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 v. Lopke Quarries, Inc.
Premature reinstatement order vacated after service error
The Secretary applied to temporarily reinstate Steve Glosson and certified that Lopke Quarries had been served by email. Judge Priscilla M. Rae relied on that certification and issued a temporary-reinstatement order after the apparent deadline for requesting a hearing passed. The Solicitor then…
Arizona Public Service Company
In re Arizona Public Service Company (EAB PSD Appeal No. 16-01): Energy-storage BACT challenge denied
Maricopa County issued Arizona Public Service Company a Clean Air Act prevention-of-significant-deterioration permit for five new natural-gas-fired combustion turbines at the Ocotillo Power Plant in Tempe, Arizona. Sierra Club argued that the County's Best Available Control Technology analysis for…
J and M Miller Construction, LLC
Worker-status defense rejected and $13,800 assessed
OSHA cited J and M Miller Construction after two residential construction inspections found unprotected roof work, inadequate fall-hazard training, missing eye protection, and a narrow scaffold platform. The judge found that the workers were employees, not independent contractors, because the…
West Bay Exploration Company
In re West Bay Exploration Company (EAB UIC Appeal No. 15-03): motion for clarification denied
Peter Bormuth asked the Environmental Appeals Board to clarify how its remand order for West Bay Exploration Company's West Bay #22 SWD underground injection permit affected two other wells and what technical issues EPA Region 5 had to address on remand. The Board said the remand concerned only the…
Secretary of Labor obo Jacob Hamilton v. American Mining and Tunneling, LLC
Drilling near misfires justified termination
Jacob Hamilton raised safety concerns about blocked access, unsupported ground, and the proposed method for handling undetonated explosives at the Fire Creek Mine. Judge Richard W. Manning found those concerns protected under the Mine Act but concluded that American Mining and Tunneling did not…
Secretary of Labor v. Hecla Limited and Secretary of Labor v. Doug Bayer employed by Hecla Limited
Secretary of Labor v. Hecla Limited and Doug Bayer (FMSHRC WEST 2012-760 M, WEST 2012-986 M, WEST 2014-591 M): No fair notice of technical ground-analysis duty
A massive ground fall at Hecla's Lucky Friday Mine fatally injured a miner after the company used an unprecedented method that undercut a waste-rock pillar for about 72 feet. MSHA alleged that Hecla violated 30 C.F.R. § 57.3401 by failing to conduct an examination and test capable of identifying…
Scott D. McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Two citations in remand decision corrected
Judge Jerold Feldman issued this order to correct two typographical errors in the Decision on Remand released the same day in Scott McGlothlin's discrimination case against Dominion Coal. The corrected citation for the Decision on Relief on page 3 is 38 FMSHRC 255, 268 (Feb. 2016) (ALJ). The…
Scott D. McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Additional attorney fees awarded after successful appeal
Scott McGlothlin prevailed on a Mine Act discrimination claim after Dominion Coal reduced his pay while he sought Part 90 protection at the Dominion No. 7 Mine. After the Commission approved $88,975.48 in previously requested attorney fees, it remanded the case for the Judge to consider another…
Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Navajo Generating Station
In re Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Navajo Generating Station (EAB NSR Appeal No. 16-01): Opacity-monitoring challenge denied
EPA Region 9 issued a federal minor New Source Review permit to the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District for a refined coal treatment system at the Navajo Generating Station on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Arizona. The system was intended to reduce mercury and…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
First flagrant accumulation affirmed, second remanded
MSHA issued two section 75.400 orders five days apart for extensive loose-coal and float-coal-dust accumulations at belt transfer points in American Coal's methane-prone Galatia Mine. The Commission affirmed the first violation as flagrant because the operator knew the accumulations persisted over…
Secretary of Labor v. Newtown Energy, Inc.
