parcel. Her physicians diagnosed forearm conditions and carpal tunnel syndrome, but did not give a reasoned explanation of how the May 3, 2016 incident caused or aggravated them. Some opinions were expressly tentative…
D.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
D.R. (ECAB 17-0620): Shoulder award reconsideration refusal upheld
D.R., a postal employee, sought reconsideration of a left arm schedule award. Some submitted records had already been considered, while newer medical reports did not address permanent impairment. The Board found no new relevant evidence or legal argument meeting the standard for merit review. It…
E.S. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Paradise Fossil Plant, Drakesboro, KY
E.S. (ECAB 17-0601): Hearing loss claim returned for proper medical assessment
E.S., a TVA employee, claimed hearing loss from workplace noise. OWCP’s examining physician used an improper impairment calculation and did not adequately explain why workplace exposure could not have caused or aggravated the loss. The Board found the medical development incomplete. It ordered a…
S.W. and Department of Homeland Security, Customs & Border Protection, Babb, MT
S.W. (ECAB 17-0221): Firearms instructor hearing loss claim returned
S.W., a Customs and Border Protection officer, attributed hearing loss to years as a firearms instructor. His employer supplied information on only the most recent few years, without the requested exposure levels for the longer period. The Board found OWCP had not adequately developed evidence…
W.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
W.S. (ECAB 17-0125): Nine percent arm impairment award upheld
W.S., a postal employee, sought more than the nine percent left arm impairment previously awarded. The Board found that higher physician ratings did not properly apply the A.M.A. Guides and its spinal nerve guidance or explain the additional levels rated. OWCP’s medical adviser supported the…
D.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Mid-Island Processing & Distribution Center, Melville, NY
D.B. (ECAB 16-1680): Shoulder impairment returned for uniform rating
D.B., a postal employee, sought more than a ten percent right arm award after an accepted shoulder injury and several surgeries. The Board found that OWCP had applied competing upper extremity rating methods inconsistently. It set aside the decision and ordered a uniform method and a new…
C.N. and Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Engraving & Printing, Washington, DC
C.N. (ECAB 16-1597): Lumbar claim lacked explanation separating earlier condition
C.N., a Bureau of Engraving and Printing employee, claimed a back injury after carrying heavy equipment down stairs at work. He had a prior lumbar condition. The Board found that the physician’s report did not explain how the incident caused or aggravated the diagnosed condition in light of that…
Central Site Development, LLC
Struck-by and recordkeeping citations vacated
Central Site Development performed site-development work at a Florida apartment project where its supervisor, while operating a bulldozer in reverse, struck and killed an employee of a subcontractor. OSHA cited Central Site under the general duty clause for a struck-by hazard and separately for not…
Ceniceros v. National Railroad Passenger Corp. (Amtrak)
Ceniceros v. Amtrak (DOL ARB 2016-0023): Railroad retaliation dismissal upheld
Gilbert Ceniceros alleged that Amtrak fired him for reporting a workplace injury. The administrative law judge found that he reported an injury and that Amtrak knew of it, but that the report did not contribute to the decision to terminate him. Amtrak had planned to reorganize its investigation…
C.R. and Department of the Navy, Norfolk Naval Shipyard Fleet Forces Command, Portsmouth, VA
C.R. (ECAB 17-0975): Employer hearing tests make claim timely
C.R., a Navy shipyard employee, filed for hearing loss years after leaving noisy work. Employer hearing tests taken before retirement documented progressive loss. The Board held that these tests gave the employer timely actual knowledge of a possible work-related condition, preserving the claim…
P.R. and Department of the Air Force, Air National Guard, Carolina, PR
P.R. (ECAB 17-0837): Physician deposition requires merit reconsideration
P.R., an Air National Guard employee, sought reconsideration after OWCP ended medical and wage-loss benefits. His physician’s new deposition explained an alleged work-related aggravation and continuing disability, issues central to the termination. The Board found the testimony relevant new…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Greensboro, NC
A.J. (ECAB 17-0622): Overpayment upheld; waiver returned for review
A.J., a postal carrier, received total-disability compensation after returning to full-time light work. The Board upheld the $1,624.80 overpayment for September 30 through October 15, 2016. OWCP found her without fault but incorrectly said she had not sought waiver. The Board ordered OWCP to…
J.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Federal Air Marshal Service, Chantilly, VA
J.K. (ECAB 17-0300): Inconsistent accounts defeat luggage injury claim
