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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987 (Union) and U.S. Department of the Air Force, Warner Robins Air Force Base, Georgia (Agency)
Warner Robins Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-3382): union’s arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 987 challenged an arbitration award involving Warner Robins Air Force Base. The Authority denied the union’s exceptions in a short order. It applied standards concerning arbitrator bias, procedural arbitrability, legal error, and whether the award reasonably followed the contract. The…
U.S. Department of the Army, Headquarters, III Corps and Fort Hood, Fort Hood, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1920 (Union)
Army Fort Hood and AFGE Local 1920: supervisory-pay award set aside
An arbitrator ordered Fort Hood to return an employee to her former position and pay her for higher-grade supervisory duties. The award followed an earlier FLRA remand asking the arbitrator to identify the basis for that relief. The FLRA found that he still had not identified a regulation or…
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Union objections to final settlement order referred to the judge for Rule 60(b) review
An airline workers' union objected to an ALJ order approving a settlement between OSHA and Northwest Airlines. The union said it had requested party status but was not notified of the settlement or given an opportunity to participate before approval. Because the ALJ's settlement order had already…
Clinchfield Coal Company
Motion to compel unredacted inspector notes denied
Clinchfield Coal asked the judge to compel the Secretary of Labor to produce the unredacted field notes of an MSHA inspector. The Secretary argued that the withheld portion contained internal deliberations protected by the deliberative-process privilege. After reviewing both versions in camera, the…
Carlton, Inc. North Shore Power Plant
In re Carlton, Inc. North Shore Power Plant (EAB PSD Appeal No. 00-9): review denied for lack of jurisdiction
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued Carlton, Inc. a construction permit for a natural-gas-fired peak-load electrical generating facility in Zion, Illinois. Verena Owen and the Lake County Conservation Alliance argued that the facility was a major source and should have received a…
Northern Illinois Steel Supply Company
Steel supplier held to be an operator under the Mine Act
Northern Illinois Steel Supply delivered steel to Vulcan Materials' Lemont quarry and its drivers helped unlock and rig the loads for unloading. An MSHA inspector saw a Northern Illinois employee standing on the steel without a safety belt and line, and the company contested the citation by arguing…
Freddie Meaux v. Franks Casing Crew and Rental Tools, Incorporated
Meaux v. Franks Casing Crew (BRB 00-575): insurer consent unavailable after carrier insolvency
Freddie Meaux injured his back while working aboard a drilling vessel and later settled claims against third parties. The Longshore Act generally requires written approval from both employer and carrier before a settlement for less than the compensation owed. His original carrier became insolvent…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1858 and (Union) and United States Department of the Army, Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Agency)
Army Redstone Arsenal and AFGE Local 1858: performance-appraisal proposals outside bargaining duty
AFGE Local 1858 sought bargaining over three changes to the Army performance-appraisal system at Redstone Arsenal. The FLRA held that proposals fixing the overall rating formula and removing Army values and ethics from evaluations affected management rights to direct employees and assign work. The…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-136 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina (Agency)
NAGE Local R5-136 and VA Charleston: union arbitration exceptions denied
NAGE Local R5-136 challenged an arbitration award involving the VA medical center in Charleston. The FLRA denied the exceptions because the union did not establish a legal defect or an unreasonable interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement. It also explained that the cited…
City of Boise NPDES Permits: West Boise Permit and Lander Street Permit
In re City of Boise NPDES Permits (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 01-08 and 01-10): remand ordered under settlement
The City of Boise, Micro Technology, Inc., and EPA Region 10 asked the Environmental Appeals Board to stay and remand two appeals involving metal limits in reissued NPDES permits. The parties had agreed to a data collection and sampling plan that might make the appeals moot. The Board stayed…
Lodestar Energy, Inc.