Key left in a lockout lock is significant and substantial, and the Commission restates the Mathies hazard test
During a 2010 inspection at Newtown Energy's Coalburg No. 2 Mine in West Virginia, an MSHA inspector asked the mine superintendent to lock out a shuttle car's power connection so the trailing cable could be inspected. The superintendent borrowed a lock, could not get the key back out, and left the…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Steve Glosson v. Lopke Quarries, Inc.
Economic reinstatement ordered, then vacated after service error
Loader operator Steve Glosson alleged that he repeatedly reported brake, lighting, window, wiper, climate-control, and oil-leak problems at Lopke Quarries' Dunn Construction limestone quarry. He also objected to a supervisor's instruction to let loaders coast toward the hopper rather than use their…
Secretary of Labor obo Thomas McGary and Ron Bowersox and United Mine Workers of America International Union v. The Marshall County Coal Co., et al.
Secretary of Labor obo Thomas McGary and Ron Bowersox, et al. v. The Marshall County Coal Co., et al. (FMSHRC WEVA 2015-583 D, et al.): Mandatory reporting rule unlawfully chilled confidential MSHA complaints
After Murray Energy acquired five West Virginia coal mines, CEO Robert Murray held mandatory meetings that told miners they were required to report to management the same safety concerns they submitted confidentially to MSHA under section 103(g). The presentations also criticized complaints that…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company
Special assessments cannot anchor a judge's penalties
The American Coal Company received five S&S citations involving roof and rib support and a transportation safeguard at its New Era Mine. MSHA specially proposed $69,600 in penalties, and the Judge affirmed the violations while assessing a reduced total of $43,200. The Commission held that MSHA has…
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company and United Mine Workers of America and United Steel, et al.
Secretary of Labor v. The American Coal Company, et al. (FMSHRC LAKE 2011-13): Settlement penalty cuts require factual support
MSHA issued The American Coal Company 32 citations, including 14 designated significant and substantial, for conditions cited between July and August 2010. The Secretary proposed a settlement that left every citation and its gravity and negligence allegations unchanged but reduced every penalty by…
Secretary of Labor v. KenAmerican Resources, Inc.
"Is there company outside" needs a hearing, not summary decision
MSHA inspectors arriving at KenAmerican's Paradise No. 9 Mine in Kentucky took control of the mine phone system and overheard a miner underground ask the dispatcher whether there was "company outside," to which the dispatcher answered "yeah, I think there is." The inspector treated that exchange as…
PM Construction & Rehab, L.P., a Subsidiary of Inland Pipe Rehabilitation, LLC
Manhole safety citations and $14,700 vacated
A pipe-replacement crew member suffered a fatal injury after entering a manhole against instructions, but the record did not establish the accident's cause. The judge found that the Secretary did not prove other workers were exposed to the manhole edge and that the worker inside used a fall-arrest…
3 Dimension Construction Management, Inc.
General contractor held responsible for asbestos demolition controls
3 Dimension Construction Management served as general contractor for converting a building into a self-storage facility and hired KIPI to perform interior demolition before asbestos abatement. OSHA cited the company for failing to ensure that the demolition contractor complied with the asbestos…
Secretary of Labor v. Saiia Construction, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Darrell Ragland emp by Saiia Constr, LLC and Secretary of Labor v. Frederick Looney emp by Saiia Constr, LLC
Secretary of Labor v. Saiia Construction, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2011-127 M): Ordering miners to keep digging around live explosives costs $48,900
Saiia Construction was the contract mining company running two quarries at the Omya Alabama marble plant in Sylacauga. After an April 9, 2010 blast, an excavator operator found a misfire, a charge that did not go off, still live in the rock he was digging. MSHA cited Saiia under the standard that…
Secretary of Labor v. Eureka Stone Quarry, Inc.