J.K., a federal air marshal, attributed neck and shoulder symptoms to lifting luggage into an overhead bin before a flight. Early witness accounts linked his symptoms to pistol and shotgun shooting over the previous weekend instead, and the initial medical history did not clearly identify the…
T.S. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Muskegon, MI
T.S. (ECAB 16-1406): Multiple limb awards returned for overlap analysis
T.S., a postal employee, had prior awards for both legs and arms and sought increased awards. OWCP compared current percentages with the old totals without determining whether new spinal nerve impairment overlapped the earlier knee-based awards. The Board found that different impairment sources…
M.S. and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Fort Riley, KS
M.S. (ECAB 16-1235): Accident claim reconsideration refusal upheld
M.S., an Army Corps of Engineers employee, sought reconsideration after denial of an injury claim arising from a work-related vehicle collision. He submitted his supervisor’s statement urging an emergency evaluation, but the underlying issue required medical evidence of a diagnosed condition caused…
R.M. and Department of the Navy, Fleet Forces Command, Naval Shipyard, Norfolk, VA
R.M. (ECAB 16-0532): Leg impairment upheld; pay calculation returned
R.M., a Navy shipyard employee, challenged the rating and pay calculation for a right leg schedule award. The Board found no proof of more than the 59 percent impairment already awarded. OWCP had not explained its selected effective pay date and had not resolved whether his wife qualified as a…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1992 (Union) and United States Department of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency, Richmond, Virginia (Agency)
AFGE Local 1992 and Defense Logistics Agency Richmond (FLRA 0-AR-5166): Accommodation dispute remanded again
An employee with a disability requested to telework three days a week after the Defense Logistics Agency reassigned him from Richmond to Quantico. On an earlier appeal, the Authority found that the arbitrator had not made the findings needed to decide whether denying the accommodation violated the…
P.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Mahwah, NJ
P.R. (ECAB 17-0848): Additional injury conditions not established
P.R., a postal employee, sought acceptance of left shoulder strain, diabetes, hypertension, and knee swelling after an accepted November 2016 injury. The Board found knee pain and swelling were symptoms rather than separate diagnoses. Her physicians did not explain how the incident caused the other…
G.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Great Falls, MT
G.G. (ECAB 17-0504): Right knee replacement request denied
G.G., a postal letter carrier, sought knee replacement after an accepted 2015 incident. His physicians recommended surgery but did not explain how that incident caused or contributed to the need for it, given documented degenerative changes. The Board found OWCP’s denial reasonable and within its…
T.T. and Tennessee Valley Authority, Division of Nuclear Power, Chattanooga, TN
T.T. (ECAB 17-0471): Federal work noise not linked to hearing loss
T.T., a TVA employee, attributed hearing loss to workplace noise. OWCP’s examining physician explained that tests during the federal employment period remained within normal range and supported another cause for the later loss. The employee’s physician offered a contrary conclusion without…
W.M. and Department of Agriculture, National Forest Service, Albuquerque, NM
W.M. (ECAB 17-0337): Cervical fusion authorization denial upheld
W.M., a Forest Service employee, sought coverage for cervical fusion surgery following an accepted 2004 injury. His treating physician and OWCP’s examiner disagreed on its necessity, prompting an impartial examination. The impartial physician explained that the later neck condition and surgery were…
R.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Carol Stream, IL
R.W. (ECAB 17-0276): Overpayment waiver returned for review of questionnaire
R.W., a postal employee, sought waiver of recovery of an overpayment after an earlier Board ruling found him without fault. OWCP said he had not responded to its information requests, but the record showed his completed financial questionnaire arrived before the final decision. The Board required…
K.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Milwaukee, WI
K.B. (ECAB 17-0109): Arm impairment claim returned for specialist evaluation
K.B., a postal employee, sought a schedule award for arm impairment associated with accepted cervical and brachial conditions. Examiners recorded conflicting findings, and OWCP’s medical adviser had recommended another impairment evaluation. OWCP did not obtain one before denying the award. The…
S.S. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Patrol, Buffalo, NY
S.S. (ECAB 16-1436): Foot injury and hearing request denials upheld
S.S., a Customs and Border Patrol employee, sought benefits for a right foot condition after a June 2010 work incident. The Board found that the medical evidence did not explain a causal link to the incident. She had also sought reconsideration before requesting an oral hearing, leaving the hearing…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2959 (Union) and United States Small Business Administration, Little Rock Commercial Loan Servicing Center (Agency)
