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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Gravel Pit Company
Tail-pulley citation affirmed with $500 penalty
Gravel Pit Company operated a small, intermittent South Dakota quarry where miners shoveled around a fluted tail pulley while the conveyor was running. Judge Richard W. Manning found that a large unguarded opening exposed miners to entanglement and affirmed the violation as S&S. He found that a…
Bertha G. Mullins v. ANR Coal Company, LLC
Mullins v. ANR Coal Company (BRB 11-0251): survivor award upheld after timely modification
Bertha Mullins applied for survivor benefits after her husband, who was receiving black lung benefits, died. Her claim was denied because she had not shown that pneumoconiosis caused his death, but she requested modification within a year. The Board held that the timely request kept her claim…
R.M. and Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Austin, TX
R.M. (ECAB 11-1492): Sixty-one percent hearing loss award affirmed
R.M., a motor carrier safety specialist, experienced hearing loss after a truck horn sounded near his ear during an inspection. OWCP accepted hearing loss in both ears and awarded a 61 percent schedule award. A medical adviser applied the standard formula to R.M.'s audiogram and added five percent…
J.T. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Pittsburgh, PA
J.T. (ECAB 11-1337): Termination of back injury benefits affirmed
J.T., a Veterans Affairs nurse, had accepted lumbar and sacroiliac injuries after assisting a patient. Her treating physician said she remained limited to part-time work, while an OWCP referral physician found greater work capacity. OWCP obtained an impartial specialist's opinion that the accepted…
C.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Akron, OH
C.M. (ECAB 11-1235): Arm impairment award returned to assess shoulder injury
C.M., a postal letter carrier, had accepted neck and right shoulder conditions after two workplace falls. OWCP granted a schedule award for 13 percent impairment of his right arm based on a rating that addressed nerve impairment. C.M. argued that the rating should also account for his accepted…
R.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lancaster, SC
R.V. (ECAB 11-1179): Knee impairment award returned for impartial examination
R.V., a postal carrier, had an accepted left knee meniscus injury and received a schedule award for two percent leg impairment. His surgeon rated the impairment at seven percent, treating the result of several surgeries as equivalent to a total medial meniscectomy. OWCP's medical adviser rated it…
C.M. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, Austin Straubel International Airport, Green Bay, WI
C.M. (ECAB 11-1149): Security guard wage capacity reduction affirmed
C.M., a Transportation Security Administration screener, had an accepted right shoulder condition and later lost his limited-duty assignment. OWCP reduced his compensation based on a constructed security guard position paying $470.80 a week. C.M. argued that the job could expose him to…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Detroit Performance Cluster, Detroit, MI
A.C. (ECAB 11-1126): Earlier shoulder disability claim denial affirmed
A.C., a postal mail processing clerk, had accepted left shoulder conditions and sought wage-loss compensation for a period before December 2005. OWCP had paid her for later periods but denied compensation for December 8, 2004 through November 30, 2005. Her surgeon first examined her after the…
C.P. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Bolingbrook, IL
C.P. (ECAB 11-1022): Late hearing request denial affirmed
C.P., a postal clerk, requested a hearing about OWCP's July 2001 decision ending her wage-loss benefits and schedule award eligibility after she declined a job offer. She mailed the request in December 2010, far beyond the 30-day period for a hearing as of right. OWCP also declined to grant a…
C.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Lewiston, MI
C.H. (ECAB 11-981): Schedule award denied for lack of ratable leg impairment
C.H., a postal clerk, had an accepted L5-S1 herniated disc and sought a schedule award. Some physicians rated her back or whole-person impairment, but FECA does not pay schedule awards for the back itself. An OWCP referral physician proposed a three percent right leg rating, while the agency's…
C.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Roberto Clemente Post Office, Chicago, IL
C.J. (ECAB 11-426): Shoulder award ratings upheld, pay rate returned for review
C.J., a postal carrier, had accepted conditions in both shoulders and received a schedule award for six percent impairment of her right arm. The Board found that OWCP's medical adviser properly applied the sixth edition of the impairment guides and that the record did not support a higher right arm…
Rock N Roll Coal Company
Reconsideration of unsupported settlement denied