Blasting a jammed crusher with miners inside costs $56,500
Eureka Stone Quarry runs a stone quarry in Pennsylvania. On August 12, 2014 the impact crusher jammed badly with rock, and the crew spent about three and a half hours clearing it with 16 small explosive charges, climbing inside between blasts to hand-pick material out. The superintendent, who was…
Secretary of Labor v. Mach Mining, LLC
Original decision on slope belt accumulations and the examination record
MSHA cited Mach Mining for coal dust and loose coal built up along the 3,600-foot slope belt at its Mach No. 1 Mine in Illinois, including places where coal was touching rollers or the moving belt, and separately for a pre-shift examination record that noted only that the slope belt needed…
Shawn Hirt v. Gary Servaes Enterprises
Blaster's helper fired for talking to MSHA wins back pay
Shawn Hirt worked as a blaster's assistant at the Atchison Quarry, a small limestone mine in Kansas. In January 2015 MSHA, ATF, and the Kansas Fire Marshal inspected the mine together, and Hirt spoke with the MSHA inspector about his work loading explosives. The inspections produced a stack of…
Arctic Cat, Inc.
In re Arctic Cat, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 16-02C): Consent Agreement ratified
Arctic Cat, Inc. resolved an EPA Clean Air Act matter through a Consent Agreement. The Environmental Appeals Board incorporated that agreement by reference into its Final Order and ratified it under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b)-(c). The Board ordered Arctic Cat, Inc. to comply with all terms of the Consent…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Charles Riordan v. Knox Creek Coal Corporation
Layoff used as cover for firing a foreman who complained about ventilation
Charles Riordan was a section foreman at Knox Creek's Tiller No. 1 Mine with 32 years in mining, and he raised ventilation concerns with his supervisors almost daily, stopping production when airflow was short. After he brought those concerns to the general manager at a company picnic in August…
Shrieve Chemical Company
In re Shrieve Chemical Company (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 16-02Q): $193,815 penalty paid and matter resolved
EPA alleged that Shrieve Chemical Company violated the Toxic Substances Control Act's chemical data reporting rules and the premanufacture notice requirements, including the polymer exemption requirement. EPA's complaint sought a $193,815 penalty. Shrieve provided EPA with an instrument of payment…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. Canyon Fuel Company, LLC
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC (FMSHRC WEST 2015-635): Escapeway that dead-ends on a canyon ledge with no road, $2,425
Canyon Fuel runs the Sufco Mine, a large underground coal mine in Sevier County, Utah. Its alternate escapeway, the backup route miners use to get out in an emergency, came out at the 4 East Fan Portal, a ledge partway down a steep canyon with no road to it. An MSHA district manager noticed the…
Thomas G. Gallagher, Inc.
Crane rigging violations affirmed with reduced penalties
A pipefitter suffered a serious hand injury when a weld broke during a crane lift of a 5,000-pound pipe assembly. The load was improperly rigged, and the employee placed his hand directly on the suspended assembly. The judge found constructive knowledge because Gallagher had not adequately…
Secretary of Labor v. CAM Mining, LLC
Undersized roof stumps and the preshift examiner's duty to report what he can see
During retreat mining at CAM Mining's underground coal mine in Kentucky, an MSHA inspector found that the coal stumps left to hold up the roof measured as little as one to three feet where the mine's approved roof control plan required at least six. Two preshift examinations had passed without…
Marshall Justice v. Gateway Eagle Coal Co., LLC
Default against the old operator, but the bankruptcy buyer is off the hook
Marshall Justice worked at the Gateway Eagle Mine in West Virginia and says his employer disciplined him in 2015 for making a safety complaint to MSHA. MSHA found insufficient evidence, so he brought the discrimination case himself under section 105(c) of the Mine Act. Gateway never filed an answer…
RBS, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. RBS, Inc.
