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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M & D Power Constructors, Inc.
Willful arsenic violations affirmed
M&D performed maintenance and demolition work during an outage at an Alabama coal-fired power plant, where fly ash in air heaters and an old precipitator contained inorganic arsenic. Judge Ken S. Welsch found that the air heaters remained regulated areas until representative monitoring showed…
James Milam v. Whitby Electric, Incorporated
Discrimination case converted after counsel withdrawal
The Secretary's counsel asked to withdraw from James Milam's discrimination case after Milam retained private counsel and did not provide the assistance needed for the Secretary's representation. Whitby Electric did not object to withdrawal but argued that the case should be dismissed rather than…
Horizon Roofing & Sheetmetal, Inc.
Debris and fall-protection items vacated
Horizon removed and replaced a large postal-facility roof using separate chutes for stone and other roofing debris. OSHA cited the company after an employee working inside a dumpster was struck by roofing material and sustained unspecified neck, back, and arm injuries. Judge Richard DeBenedetto…
Drummond Company, Incorporated
Settlement approved and penalties modified
Drummond Company and the Secretary jointly asked the Judge to approve settlements involving coal and coal-dust accumulations and underground diesel-fuel storage at the Shoal Creek Mine. The proposed total penalty was reduced from $6,000 to $2,950, with the parties also seeking to change two…
In re Edward Paul SWEETSER, Respondent
Negligent child abuse was not a crime of violence
The Board reviewed Edward Paul Sweetser's appeal from an Immigration Judge's finding that he was deportable as an aggravated felon and order directing his removal. Sweetser had been convicted in Colorado of criminally negligent child abuse after his stepson accidentally drowned when left unattended…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R5-136 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Ralph H. Johnson Medical Center, Charleston, South Carolina
NAGE Local R5-136 and Charleston VA Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3167): union arbitration exceptions denied
The union challenged an arbitration award involving the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston. The Authority found that the exceptions did not establish a deficient award under section 7122(a). It cited the requirements for identifying a clearly erroneous central fact, specifying a…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2207 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama
AFGE Local 2207 and Birmingham VA (FLRA 0-AR-2768-001): asbestos grievance exceptions barred by unraised arguments
An arbitrator had dismissed an asbestos-related pay grievance as barred by an earlier settlement. After an Authority remand, she clarified that she had decided the June 1991 grievance and that arguments about later claims and coverage of the whole bargaining unit had not been raised at the original…
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service and National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2015 and Service Employees International Union, Local 557, AFL-CIO-Clc
National Park Service, NFFE Local 2015, and SEIU Local 557 (FLRA WA-RP-70072): incumbent unions must participate in successorship case
A National Park Service reorganization moved Job Corps Center directors into a Washington-office chain of command. A regional director rejected accretion to the headquarters unit and raised a separate successorship issue that could require representation elections. Although notice had been mailed…
Cecil Kilmer Flagstone
Default reopened and remanded
Cecil Kilmer Flagstone defaulted after failing to answer the Secretary's penalty petition and a show-cause order, and the Judge assessed the proposed $1,200 penalty. The company later sent the Commission a letter saying that it had mailed a response to the Department of Labor's Regional Solicitor's…
Agronics Incorporated
Default order vacated and remanded
A Commission Judge entered a default order against Agronics after the company did not answer the Secretary's penalty petition or a show-cause order, assessing the proposed $891 penalty. Agronics asked to set the default aside, arguing that the order was served on the wrong company officer, while…
Keith K. Dobey v. Johnson Controls and Cigna Insurance
Dobey v. Johnson Controls (BRB 98-1211): marine patrol work defeated security exclusion
Keith Dobey worked mainly as a traffic officer at Cape Canaveral but was also an alternate marine patrol officer. He was injured on a patrol boat while checking conditions before a submarine escort. The administrative law judge denied Longshore Act benefits by treating his work as exclusively…
Frank Kinlaw v. Stevens Shipping and Terminal Company and Reliance Insurance Company, Incorporated
Kinlaw v. Stevens Shipping (BRB 98-1180): employer could not use modification to fill earlier evidence gap
Longshore worker Frank Kinlaw received permanent partial disability benefits after a back injury limited his ability to resume his flagman and footman duties. The employer sought modification using a later doctor’s opinion based on a tour of the docks and a video of the work. The Board held that…
United Erie, Div. of Interstate Chemical Co., Inc.