One citation vacated and two resolved with a $100 penalty
Lodestar Energy operated the Baker Mine, an underground bituminous coal mine in Kentucky. The judge vacated one citation by settlement, affirmed a second citation by settlement, and found that the company had failed to examine a separate intake entry as required by the ventilation rules. He held…
Social Security Administration, Regional Office of Quality Assurance and Performance Assessment, Dallas, Texas (Respondent) and American Federation of Government, Employees, Local 1336 (Charging Party)
SSA Dallas and AFGE Local 1336: headset bargaining complaint dismissed
The union alleged that SSA changed a past practice by prohibiting employees from listening to personal headsets during Saturday overtime without bargaining. The adopted administrative law judge decision found that some employees used headsets, but the evidence did not establish a sustained practice…
Town of Ashland Wastewater Treatment Facility
In re Town of Ashland Wastewater Treatment Facility (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-15): permit review denied
The Town of Ashland operated a wastewater treatment facility in Ashland, New Hampshire, that discharged treated wastewater into the Squam River under an NPDES permit. The Town challenged a whole effluent toxicity limit and a requirement to monitor color even though the permit did not set a color…
Morton International, Inc., Manistee, Michigan
In re Morton International, Inc., Manistee, Michigan (EAB UIC Appeal No. 00-3): petition dismissed with prejudice
Morton International, Inc. petitioned for review of conditions in an Underground Injection Control permit issued by EPA Region V under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Board stayed the proceeding three times while the parties pursued settlement discussions. Morton later filed an unopposed motion to…
Microban Products Company
In re Microban Products Company (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 99-13): liability determination reversed and remanded
Microban Products Company sold a registered pesticide additive to Hasbro's contractors and was found liable for five FIFRA violations based on claims that allegedly differed from the product's registration claims. EPA appealed the method used to count the violations. The Environmental Appeals Board…
U.S. Department of the Army, the Adjutant General, Missouri National Guard, Bridgeton, Missouri (Agency) and Association of Civilian Technicians, Show-Me Air Chapter No. 93 (Union)
Missouri National Guard and ACT Chapter 93: narrow ruling on suspension procedures upheld
A Missouri National Guard technician received a five-day suspension after signing an aircraft brake-installation form without discovering an incorrect installation. The arbitrator held that the conduct involved job performance and was excluded from the adverse-action procedures the agency used. He…
Chino Mines Company
Rock-fall citation vacated
Chino Mines was cited after an MSHA inspector saw a large rock on a waste-rock dump near a road used by employees. The inspector believed rain had eroded the rock's support and created a fall-of-material hazard under 30 C.F.R. § 56.3131. After weighing the testimony, weather records, photographs…
Talon Erectors, Inc.
Serious construction citation affirmed after employer failed to attend hearing
OSHA inspected Talon Erectors' construction site in Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, and issued a citation alleging a violation of 29 C.F.R. § 1926.704(a). The order does not describe the cited physical condition. Talon timely contested the citation but did not attend the hearing despite certified…
Elgin Roofing Company
Five roof fall-protection violations affirmed as serious, skylight item vacated
OSHA inspected an Elgin Roofing worksite where employees were working on roofs 16 to 20 feet above grade. The judge affirmed violations involving a missing warning-line access path, tools stored near a roof edge without guardrails, unprotected work in a hoist area, roofing near an unprotected edge…
Rapid Masonry Company, and its successors
Scaffold access and fall-protection violations affirmed, penalties reduced to $600
Rapid Masonry employees were cutting and laying masonry block from scaffolding at a Lewisville, Texas, construction site. An OSHA officer saw one employee climb scaffold cross braces instead of using a ladder about 50 feet away and saw another employee working beside an open scaffold edge about 18…
Landon Holbrook, employed by Island Fork Construction, Ltd.
Default penalty reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Landon Holbrook asked the Commission to reopen a $1,900 penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was filed. The request explained that he was caring for his wife, who had cancer, and their young daughter, and that employees had collected $500 toward the assessment and…
Allegheny Power Service Corp. and Choice Insulation, Inc.
In re Allegheny Power Service Corp. and Choice Insulation, Inc. (EAB CAA Appeal No. 99-4): asbestos violations upheld and penalty reduced
Allegheny Power hired Choice Insulation to remove asbestos-containing material from a power station in West Virginia. EPA alleged that the regulated material was not adequately wet during stripping and was not kept wet until collection and disposal. The Environmental Appeals Board upheld liability…
James Arnold, Jr. v. Nabors Offshore Drilling, Incorporated
Arnold v. Nabors Offshore Drilling (BRB 00-0537): available light duty job defeats total disability claim
James Arnold strained his back while working on an offshore oil rig. He sought continuing total disability and payment for later treatment, but the judge found that the work-related strain had resolved and that a suitable motorman trainee job was available within his lifting restriction. The Board…
UtiliCorp United, Inc.