RBS, Inc. (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-817): Every citation trimmed or thrown out, penalty cut from $24,886 to $1,227
RBS runs the Greystone Quarry, a small limestone operation near Lewisburg, West Virginia. A fill-in MSHA inspector spent two days there in February 2014 and wrote seven citations and orders, originally proposing $24,886 in penalties. The judge worked through the five that went to hearing. Two…
Secretary of Labor obo Curtis Logsdon v. Park County Government
The Secretary's internal case file stays private
MSHA brought a discrimination case for miner Curtis Logsdon against Park County, Colorado, which operates the Nine Pit. Park County asked the Secretary to hand over two documents: the letter the Mine Act requires MSHA to send a miner telling him whether it found a violation, and the internal…
Secretary of Labor v. Ash Grove Cement Company
Elevator exam citation vacated on fair notice, $7,500 total
Ash Grove Cement runs the Seattle Plant, a cement operation in King County, Washington. MSHA issued four citations in 2014, two from a regular inspection and two after a customer's truck driver was seriously hurt falling from a trailer ladder. The judge vacated the workplace examination citation…
Wind River Oil and Gas Permits
In re Wind River Oil and Gas Permits (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 15-02, 15-03, 15-04, and 15-05): petitions dismissed with prejudice
Wesco Operating, Inc., the Natural Resources Defense Council, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and Phoenix Production Company asked the Environmental Appeals Board to dismiss their Clean Water Act permit appeals. The petitioners reported that EPA Region 8, the Northern Arapaho…
Matter of Hussam FATAHI
Bond denial affirmed based on dangerousness evidence
The Board reviewed a Syrian citizen's appeal from an Immigration Judge's denial of bond. The Immigration Judge relied on evidence that the respondent had used a falsified passport obtained through unofficial channels, gave inconsistent explanations about it, and had used a passport from a group of…
Prestige Roofing, Inc.
Late contest dismissed and $2,000 citation affirmed
Prestige Roofing received a serious citation but did not file a written notice of contest within 15 working days. Its formal contest arrived almost a year after the citation, and the company did not respond to repeated orders inviting evidence for relief. The judge found no deception by OSHA…
Bayer CropScience LP and Nichino America, Inc.
In re Bayer CropScience LP and Nichino America, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 16-01): Flubendiamide registrations canceled
EPA conditionally registered the pesticide flubendiamide for Bayer CropScience LP and Nichino America, Inc., subject to a written condition requiring the companies to request voluntary cancellation if EPA determined that continued registration would cause unreasonable adverse effects on the…
Secretary of Labor v. Nyrstar Gordonsville, LLC
15-minute clock starts when the operator first learns of a death
Nyrstar operates the Cumberland Mine, an underground zinc mine in Smith County, Tennessee. A miner was found dead in the mine change house on November 16, 2014, and an hourly hoistman phoned the mine superintendent at 1:08 p.m. to report it. The superintendent drove to the mine and gathered…
Matter of Keon RICHMOND
Avoiding removal is a purpose under the false-citizenship bar
The Board reconsidered the case of a Trinidad and Tobago citizen who sought adjustment of status after making false claims to United States citizenship during interviews with Department of Homeland Security officers. The Board held that inadmissibility for a false citizenship claim requires…
Daniel B. Lowe v. Veris Gold USA, Inc. and Jerritt Canyon Gold, LLC
Successor discovery set for Elko or telephone
Daniel Lowe had already proved that Veris Gold discriminated against him, but Veris had entered bankruptcy and sold the Jerritt Canyon Mill, leaving the parties to litigate whether Jerritt Canyon Gold was a successor responsible for relief. Lowe asked the Judge to set the location for depositions…
Pennyrile Energy, LLC v. Secretary of Labor
Disagreeing with MSHA's reading of a training rule does not earn an expedited hearing
MSHA issued Order No. 9048420 to Pennyrile Energy at the Riveredge Mine in June 2016, alleging that an underground miner working on the surface area of the mine lacked the training required by 30 C.F.R. § 48.25. Pennyrile contested the order and asked for an expedited hearing, arguing the order was…
Secretary of Labor v. Tim M. Ball, employed by Mountain Materials, Inc. and Secretary of Labor v. Ricky A. Rose, employed by Materials, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Tim M. Ball and Ricky A. Rose, employed by Mountain Materials, Inc. (FMSHRC VA 2014-148-M): Two supervisors personally penalized for plant buildups and blank exam records
This case penalized two supervisors personally, not their employer. Section 110(c) of the Mine Act lets MSHA assess individual penalties against a corporate agent who knowingly authorizes, orders, or carries out a violation. An MSHA inspector arrived at Mountain Materials' Castlewood limestone…
West Bay Exploration Company
In re West Bay Exploration Company (EAB UIC Appeal No. 15-03): Brine-injection permit remanded for aquifer review
EPA Region 5 issued West Bay Exploration Company a Class II Underground Injection Control permit for a well in Jackson County, Michigan, to dispose of brine from oil and gas production. Peter Bormuth challenged the Region's conclusion that several geologic layers would confine the injected waste…
OSRAM SYLVANIA, Inc.