Confined-space items affirmed as serious
A United Erie production employee died from oxygen deficiency after entering a 4,000-gallon chemical kettle. Judge G. Marvin Bober found that United lacked a site-specific permit-space program, atmospheric testing equipment, adequate attendant practices, entry permits, and complete rescue…
Rondy's Inc. d/b/a Idaho Lime
Discrimination case not dismissed for delayed filings
Allen Hamilton filed a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Rondy's Inc. d/b/a Idaho Lime after his employment was terminated. MSHA did not notify him of its determination within the statutory 90-day period, and the Secretary filed the Commission complaint after the time described in the…
Beckman Production Services
In re Beckman Production Services (EAB UIC Appeal No. 98-4): permit terms partly remanded
Beckman Production Services held a UIC permit for a Class II well in Michigan that disposed of fluids from oil and gas production operations. Beckman challenged permit language about new waste sources, chemical analysis, facility security, permit transfers, reporting, and minor permit…
Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated
Central shop under Mine Act jurisdiction, supply shop outside it
Jim Walter Resources operated underground coal mines in Alabama and maintained a Central Shop and a nearby Central Supply. Judge Jerold Feldman held that the Central Shop was subject to Mine Act jurisdiction because it repaired and maintained mining equipment, had an MSHA identification number, and…
Rayne Energy Incorporated
Penalty petition must be resubmitted by an attorney
Rayne Energy was the respondent in a civil penalty proceeding involving the Rayne No. 1 mine. The Secretary's penalty petition was signed by a paralegal specialist for the Philadelphia Regional Counsel rather than by an attorney in the Office of the Solicitor. Judge Paul Merlin ordered the petition…
In re Cristobal PEREZ, Respondent
Drug offense stopped cancellation residence accrual
The Board reviewed Cristobal Perez's appeal from an Immigration Judge's finding that he was removable for a controlled substance conviction and pretermitting his application for cancellation of removal. Perez had been admitted as a temporary resident before becoming a lawful permanent resident, and…
Donald Henley v. Cowan and Company, Incorporated
Henley v. Cowan and Company (BRB 98-1114): Black lung award returned to assess lasting coal dust effects
Donald Henley received a black lung benefit award after a judge found that coal dust had aggravated his pulmonary condition. Cowan and Company challenged whether a temporary worsening of symptoms could qualify as pneumoconiosis. The Board agreed with the Director that the aggravation must be…
Rohm and Haas Company
In re Rohm and Haas Company (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 99-1): petition withdrawn with prejudice
Rohm and Haas Company petitioned for review of a hazardous and solid waste amendment permit issued for its Louisville, Kentucky facility. The company later moved to withdraw its petition, and stated that EPA Region IV agreed to the motion. The Board granted the motion and deemed the petition…
Microban Products Co.
In re Microban Products Co. (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 99-1): interlocutory review denied
EPA alleged that Microban Products Co. committed 32 FIFRA violations through sales or distributions of a registered pesticide. The ALJ found five violations based on documents containing unapproved effectiveness claims, and EPA sought immediate EAB review of that ruling. The Board held that EPA had…
Spa City Gravel
Loader and first-aid citations affirmed, three citations vacated
Spa City Gravel faced 14 alleged violations at its gravel mine and a proposed total penalty of $2,479. The Secretary vacated three citations, and the parties settled nine others for $1,176. Judge Gary Melick affirmed a significant and substantial citation after a mechanic worked on a running…
Henry Zavala Construction
Default judgment entered
Henry Zavala Construction agreed during two telephone conferences to provide portions of its fall-protection program to the Secretary. The company did not send the documents, respond to follow-up requests, or explain its failure to comply after the judge directed immediate overnight delivery. Judge…
J.A.M. Builders, Inc.