In re UtiliCorp United, Inc. (EAB CAA Permit Appeal Nos. 99-2 and 00-4): petitions withdrawn with prejudice
UtiliCorp United, Inc. sought review of EPA decisions concerning emissions monitoring methods for its Sibley Generating Station in Missouri. The company later told EPA's Office of Air and Radiation that it wanted to withdraw the petitions after the agency determined that the Unit 3 emissions…
Police Association of the District of Columbia (Union) and U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, United States Park Police, National Capital Region, Washington, D.C. (Agency)
U.S. Park Police and Police Association: commuting-injury benefits denial upheld
A U.S. Park Police mounted-unit officer was injured while bicycling to work on a public bikeway located on National Park Service property. An arbitrator denied additional performance-of-duty medical and leave benefits because the officer was commuting, rather than performing police duties. The FLRA…
Colorado Lava, Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed after hiring decision
Andrew J. Garcia alleged that Colorado Lava refused to hire him after acquiring the assets and equipment of his former employer because he had complained to MSHA about a defective parking brake. The judge found that Garcia engaged in protected activity and that Colorado Lava took adverse action by…
Town of Hopedale, Board of Water & Sewer Commissioners
In re Town of Hopedale, Board of Water & Sewer Commissioners (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 00-04): copper limit upheld
The Town of Hopedale, Massachusetts, challenged a copper effluent limitation in the NPDES permit for its publicly owned treatment works discharging to the Mill River. Hopedale argued that the Region lacked enough data, used questionable stream-flow estimates, relied on total recoverable metal…
Donald E. Stratton, Sr. v. Weedon Engineering Company
Stratton v. Weedon Engineering (BRB 00-583): maritime repair shop covered, job offer needs review
Donald Stratton injured his back while working at Weedon Engineering's marine repair business near the St. John's River. The Board affirmed that the shop was a covered site because it was near navigable water and customarily repaired equipment used on vessels. The employer challenged his permanent…
American Federation of Government Employee, Local 2342 (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Black Hills Health Care System, Fort Meade, South Dakota (Agency)
AFGE Local 2342 and VA Fort Meade: union arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 2342 challenged an arbitration award involving the VA Black Hills Health Care System at Fort Meade. The FLRA found no basis to conclude that the arbitrator exceeded his authority or interpreted the collective bargaining agreement irrationally. It denied the union's exceptions and left…
Original Sixteen to One Mine, Incorporated
Penalty assessment reopening request remanded
Original Sixteen to One Mine said it timely sent MSHA a hearing request contesting citations, but MSHA either did not receive it or failed to record it. The Secretary did not oppose reopening the penalty assessment, which had become final because the operator did not notify the Secretary within the…
Powell Mountain Coal Company, Inc.
Penalty assessment reopening request remanded
Powell Mountain Coal Company received a proposed assessment that included a penalty for a citation it says had been issued to it in error. It contacted MSHA officials, was told to wait for a corrected assessment, and later learned that the original assessment was considered delinquent while it was…
Harriman Coal Corporation
Default penalty reopened and remanded for merits proceedings
Harriman Coal asked to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after it missed the deadline to request a hearing. The company said it misunderstood the Commission's rules and believed it could appeal the assessment later, and it filed its reopening request promptly after receiving a…
Watkins Engineers & Constructors, Inc.
General contractor's scaffold citations vacated because the scaffold was being taken down
Watkins Engineers & Constructors was the general contractor building its own office in Tallahassee, Florida. A glass subcontractor's crew was up on a scaffold near a corner of the finished building when an OSHA compliance officer inspected. OSHA cited Watkins, the general contractor, for three…
McElroy Coal Company
Elevator safeguard invalidated and citation vacated
McElroy Coal contested a citation alleging that miners rode an elevator with a supply cart in violation of a safeguard issued under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1403. The Secretary argued that an abrupt elevator stop could cause the cart or supplies to strike miners. Judge David F. Barbour found that the Blakes…
Island Creek Coal Company
Reconsideration motion denied as improper vehicle for new argument
The Secretary asked the Commission to reconsider a split decision that had affirmed in result a judge’s finding that Island Creek did not violate 30 C.F.R. § 75.1725(c). The Secretary argued that the Commission had failed to address whether the operator violated the standard because a belt was…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Six conveyor citations dismissed after Commission remand
Nolichuckey Sand contested six identical citations alleging that conveyors were unguarded under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14109. The Commission had remanded the case for the Secretary to provide an authoritative interpretation of the term “unguarded,” for the judge to decide whether the interpretation was…
Ribble Contracting, Inc.