AFGE Local 2959 and SBA Little Rock (FLRA 0-AR-5258): No fees for lateral-selection grievance
A GS-7 Small Business Administration loan specialist challenged a reprimand and her nonselection for a GS-7 computer-assistant position. An arbitrator found that the agency unfairly scrutinized her resume while overlooking similar inaccuracies in the selected candidate's resume, set aside the…
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Two contests timely; third reopened after address move
Greenbrier said it mailed three penalty contests to MSHA's former headquarters shortly after the agency moved, when mail to the old address was often forwarded late or not at all. MSHA eventually received two contests and treated them as timely, making reopening motions for WEVA 2016-103 and WEVA…
Secretary of Labor v. Fairfax Materials
Wrongly checked penalty contest reopened
Fairfax Materials received an assessment containing two penalties and intended to contest one while paying the other. It accidentally selected the wrong citation for contest, paid the $100 penalty it meant to challenge, and proceeded with the other citation instead. Fairfax acted promptly after…
Secretary of Labor v. Luck Stone Corporation
Possible lost contest reopened during MSHA move
Luck Stone's employees believed they had mailed a timely contest of a proposed assessment, but the company did not use certified mail and had no proof of the mailing date. The Secretary did not oppose reopening and acknowledged that the contest would have been mailed while MSHA was moving its…
Secretary of Labor v. Brookfield Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Contest timely; reopening motion moot
Brookfield received a proposed penalty assessment on November 16, 2015, and mailed its contest on December 16, 2015. MSHA treated the assessment as final, leading Brookfield to ask the Commission to reopen it. The Commission held that the contest was timely because the 30-day computation excludes…
Carrie Kathleen Ferguson v. Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Carrie Kathleen Ferguson v. Oak Grove Resources (BRB 16-0570): survivor benefits affirmed after miner's posthumous award
Carrie Kathleen Ferguson claimed survivor's black lung benefits after her husband Lee Ferguson died while his own benefits claim was pending. An administrative law judge awarded the miner's claim after his death, and another judge granted Ferguson survivor's benefits under the automatic entitlement…
L.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Langley, WA
L.W. (ECAB 17-1070): Stress claim returned for work-duty findings
L.W., a postal customer service supervisor, attributed stress to long hours and duties performed while the postmaster was absent. The Board found that OWCP had given only cursory reasons for treating the asserted duties as administrative matters and had not obtained relevant information from the…
W.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fajardo, PR
W.R. (ECAB 17-1067): Late reconsideration needs reasoned error ruling
W.R., a postal employee, filed for reconsideration one day after the extended one-year deadline. OWCP therefore had to evaluate whether the request showed clear evidence of error. The Board found that OWCP recited the standard without making findings or explaining its conclusion. It ordered a…
R.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lancaster, TX
R.M. (ECAB 17-0881): Back aggravation claim lacked reasoned medical proof
R.M., a postal carrier, attributed worsening back symptoms to duties performed in July 2015. Her physician described general stresses on spinal discs but did not identify objective findings supporting the claimed herniation or explain how work aggravated her preexisting condition. The Board found…
C.W. and Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service, Washington, DC
C.W. (ECAB 17-0836): Reconsideration request needs late-filing standard
C.W., a USDA employee, sought reconsideration more than a year after the last merit decision. OWCP evaluated the request under the standard for timely filings. The Board held that OWCP had to apply the stricter clear-evidence-of-error standard for an untimely request. It returned the matter for an…
J.L. and Department of the Navy, Fleet Readiness Center Southwest, San Diego, CA
J.L. (ECAB 17-0782): Hearing loss opinion returned for causation clarification
J.L., a Navy machinist, had accepted exposure to hazardous workplace noise and claimed bilateral hearing loss. OWCP’s physician found hearing loss but said work was not its sole cause, without adequately addressing whether noise contributed to or aggravated it. The Board found that opinion unclear…
D.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Kearny, NJ
D.A. (ECAB 17-0533): Occupational shoulder and back conditions not proved
D.A., a postal employee, attributed right shoulder, hand, and lower back conditions to repetitive work. Her physicians asserted a link but did not sufficiently describe the specific duties, supporting findings, or medical mechanism. The Board found the opinions conclusory. It affirmed the denial.