In re OSRAM SYLVANIA, Inc. (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 16-03C): consent agreement ratified
OSRAM SYLVANIA, Inc. and EPA submitted a Consent Agreement to resolve the matter. The Environmental Appeals Board ratified the agreement after the parties clarified that payment would resolve only the company's federal civil penalty liability for the violations and facts alleged in the agreement…
Coyne Chemical Corporation
In re Coyne Chemical Corporation (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 16-01Q): $31,590 penalty paid and matter resolved
EPA alleged that Coyne Chemical Corporation violated the Toxic Substances Control Act reporting requirements and sought a $31,590 penalty. Coyne Chemical paid the penalty in full under EPA's quick-resolution procedure. The payment waived the company's rights to contest the allegations and appeal…
Polo Development, Inc., AIM Georgia, LLC, and Joseph Zdrilich
In re Polo Development, Inc., AIM Georgia, LLC, and Joseph Zdrilich (EAB CWA Appeal No. 16-02): second untimely appeal dismissed
Polo Development, Inc., AIM Georgia, LLC, and Joseph Zdrilich asked the Environmental Appeals Board for a second extension of time to appeal an Initial Decision and Order entered on December 1, 2015. The Board denied the request because the respondents did not show a demonstrable error in the…
Central Florida Equipment Rentals, Inc.
Unsafe berm operation affirmed after dump-truck fatality
Central Florida used a 25-ton articulated dump truck to carry fill along a narrow berm beside a retention pond. The truck fell into the pond and its operator died. The Commission found that the company did not accurately determine the truck's clearance or whether the berm could support its loaded…
Secretary of Labor v. Blaze White, employed by Newmont USA Limited
Nearly three years of MSHA delay criticized but not grounds for dismissal yet
Blaze White was a shift supervisor at Newmont's Exodus Mine when a load-haul-dump vehicle fell about 40 feet into an open stope in June 2013, killing a miner. MSHA cited the operator within a month, but the individual penalty case against White under section 110(c) of the Mine Act moved far more…
Secretary of Labor v. Blanchard Machinery Company
Stepping out of the cab leaves a truck unattended, but one flustered lapse is not operator negligence
A Blanchard rental representative was sitting in a company pickup at the Haile Gold Mine when an MSHA inspector walked up behind him. He hopped out to shake hands and forgot to set the parking brake, and the inspector cited the company under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14207, which requires mobile equipment…
Secretary of Labor v. Locust Grove, Inc.