Guarding and electrical citations resolved with $2,116.10 penalty
Ribble Contracting operated a sand and gravel crusher. Judge Avram Weisberger found that an exposed moving tail pulley violated the guarding standard and was significant and substantial, assessing a $300 penalty. He also found that a broken electrical-box handle created a violation, but the…
Walker Stone Company, Incorporated
Three citations affirmed, one vacated
Walker Stone Company operated a small Kansas quarry and mill. The judge affirmed three citations involving an employee’s failure to lock out a conveyor, a haul truck driver’s failure to control a vehicle, and a wet explosives magazine, but reduced the penalties on two citations and assessed a total…
Gable Stone Company, Inc.
Back pay awarded after discrimination finding
Judge T. Todd Hodgdon had previously found that Gable Stone discriminated against John Noakes by discharging him after he engaged in protected safety activity. In this supplemental decision, the judge denied the company’s motion to reconsider liability and rejected its objections to Noakes’s…
Red Coach Trucking
Penalty assessments remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Red Coach Trucking asked to reopen four penalty assessments after its owner did not receive them at the plant and mistakenly believed that an assessment he paid was the only one. The company said it contacted MSHA when the later assessments arrived, but the filing deadline passed during subsequent…
Secretary of Labor v. Ahern & Associates, Incorporated
Reopening request remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Ahern & Associates asked to reopen a final penalty assessment. The company said it contacted MSHA, was initially told that a hearing could be scheduled, and later received a letter saying the matter was closed. The Secretary did not oppose the request. Chairman Jordan and Commissioner Beatty said…
Eclipse C Corporation
Related penalty assessments remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Eclipse C Corporation asked to reopen two penalty assessments after mistakenly believing that a hearing request for another docket also covered them. The unrepresented company said all of the tickets had been issued together and asked that the matters be consolidated. The Secretary did not oppose…
Upper Valley Materials
Late penalty contest remanded for Rule 60(b) review
Upper Valley Materials asked to reopen a penalty assessment after filing its hearing request late. The unrepresented company said it was unfamiliar with Commission procedures, was in a transitional state, and would face a serious burden from the penalty. The Secretary did not oppose the request…
Solutia Inc. and Ferro Corp.
In re Solutia Inc. and Ferro Corp. (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 00-6): appeal dismissed after settlement
Solutia Inc. and Ferro Corp. appealed EPA Region II's denial of their request for a Class I permit modification. The Board stayed the appeal while the parties worked toward a negotiated settlement. The parties later filed a joint stipulation and request for dismissal, stating that their agreement…
Brand Scaffold Builders, Inc.
Fall-protection citation vacated on employee-misconduct defense
Brand Scaffold Builders was erecting and modifying scaffolding at an International Paper mill in Mobile, Alabama. Two employees crossed loose boards spanning between a tank and a building about 54 feet above the ground without guardrails or personal fall protection. The judge found that Brand…
Trinity Industries, and its successors
Lockout and welding-lead citation items withdrawn and vacated
The ALJ had affirmed three citation items at Trinity Industries' Beaumont, Texas, rail-car and structural-steel plant. They involved a missing annual lockout audit certification, failure to lock or tag a crane breaker during electrical troubleshooting, and a welding lead with damaged insulation…
In re Viralene GOOLCHARAN, Respondent; In re Reagan GOOLCHARAN, Respondent
In re Viralene GOOLCHARAN and Reagan GOOLCHARAN (BIA ID 3442): voluntary departure did not reset the motion deadline
The Board reviewed a mother and son's appeal from the denial of their motion to reopen deportation proceedings. They argued that the 90-day deadline should run from the end of their voluntary-departure period or from a later extension granted during execution of the order. The Board held that the…
The Bullen Companies, Inc.