The Secretary proposed changing a citation from section 104(d)(1) to section 104(a), reducing negligence from high to moderate, and cutting the penalty from $13,609 to $3,690. After the judge requested supporting facts, the Secretary instead argued that the substantive changes fell within…
State of Alaska, Dept. of Transportation
Highway borrow-pit citations dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
MSHA cited exposed wiring and an inoperative backup alarm on loaders used with a portable screener to maintain Alaska's 420-mile Dalton Highway. Judge Jerold Feldman held that the local, intermittent extraction and screening of nearby borrow-pit material for road repairs did not constitute mineral…
S.T. and Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, St. Joseph, MO
S.T. (ECAB 11-1444): Disability claim denied for lack of medical causation opinion
S.T., a federal meat inspector, had accepted work-related sciatica and aggravation of back and left hip conditions. After a hospitalization, she claimed wage-loss compensation beginning October 18, 2010. Her medical records described several conditions and treatments but did not include a…
K.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Honolulu, HI
K.O. (ECAB 11-1436): Knee disability recurrence claim denied
K.O., a postal worker, had an accepted right knee condition and returned to light duty after knee replacement surgery. He later claimed compensation for periods when he said knee symptoms kept him from working. His surgeon issued disability slips but did not explain how the accepted condition…
K.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Fort Worth, TX
K.C. (ECAB 11-1307): Overpayment balance reduced by $3.60
K.C., a postal worker with accepted knee and foot conditions, returned to full-time work without a pay loss in October 2009. OWCP nevertheless continued paying temporary total disability benefits through February 2011. The Board agreed that these simultaneous wages and benefits created an…
W.A. and Department of the Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, Camp Pendleton, CA
W.A. (ECAB 11-1207): Hearing loss disability claim denied
W.A., a former Marine Corps maintenance worker, had an accepted work-related hearing loss and sought wage-loss benefits for August 3, 2008 through March 26, 2010. She had previously received benefits for a separate back condition, but OWCP ended those benefits in August 2008. The Board found that…
T.H. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
T.H. (ECAB 11-0996): Termination of back injury benefits reversed
T.H., a postal letter carrier, injured his back when he fell on icy stairs while delivering mail. OWCP accepted a lumbar sprain, sciatica, and aggravation of degenerative back conditions, then ended his benefits in August 2010 after an impartial medical examination. The Board found that the…
K.C. and Smithsonian Institution, National Zoo, Washington, DC
K.C. (ECAB 11-0780): Injury denial affirmed, reconsideration returned to OWCP
K.C., a horticulture technician at the National Zoo, reported dizziness and heat exhaustion after working outside on July 20, 2010. The Board upheld OWCP's initial injury denial because the evidence available before that decision lacked a physician's reasoned explanation linking the condition to…
M.B. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, MD
M.B. (ECAB 11-0673): Hearing loss claim barred by filing deadline
M.B., a former Navy aircraft sheetmetal worker, reported knowing in 1977 that his hearing loss might be work related. He remained in federal employment until November 17, 1989, making that his last possible exposure date and the start of the three-year filing period. He did not file his claim until…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3294 (Union) and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (Agency)
AFGE Local 3294 and HUD (FLRA 0-AR-4725): Attorney-fee amount remanded
HUD suspended an employee for ten days, but an arbitrator reduced the penalty to one day after finding that HUD had overlooked mitigating evidence. The arbitrator denied the union's request for attorney fees, reasoning that HUD had made a good-faith mistake. The Authority held that fees were…
United States Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville District, Louisville, Kentucky (Agency) and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Local 852 (Union)
Louisville Army Corps and IFPTE Local 852 (FLRA 0-AR-4575): Lost overtime award upheld
The Army Corps of Engineers left a qualified crane operator at its repair station while a lock-and-dam project offered overtime work. An arbitrator found that the parties' agreement gave employees who normally perform that work the first opportunity for overtime when possible. She ordered the Corps…
Cemex Construction Materials of Florida, LLC
Two violations affirmed and penalties reduced to $200
MSHA cited Cemex at its Florida quarry for an air tank without a gauge mounted on the tank, an unlabeled jug containing an unknown liquid, and a breaker incorrectly labeled as a spare. Judge Michael E. Zielinski affirmed the air-tank violation because a valve could isolate the remote gauge, but he…