Highwall case settles mid-hearing after the inspector's own testimony wavers
Locust Grove runs Ben's Branch Mine, a surface coal mine in Perry County, Kentucky. In June 2014 an MSHA inspector reported loose rocks lying or hanging near the crest of an active highwall with three miners working about 10 feet from its base, and found that the shift examination records for the…
Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, LLC
In re Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, LLC (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 15-12): petition dismissed after settlement
Sterling Suffolk Racecourse, LLC challenged conditions in the NPDES permit for Suffolk Downs, a horseracing facility in Revere and East Boston, Massachusetts. The parties reached a settlement covering a draft permit modification, and EPA Region 1 agreed to publish the draft and accept public…
Secretary of Labor v. River View Coal, LLC
Signing off a dust exam before the dust box was opened is high negligence, not unwarrantable failure
An MSHA inspector at River View Mine in Kentucky checked a roof bolting machine whose on-shift respirable dust examination had already been certified complete on the board underground. Opening the dust collection box, he found a damaged filter and rock drill dust on the clean side of both filters…
Secretary of Labor v. Kentucky Fuel Corporation
Loose boulders above working loaders and a skipped pre-split, both citations upheld
An MSHA inspector at Kentucky Fuel's Bevins Branch Surface Mine in Kentucky found large loose boulders sitting on top of a 70-foot highwall while two end loaders worked below, and cited the company for failing to strip loose hazardous material under 30 C.F.R. § 77.1001. At a second pit he found a…
Secretary of Labor obo Jeffrey S. Brewer v. Monongalia County Coal Company
Late discrimination complaints survive without prejudice
Monongalia County Coal moved to dismiss Jeffrey Brewer's Mine Act discrimination case because Brewer filed his MSHA complaint 29 days after the 60-day period and the Secretary filed the Commission complaint 21 days late. Brewer said he misunderstood the filing requirements and believed he first had…
Secretary of Labor v. Arnold Stone, Inc.
Broken loader lockout upheld, penalty cut to $10,000
Arnold Stone used a skid-steer loader at its surface limestone mine with a safety lockout that allowed the machine to move while the operator's seat belt was unbuckled. Judge Margaret A. Miller credited evidence that the defect had existed for about 18 months, was known to the site supervisor, and…
Secretary of Labor v. Greenbrier Minerals, LLC
Late penalty petition accepted after clerical oversight
Greenbrier Minerals timely contested a citation, but an inexperienced MSHA employee inadvertently overlooked the contest and the Secretary missed the 45-day deadline for filing the penalty petition. MSHA discovered the oversight months later and promptly moved for permission to file out of time…
Secretary of Labor v. Lewis-Goetz and Company, Inc.
Fall protection required despite training policy
A Lewis-Goetz employee performed belt-splicing work on a wet, 30-inch-wide coal belt about 10 to 12 feet above the ground without using an available safety belt or line. The Judge vacated the citation because the contractor had a written fall-protection policy, trained the employee, and provided…
Scott D. McGlothlin v. Dominion Coal Corporation
Briefing allowed on $41,525 fee request
The Commission had approved $88,975.48 in attorney fees for Scott McGlothlin's successful discrimination case and later remanded for consideration of any further fee award. McGlothlin's counsel then requested another $41,525 for legal work performed while pursuing the original fee amount. Dominion…
Secretary of Labor v. Nally & Hamilton Enterprises
Seat-belt nonuse creates strict operator liability
A rock truck overturned at Nally & Hamilton's Chestnut Flats Mine, and the driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, suffered injuries that caused lost workdays. The Judge vacated the citation because the company had a seat-belt policy, annual training, and disciplinary measures, and he…
RBS, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Labor v. RBS, Inc.
RBS, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor, et al. (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-691 RM, et al.): Original quarry penalty decision later amended
RBS operated the Greystone Quarry and Plant, a small West Virginia limestone operation where an MSHA inspection produced six citations and $24,886 in proposed penalties. Judge L. Zane Gill upheld three equipment citations but deleted their S&S designations because injury was unlikely under the…
Secretary of Labor v. Leeco, Inc.
Prior counseling did not prove operator negligence
A continuous-miner operator at Leeco's No. 68 Mine was fatally pinned after entering a red-zone pinch point while trying to free the machine. Leeco stipulated that the accident involved an S&S violation of its roof control plan, leaving negligence and the penalty as the disputed issues. The Judge…
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.