In re The Bullen Companies, Inc. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 99-14): six violations affirmed, $17,900 penalty upheld
EPA Region III appealed an initial decision arising from four consolidated enforcement actions against The Bullen Companies, Inc. for alleged pesticide misbranding, adulteration, composition differences, and distribution of unregistered products. The Environmental Appeals Board held that the Region…
Herbert Fitzgerald v. Stevedoring Services of America
Fitzgerald v. Stevedoring Services of America (BRB 00-0724): stevedore was borrowing employer
Herbert Fitzgerald operated equipment for the Georgia Ports Authority and was injured while working on a vessel operation assigned to Stevedoring Services of America. The parties separated the question of who employed him at the time from the remaining benefit questions. The Board upheld the…
Service Employees International Union, Local 200-C (Union) and United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Western New York, V.A. Health Care System, Buffalo, New York (Agency)
VA Buffalo and SEIU Local 200-C: adverse-action appeal proposal outside bargaining duty
SEIU Local 200-C proposed giving part-time hybrid title 38 VA employees access to negotiated grievance and arbitration procedures for adverse actions. The parties agreed that these employees lacked statutory adverse-action appeal rights. The FLRA held that negotiated procedures could not supply…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 48 (Union) and United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Olympic Peninsula Agency, Aberdeen, Washington (Agency)
Bureau of Indian Affairs and AFGE Local 48: conditional promotion remedy upheld
The Bureau of Indian Affairs denied an employee a within-grade increase and career-ladder promotion using performance standards later found invalid. An arbitrator ordered a valid performance plan and a ninety-day evaluation, with retroactive benefits if the employee demonstrated acceptable…
U.S. Department of the Army, Corpus Christi Army Depot, Corpus Christi, Texas (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2142 and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 797 and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Lodge 2049 (Unions)
Corpus Christi Army Depot and three unions: asbestos differential pay upheld, fee deductions modified
An arbitrator awarded wage-grade bargaining-unit employees at Corpus Christi Army Depot environmental differential pay, with interest, for six years before the unions filed their asbestos grievance. The FLRA upheld that pay award, deferring to the arbitrator's findings that exposure posed potential…
Social Security Administration, Chicago Region, Cleveland Ohio District Office, University Circle Branch (Agency) and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3348 (Union)
SSA Cleveland and AFGE Local 3348: priority-consideration promotion remedy upheld
An SSA employee received priority consideration after her name was mistakenly omitted from an earlier promotion list, but the agency rejected her for a later claims-representative vacancy. An arbitrator found that the agency had not supported its disqualification with genuine factual reasons under…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-6 (Union) and United States Department of the Army, Army Transportation Center, Fort Eustis, Virginia (Agency)
Army Fort Eustis and NAGE Local R4-6: attorney-fee denial upheld after remand
An arbitrator reduced a child-care employee's suspension from fourteen days to one day but denied attorney fees after an earlier FLRA remand. The FLRA upheld the fee denial because prevailing on part of a grievance did not alone establish that fees were warranted in the interest of justice. Two…
Coastal Coal Company, LLC
Discrimination complaint dismissed after hearing absence
William C. Green brought a discrimination complaint against Coastal Coal Company under section 105(c)(3) of the Mine Act. Green did not appear at the scheduled hearing and did not respond to the Judge's order directing him to explain his absence. The Judge dismissed the complaint after Green failed…
Secretary of Labor v. Rosebud Mining Company
Panic-bar violations affirmed and settlement approved
Rosebud Mining operates the underground Rosebud No. 2 coal mine. The Judge approved a settlement reducing the penalty for one citation to $131, and then considered two citations alleging that panic bars on a roofbolter and a scoop required too much force to de-energize the equipment. The Judge…
Star Sand Company, Inc.
Default order vacated and penalty case remanded
Star Sand Company failed to answer a penalty petition and a show-cause order after mistakenly believing the case was part of a group of matters it was settling. The judge entered a default order and assessed the Secretary's proposed $800 penalty. The Secretary did not oppose Star Sand's request for…
Beverly Enterprises-Alabama, Inc.
Unlabeled circuit breakers upheld as a repeat violation, penalty cut to $100
Beverly Enterprises runs a nursing home in Fairhope, Alabama. During an OSHA inspection of its maintenance shop, the compliance officer found the circuit breakers in the panel box were not labeled to show what each one controlled. OSHA cited the company under the electrical standard requiring…
Commercial Newspaper Service, and its successors
Admitted safety violations affirmed, penalties reduced to $460
Commercial Newspaper Service published athletic posters at a small Meridian, Idaho, facility. The company withdrew its contest to violations involving emergency exit lighting, flammable-liquid and combustible storage, lockout procedures, electrical equipment and wiring, and injury-recordkeeping…
Watkins Engineers and Constructors
Cement-plant jurisdiction upheld and fall-hazard penalties mixed
Watkins Engineers and Constructors was building a bag house at a Portland cement plant when an employee fell about 70 feet while leaving a man-lift basket and suffered a serious injury. Judge Richard W. Manning held that MSHA had jurisdiction over the cement plant and found that Watkins violated…
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.