Willful electrical violation affirmed after fatal power-line contact
J.A.M. Builders was a construction subcontractor placing reinforcing steel for a concrete floor in Miami Beach, Florida. Employees handled rebar up to 20 feet long on a 17-foot-wide deck beneath energized, uninsulated 7,620-volt power lines. One employee died when the rebar he was holding contacted…
U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Board of Immigration Appeals and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3525
Board of Immigration Appeals and AFGE Local 3525 (FLRA WA-CA-80032): agency must consider pending flexiplace requests
The Board of Immigration Appeals had considered every attorney request for a flexiplace work arrangement over more than two years, granting eight of nine. While the union's flexiplace proposal was before the Federal Service Impasses Panel, the Board declined to consider three new requests. The…
Fort Worth Crushed Stone, Incorporated
Penalty petition must be resubmitted by an attorney
Fort Worth Crushed Stone was the respondent in a civil penalty proceeding involving the Cleburne Base. The Secretary's penalty petition was filed by a law clerk rather than an attorney in the Office of the Solicitor. Judge Paul Merlin ordered the petition to be resubmitted and signed by an attorney…
Sam Puglia Excavating
Settlement approved and two orders vacated
Sam Puglia Excavating faced two civil penalty assessments totaling $4,144. The Secretary and the operator proposed a settlement reducing the amount to $580. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck approved the settlement under the Mine Act penalty criteria, vacated Order Nos. 7707714 and 7707715, and directed…
Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated
Discrimination settlement approved
Bennard Smith brought a Mine Act discrimination complaint against Jim Walter Resources, and the parties later moved to approve a settlement. Judge Gary Melick found the settlement acceptable after considering the parties' representations, supporting documents, and the full trial record. The order…
ANR Coal Company LLC
Summary-decision motions denied and hearing set
MSHA charged ANR Coal Company with three alleged violations at the Sargent Hollow underground bituminous coal mine and proposed total penalties of $824. The parties agreed to pay the penalties for two citations, leaving a dispute about whether the mine's bleeder system adequately diluted and moved…
U.S. Department of the Army, Army Missile Command, Multiple Launch Rocket System, Project Office, Redstone, Alabama, (Agency) and American Federation of Government, Employees, Local 1858, (Union)
Army Missile Command and AFGE Local 1858 (FLRA 0-AR-3157): promotion and back-pay remedy remanded
Arbitrator William D. Ferguson found that management forced an employee to transfer so that a coworker could receive a noncompetitive promotion contrary to an agency regulation. He ordered the employee promoted retroactively with back pay. The Authority majority set aside that remedy because the…
In re Air India Airlines Flight No. AI 101
Individual visa waiver did not remove carrier fine liability
The Board reviewed Air India's appeal from a $3,000 fine imposed after it transported a lawful permanent resident from India without the required entry documents. The passenger did not have an Alien Registration Receipt Card or reentry permit when presented for inspection, although the Service…
Phoenix Associates Land Syndicate
Penalty petitions ordered resubmitted by an attorney
Phoenix Associates Land Syndicate was the respondent in two civil penalty proceedings. Judge Paul Merlin refused to accept penalty petitions signed by a person whose status and position were not identified, because the filings were not signed by an attorney and the purported law clerk was not…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 987 and Nedra Bradley
AFGE Local 987 and Nedra Bradley (FLRA AT-CO-31253): attorney fee request denied
AFGE Local 987 sought attorney fees after the Authority dismissed an unfair labor practice complaint concerning its discipline of former member Nedra Bradley. An administrative law judge awarded $9,937.50, finding that the General Counsel’s prosecution lacked substantial justification. The…
J & H Reinforcing & Structural Erectors, Inc.
Scissor-lift surface violation affirmed
J & H Reinforcing & Structural Erectors used a scissor lift for welding work at a library construction project in Huntington, West Virginia. The lift tipped when a wheel entered a 5.5-inch-deep offset, and the operator sustained a life-threatening injury. Chief Judge Irving Sommer found that the…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2113 and U.S. Department of the Navy, Naval Air Warfare Training Systems Division, Orlando, Florida
AFGE Local 2113 and Navy Training Systems Division (FLRA 0-NG-2469): reconsideration denied after missed filing deadline
AFGE Local 2113 asked the Authority to reconsider its dismissal of a petition about negotiability issues with the Navy's Orlando training systems division. The union had missed a deadline to correct a required filing and argued that agency mail handling delayed delivery of the correction order. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Council of GSA Locals, Council 236 and General Services Administration
AFGE Council 236 and GSA (FLRA 0-NG-2387-001): proposed performance rating levels are outside the duty to bargain
The union proposed four overall performance rating levels for General Services Administration employees and added a sentence about financial awards. The Authority reviewed the rating-level language because it was part of the proposal the agency had declared nonnegotiable. It dismissed the newly…
Association of Civilian Technicians, Inc., Rhode Island Chapter and U.S. Department of Defense, Rhode Island National Guard, Providence, Rhode Island and Association of Civilian Technicians, First Coast and Hurricane Chapters and U.S. Department of the Defense, Florida National Guard, Office of the Adjutant General, St. Augustine, Florida
Rhode Island and Florida National Guard technicians (FLRA 0-NG-2342, 0-NG-2344): uniform bargaining partly required
Unions representing civilian National Guard technicians sought to bargain over uniform allowances in Rhode Island and replacement uniforms in Florida. The Authority held that the Rhode Island allowance proposal was negotiable because federal law prevented duplicate payments but left other uniform…