Highland Mining Company, LLC
Roof-control citation dismissed on summary decision
MSHA cited Highland Mining because roof bolts in an active entry ended about 15 feet from the face, while a diagram in the approved roof-control plan required bolting within five feet in dead-end places. Judge Priscilla M. Rae held that the plan's plain language applied the five-foot rule only to…
Virginia E. Richards v. Union Carbide Corporation
Richards v. Union Carbide Corporation (BRB 11-0414): subsequent survivor award starts July 2006
Virginia Richards filed a second survivor claim after her first claim was finally denied. Her husband had received black lung benefits before his death, and her later claim was pending when Congress restored automatic survivor entitlement. The Board held that the new provision applied to eligible…
A.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Desoto, TX
A.J. (ECAB 11-1466): Schedule award claim returned for a merits decision
A.J., a rural mail carrier with accepted sprains, had been denied a schedule award in 2009. In 2010 she submitted new medical reports describing a 19 percent right arm impairment and again requested an award. OWCP treated her submission as an untimely request to reconsider the 2009 denial and…
P.B. and Department of Health & Human Services, Social Security Administration, Brooklyn, NY
P.B. (ECAB 11-1384): Suitable work benefit termination reversed
P.B., a Social Security claims representative, received wage-loss benefits after a fall at work caused several accepted sprains. Her employer later offered a modified job for five hours a day, and OWCP ended her wage-loss benefits when she declined it. The Board found that the referee physician's…
V.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Southeastern, PA
V.F. (ECAB 11-1341): No additional right arm schedule award
V.F., a postal worker with accepted right elbow epicondylitis, had previously received a schedule award for three percent right arm impairment. After an earlier Board remand, an OWCP referral physician used the current impairment guide to rate the arm at one percent, and an OWCP medical adviser…
R.W. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Albuquerque, NM
R.W. (ECAB 11-1303): Unexplained insurance premium debt reversed
R.W., a retired VA employee receiving workers' compensation, disputed OWCP's claim that missing life insurance premium deductions created a $3,689.38 overpayment. The Board had already reversed an earlier overpayment finding because OWCP's calculations were not adequately explained. OWCP issued a…
M.L. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Detroit, MI
M.L. (ECAB 11-1238): Overpayment and fault findings affirmed
M.L., a postal worker with previously accepted conditions, received a $2,326.26 deposit covering a month after OWCP had ended her wage-loss compensation. She acknowledged receiving the termination decision but said she had not received a later letter warning that the deposit was erroneous. The…
D.V. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Chicago, IL
D.V. (ECAB 11-1232): Fall accepted, injury claim still unproved
D.V., a postal city carrier, slipped on icy steps while delivering mail in March 2008 and later claimed right leg and left knee injuries. The Board accepted that the fall happened but found the medical evidence insufficient to show it caused either claimed condition. Her chiropractor's opinion did…
W.B. and Department of the Army, U.S. Army Test & Evaluation Command, Aberdeen, MD
W.B. (ECAB 11-0988): No increase in right leg schedule award
W.B., an Army engineering technician, injured his right foot when a steel plate fell on it and later developed an accepted pain syndrome in the leg. OWCP granted a schedule award for 20 percent right leg impairment based on an examination using the sixth edition of the impairment guide. His…
M.N. and Department of Agriculture, Potato Research Laboratory, East Grand Forks, MN
M.N. (ECAB 11-0870): Part-time job could not support wage-capacity reduction
M.N. had an accepted work injury and later worked 32 hours a week as an engineering technician. OWCP used the wages from that job to reduce her compensation in 2002, then declined to change the rating in 2010. The Board found that she had worked 40 hours a week when injured and that OWCP's own…
E.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Processing & Distribution Center, Brockton, MA
E.M. (ECAB 11-0457): Partial disability recurrence denied
E.M., a postal mail handler, injured his left knee, leg, elbow, forearm, and wrist in a fall while loading a truck in 2004. He later reduced his work hours and claimed a recurrence of partial disability from the accepted injury. His treating doctor attributed the restriction to aggravated knee…
S.A. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Sacramento, CA
S.A. (ECAB 11-0171): Emotional condition and late hearing request denied