B.B. and U.S. Postal Service, Airport Mail Center, Cleveland, OH
B.B. (ECAB 17-0228): Bilateral arm awards returned for uniform rating
B.B., a postal employee, sought more than two percent left arm and one percent right arm impairment. The Board found that OWCP had applied competing methods from the A.M.A. Guides inconsistently in upper extremity cases. It set aside the decision and required a uniform rating method and a new…
National Nurses United (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital and Clinics, Tampa, Florida (Agency)
National Nurses United and Tampa VA hospital (FLRA 0-NG-3322): Training proposal petition dismissed
The Tampa VA hospital planned to train operating-room registered nurses to perform surgical-scrub duties as needed. National Nurses United proposed reserving its right to contest inadequate training in any lawful forum. The agency argued that the proposal concerned rights already provided by law…
Secretary of Labor v. Little Buck Coal Company #2
Five mine-safety violations upheld with $8,308 penalty
Little Buck Coal Company #2 operated a small underground anthracite mine where it developed entries beyond and in directions not authorized by its approved roof-control and ventilation plans. MSHA cited the company for the plan departures, failure to examine and ventilate a barricaded dead-air…
M.C. and Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, San Diego, CA
M.C. (ECAB 17-0966): Disability and written-record review denials upheld
M.C., a commissary grocery manager, sought wage-loss compensation for October 19 to 26, 2010 after OWCP accepted work-related depression. The Board found no qualifying medical opinion showing disability from the accepted injury during those dates; nurse practitioner reports could not establish it…
J.H. and Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs & Border Protection, Blaire, WA
J.H. (ECAB 17-0727): Knee recurrence claim returned for review of medical opinion
J.H. sought recognition of recurring left knee osteoarthritis following an accepted 2003 meniscus tear. OWCP denied the recurrence claim without addressing an August 2016 report from Dr. Katz. That report described a permanent aggravation of knee osteoarthritis and was relevant to the claimed…
S.S. and Department of the Army, Red River Army Depot, Texarkana, TX
S.S. (ECAB 17-0616): Four percent binaural hearing award upheld
S.S., an Army depot mechanic, sought a larger award for work-related hearing loss and challenged the award period. OWCP’s referral examination and district medical adviser calculated 4.1 percent binaural impairment, rounded to four percent under its procedure. Earlier workplace audiograms lacked…
G.H. and Department of Labor, Occupational Safety & Health Administration, Washington, DC
G.H. (ECAB 17-0212): Refusal to reopen occupational disease claim upheld
G.H. asked OWCP to reconsider its denial of an occupational disease claim. The unresolved issue was whether he had established the disputed work factors. A new affidavit repeated earlier accounts, while a doctor’s report did not supply first-hand evidence about those factors. The Board found no new…
D.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Salt Lake City, UT
D.P. (ECAB 17-0153): Right shoulder injury denial upheld
D.P., a mail carrier, reported shoulder pain after pushing a mail container on January 26, 2016. OWCP accepted that the incident occurred and that a shoulder condition was diagnosed. The physicians’ reports, however, did not explain whether that incident caused or aggravated the diagnosed…
T.G. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Marshfield, VT
T.G. (ECAB 16-1379): Overpayment upheld in part; amount returned
T.G., a rural carrier, received wage-loss compensation while participating in an auto body business. The Board upheld forfeiture for two periods after finding that he knowingly failed to report work and earnings on OWCP forms. It also upheld OWCP’s finding that he was at fault and ineligible for…
P.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bryson City, NC
P.W. (ECAB 16-0418): Timeliness claim reopened for merits review
P.W., a postal window clerk, sought reconsideration of the denial of her occupational disease claim as untimely. She argued that she remained exposed to the alleged work factors until she filed her claim, a fact relevant to when the filing period began. OWCP did not address that legal argument. She…
Secretary of Labor v. Dynamic Energy, Inc.
Missing records and delinquency history defeat reopening
Dynamic Energy sought to reopen a default after asserting that it had mailed a timely answer to a show-cause order, but neither the Commission nor the Secretary had received it. The company supplied no copy of the claimed answer or certified-mail receipt and attributed its missing records to…
Secretary of Labor v. Black River Coal, LLC
Missing suite number excused in mailed contest
Black River Coal mailed its penalty contest within the 30-day period and used the Secretary's correct street address, but omitted the suite number. Certified-mail and postal-tracking records showed that the contest reached the local post office but was never delivered. The company moved promptly…
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.