Nedra Bradley and American Federation of Government Employees; James J. Powers and American Federation of Government Employees
AFGE fee rulemaking petitions (FLRA 0-MC-18 and 0-MC-19): higher EAJA cap applies prospectively
Two AFGE locals petitioned to raise the hourly attorney-fee cap under the Equal Access to Justice Act from $75 to $125 and sought even higher rates for cost of living or special factors. Their underlying cases began before Congress raised the statutory cap on March 29, 1996. The Authority held that…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3966 and U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorney, Southern District of Texas, Houston, Texas
U.S. Attorney’s Office in Houston (FLRA 0-AR-3164): union arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 3966 challenged an arbitration award involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The Authority denied the union’s exceptions, finding no demonstrated defect under the statutory standard for reviewing arbitration awards. It cited precedent on claims that an…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2335 and U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, William J. Hughes Technical Center, Atlantic City, New Jersey
FAA Technical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3163): union arbitration exceptions denied
AFGE Local 2335 challenged an arbitration award involving the Federal Aviation Administration’s William J. Hughes Technical Center. The Authority reviewed the union’s exceptions under the statutory standard for setting aside arbitration awards and denied them. It found that the union had not shown…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923 and Social Security Administration, Baltimore, Maryland
AFGE Local 1923 and SSA Baltimore (FLRA 0-AR-3159): arbitrator's award upheld
AFGE Local 1923 challenged an arbitration award involving the Social Security Administration in Baltimore. The Authority considered the union's exception under the statutory standard for setting aside an award and concluded that the award was not deficient on the ground raised. It cited its…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 3475 and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD and AFGE Local 3475 (FLRA 0-AR-3076): grievances barred after unfair labor practice charges
AFGE Local 3475 and employee Dorothy Pleasant grieved her five-day suspension and periods placed on absent-without-leave status at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They had also filed unfair labor practice charges over the same actions. The Arbitrator found the grievances barred by…
Georgia Marble Company, formerly Basins Incorporated
Three citations affirmed and penalties reduced to $1,600
MSHA cited Georgia Marble at the Basins Mill, a non-coal mine, for damaged electrical cable insulation, failure to lock out a belt during repairs, and an improperly protected power cable entering an electrical compartment. The company stipulated that the conditions existed and asked for lower…
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, Office of Internal Affairs, Washington, D.C. and American Federation of Government Employees, Council of Prison Locals
Bureau of Prisons Office of Internal Affairs (FLRA WA-CA-60287): union representation violations and nationwide notice
Bureau of Prisons investigators questioned employees at a federal correctional institution during an inquiry into alleged staff misconduct. An administrative law judge found that investigators denied two employees requested union representation and improperly made a third employee wait after he…
Rayne Energy Incorporated
Settlement disapproved and motion ordered resubmitted
The Secretary of Labor submitted a settlement motion in a civil penalty case against Rayne Energy Incorporated at the Rayne No. 1 mine. Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Merlin found that the motion was signed and filed by an individual who was not authorized to practice before the Commission in…
Social Security Administration and American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1923, AFL-CIO
Social Security Administration (FLRA WA-CA-80113): bargain over transit subsidies after office move
The Social Security Administration moved its Office of Research, Evaluation and Statistics and refused AFGE Local 1923's request to bargain over transit subsidies for affected employees. The Authority held that a memorandum of understanding required midterm bargaining unless the subject was…
Robert F. Cooper v. Offshore Pipelines International, Incorporated and National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh
Cooper v. Offshore Pipelines (BRB 99-0135): outside wages could not offset disability award
Electrician Robert Cooper injured his back at a river island facility where he supplied electricity to barges and performed vessel repair work. The Board upheld Longshore Act coverage and the partial disability award, finding that the facility and Cooper’s regular duties met the Act’s location and…
Frank Moore v. Universal Maritime Corporation
Moore v. Universal Maritime (BRB 98-1299): job suitability needed a closer review
Frank Moore injured his right knee while working around a shipping container and sought total disability benefits. The administrative law judge found that the employer had not identified suitable alternate jobs. The Board held that the judge had used the wrong occupational descriptions for two…
National Association of Government Employees, Local R4-45 and U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Commissary Agency, Eastern Region, Virginia Beach, Virginia
NAGE Local R4-45 and Defense Commissary Agency (FLRA 0-NG-2447): staffing proposal appeal dismissed
NAGE Local R4-45 proposed that a Defense Commissary Agency store staff its sales checkers with fixed percentages of full-time, part-time, and intermittent employees. The Authority treated the proposal as affecting management's right to determine its organization. The union offered only a brief…
National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 2030 and U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Idaho Falls, Indiana
NFFE Local 2030 and Bureau of Land Management (FLRA 0-AR-3148): arbitration award upheld
NFFE Local 2030 challenged an arbitration award involving the Bureau of Land Management. The Authority reviewed the union's objections under the statutory standard for setting aside an arbitration award. It found no showing of arbitrator bias, excess of authority, an unfair hearing, a legal…
Contour Erection and Siding Systems, Inc.