S.A., a postal rural carrier associate, claimed anxiety and migraines arising from workplace assignments, leave handling, supervisor interactions, and coworker conduct. The Board found no proven compensable employment factor: the challenged management decisions were administrative matters without…
Matter of D-X- & Y-Z-
Facially valid residence permits establish firm resettlement
The Board considered the asylum claims of two Chinese respondents who had obtained permits to reside in Belize and later entered the United States. It held that a facially valid Belize residence permit is prima facie evidence of an offer of firm resettlement even if the permit was obtained through…
G.M. and U.S. Postal Service, Bay City Annex, Manhattan Bench, CA
G.M. (ECAB 11-1429): Emotional condition claim lacked a proven work factor
G.M., a postal clerk, attributed chest pain and heart palpitations to alleged harassment, discipline, and changes to her light-duty work. The Board found that the record did not sufficiently document the alleged sexual harassment or provide enough detail about the coworker comments and supervisor…
A.W. and U.S. Postal Service, Annex, Oklahoma City, OK
A.W. (ECAB 11-1421): Left arm award returned for elbow assessment
A.W., a postal sorting machine operator, had several accepted arm and shoulder conditions and received a schedule award for 14 percent left arm impairment. The Board accepted the second opinion physician's nine percent rating for two nerve conditions, but found problems in how the remaining…
L.R. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, New Castle, DE
L.R. (ECAB 11-1397): Arm award returned for an impartial rating
L.R., a postal letter carrier, injured her left arm and shoulder in a fall while delivering mail and received a schedule award for two percent left arm impairment. Her treating physician rated the arm at five percent, including a wrist impairment, while OWCP's second opinion physician found two…
T.G. and Department of the Army, Test & Evaluation Command, Yuma, AZ
T.G. (ECAB 11-1392): Spine claim lacked a reasoned work-causation opinion
T.G., an Army geodetic technician, claimed that years of driving over undeveloped roads and other field work caused or aggravated degeneration in his neck and lower back. The Board accepted that the job involved repeated cross-country driving and that imaging showed degenerative spine conditions…
W.Z. and Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command-Stations, Coronado, CA
W.Z. (ECAB 11-1371): Three percent hearing loss award upheld
W.Z., a Navy sheet metal mechanic, had an accepted claim for hearing loss caused by workplace noise. OWCP measured a three percent loss across both ears and granted a six-week schedule award. The Board found that the audiogram calculations followed the accepted guide and that this award exceeded…
D.F. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Cleveland, OH
D.F. (ECAB 11-1326): Parking lot leg injury claim denied
D.F., a postal clerk, reported left leg pain after getting out of his car in an employer parking lot while arriving for work. The Board accepted that the incident occurred but found the medical reports did not establish a resulting injury. One doctor discussed back symptoms instead, while another…
T.J. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Great Falls, MT
T.J. (ECAB 11-1197): Late reconsideration request entitled to review
T.J., a postal carrier with an accepted ankle injury, sought reconsideration years after OWCP ended his compensation for refusing a suitable job. The Board agreed that his request was late, but found clear evidence of error in the termination decision. The employer had issued a new job offer two…
D.C. and Department of the Navy, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
D.C. (ECAB 11-0778): Asbestosis claim timely, merits still open
D.C., a former Navy shipyard worker, filed an asbestosis claim in September 2008 after a physician linked the disease to possible past asbestos exposure. OWCP rejected the claim as late, relying on older chest imaging that showed pleural changes. The Board found that those earlier reports did not…
G.J. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Brecksville, OH
G.J. (ECAB 11-0635): Neck and arm claim denied for lack of causation proof
G.J., a VA medical support assistant, attributed neck and arm symptoms to years of lifting and filing x-ray jackets and working at an awkward workstation. The Board accepted that those tasks had been part of her job but found that the medical evidence did not connect them to a diagnosed condition…
Newmont USA Limited
Unventilated-heading order modified and penalty reduced to $5,000
Newmont shut off an auxiliary fan and tied off ventilation bags in two headings at its Nevada gold mine, leaving ropes and signs stating that a heading inspection was required. Judge John Kent Lewis found that the headings were unventilated and that a rope did not prevent entry as required by the…
Big Ridge, Inc.