EAJA fee award reduced to $27,892.48
Contour obtained vacatur of crane-operation citations arising from a crane tip-over at a sports arena project in Buffalo, New York. The company then sought attorney fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act. The Commission agreed that the Secretary's case ceased to be substantially…
Access Equipment Systems, Inc.
Scaffold supplier liable for hazard to another employer's workers
Access Equipment Systems leased and erected mast-climbing scaffolds for a condominium project in Miami, Florida. One scaffold collapsed after an Access lead employee added a fourth platform extension without load-capacity information, killing three employees of a plastering subcontractor. The…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 1731 and U.S. Department of the Air Force, 82 MSSQ/MSCE, Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas
AFGE Local 1731 and Sheppard Air Force Base (FLRA 0-AR-3156): arbitration award upheld
AFGE Local 1731 challenged an arbitration award involving Sheppard Air Force Base. The Authority reviewed the union's exceptions under the statutory standard for setting aside an award and found no ground for doing so. It cited its tests for an arbitrator exceeding authority, conducting an unfair…
Sproule Construction Co., Inc.
Default order vacated and case remanded
Sproule Construction failed to answer MSHA's penalty petition and a later order to show cause, so the ALJ entered a default order assessing $10,000 in penalties. Sproule's counsel later asked the Commission to vacate the default, explaining that the company mistakenly believed its response to an…
Bowen Industries Incorporated
Settlement disapproved and information ordered
Bowen Industries and the Secretary submitted a settlement motion concerning a scaffolding citation at the Ivanhoe Concentrator after the case had been stayed while the Secretary considered possible action against an individual. Judge Paul Merlin lifted the stay but disapproved the settlement…
CMC Electric, Inc.
Electrical-hazard and worksite-safety items affirmed
CMC Electric sent three journeyman wiremen to install electrical service at a cellular-telephone construction site near Andover, Ohio. An employee died after climbing a utility pole and contacting an energized 7,200-volt line that was not shown on the work schematic. CMC had not inspected for…
Albemarle Corporation
Three process-safety violations affirmed
Albemarle operated a chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas, where employees were exposed to chemical splashes during pipe opening and to a near-explosion during a reactor shutdown. In the Commission's first review of the process safety management standards, it held that the safe-work-practices…
American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2145 and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Hunter Holmes McGuire Medical Center, Richmond, Virginia
AFGE Local 2145 and VA Richmond Medical Center (FLRA 0-AR-3100): three-day suspension award upheld
A VA medical center suspended a union official for three days after incidents involving alleged disrespectful language and representational activity. The arbitrator rejected two of the three charges but upheld the suspension based on abusive language toward an agency attorney and prior similar…
In re Samuel Joseph
Automatic stay applied to release order
The Board considered whether the Immigration and Naturalization Service could automatically stay an Immigration Judge’s order releasing Samuel Joseph while the Service appealed. The Service had charged Joseph, a lawful permanent resident from Haiti, with removability as an aggravated felon based on…
Florida Power Corporation
Defective-crane citation vacated under wrong maritime standard
Florida Power used a shore-mounted gantry crane to unload coal barges at its Crystal River generating complex in Florida. The crane repeatedly tripped and lost control of its bucket, but the company continued unloading barges while employees worked nearby. OSHA cited the longshoring rule that…
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.