Ventilation and accumulations orders yield $17,200 total penalty
Big Ridge faced four contested orders involving its ventilation plan and combustible oil or coal accumulations, plus a fifth violation resolved by settlement. Judge Michael E. Zielinski affirmed the ventilation violation but removed unwarrantable failure because the off-plan air-reading location…
Excel Mining, LLC
Pillar-block violation affirmed with $6,997 penalty
Excel Mining's roof-control plan required at least eight feet of coal on each side of pillar blocks during retreat mining. Judge L. Zane Gill found that blocks in three entries were cut below that minimum in an area showing roof stress, cracked supports, and a roof fall beyond the breaker line. He…
J.B. and Department of Homeland Security, Immigrations & Customs Enforcement, Pretoria, South Africa
J.B. (ECAB 11-1410): Shoulder care recurrence denied under corrected claim type
J.B. had an accepted right shoulder injury and later sought further medical treatment after reporting new pain and numbness. OWCP treated his filing as a new occupational disease claim and denied it. The Board found that he had actually claimed a recurrence of the earlier medical condition without…
A.C. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, St. Petersburg, FL
A.C. (ECAB 11-1388): Late reconsideration request denied
A.C., a former postal worker, asked OWCP in 2011 to reconsider a 2005 termination of compensation for refusing suitable work. The Board found the request was filed more than a year after the last merits decision and therefore had to show clear evidence of error to obtain review. His arguments about…
A.H. and Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Safety Administration, Redmond, OR
A.H. (ECAB 11-1365): Emotional condition claim over leave and pay denied
A.H., a transportation screener, reported anxiety symptoms after a dispute over the end of her continuation of pay and the classification of later leave as unpaid. The Board found that her supervisor had told her the 45-day continuation of pay period had ended and that unpaid leave was used when…
E.C. and Department of the Navy, Port Hueneme, CA
E.C. (ECAB 11-1329): Wage-capacity reduction reversed
E.C., a former Navy worker with accepted neck and back conditions, received wage-loss compensation after stopping work. OWCP later reduced his benefits based on estimated earnings as a customer complaint clerk or information clerk. The Board found that the physician OWCP relied on had last examined…
J.O. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Fort Lauderdale, FL
J.O. (ECAB 11-1313): Reconsideration denied without merits review
J.O., a postal carrier with accepted cervical conditions, sought wage-loss compensation for a period in 2009 that OWCP had denied. He later asked OWCP to reconsider that decision, arguing that his treating doctor's earlier opinion supported disability. The Board found that the request did not…
M.A. and Department of Defense, Defense Finance & Accounting Service, Indianapolis, IN
M.A. (ECAB 11-1079): Termination of injury benefits affirmed
M.A., a Defense Finance and Accounting Service technician, received compensation for accepted knee, wrist, elbow, and ankle conditions after a fall at work. OWCP later ended her benefits based on a second opinion orthopedic examination. The Board found that the examiner had reviewed the injury…
A.H. and Department of the Navy, Marine Corps Logistic Base, Albany, GA
A.H. (ECAB 11-0848): Back disability recurrence claim denied
A.H., a former material handler with accepted lumbar conditions from a 1992 injury, sought compensation for a recurrence of disability beginning in September 1995. His physician described later back findings and opined that he was permanently disabled. The Board found that the reports did not…
K.B. and Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Administration Medical Center, Houston, TX
K.B. (ECAB 11-0777): Right carpal tunnel claim denied
K.B., a VA cook supervisor, claimed that repeated grasping and typing at work caused right carpal tunnel syndrome. His left carpal tunnel condition had previously been accepted as work related, and his doctor diagnosed the right-side condition as well. The Board found that the doctor did not…
M.T. and U.S. Postal Service, North Texas Processing & Distribution Center, Coppell, TX
M.T. (ECAB 11-0606): Emotional condition claim denied after workplace incidents
M.T., a postal custodian, attributed an emotional condition to incidents involving her work radio, clothing requirements, a rest break, and a light-duty request while pregnant. She alleged discrimination and retaliation based on sex and pregnancy. The Board classified the identified incidents as…
Big Ridge, Inc.
Litigated and settled violations yield $337,194 penalty
Six dockets against Big Ridge covered belt accumulations, mine examinations, machine guarding, equipment safety, fire warning systems, and many additional citations resolved by settlement. Judge Richard W. Manning assessed $90,000 on the litigated matters, including substantial penalties for…
M.K. and Department of Homeland Security, Border Patrol, Cotulla, TX
M.K. (ECAB 11-1455): Recurrence claim and reconsideration denial affirmed
M.K., a border patrol agent whose 2001 lumbosacral strain had been accepted, sought medical treatment for back symptoms reported in August 2010. The only medical report before OWCP was from 2001; it gave no current findings or opinion connecting the later symptoms to the accepted injury. The Board…
K.K. and U.S. Postal Service, Post Office, Boston, MA
K.K. (ECAB 11-1374): Emotional injury claim remanded for supervisor's account
K.K., a postal carrier, attributed stress and anxiety to her arrest while delivering mail near a person who had a restraining order against her. She said her supervisor directed her to walk through the restricted area; the supervisor denied ordering her to pass the house but did not give a detailed…
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.