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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Sunol Aggregates
Settlement motion denied over requested operator change
The Secretary vacated two citations issued to Sunol Aggregates and asked to modify two others so they would instead be issued to Sunol's contractor, DeSilva Gates. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick explained that the Secretary has enforcement authority to issue citations, while Commission judges…
Hess Newark Energy Center
In re Hess Newark Energy Center (EAB PSD Appeal No. 12-02): petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
The Ironbound Community Corporation and the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance challenged parts of an integrated permit for Hess Newark Energy Center's planned 655-megawatt natural-gas-fired power plant. They argued that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection should have…
Apartment Investment and Management Company
In re Apartment Investment and Management Company (EAB TSCA Appeal No. 12-07C): consent agreement terminated after compliance
Apartment Investment and Management Company asked the Environmental Appeals Board to terminate a 2002 consent agreement concerning lead-based paint compliance at certain properties. The company reported that it had fully performed the agreement, maintained compliance with the lead-based paint…
District of Columbia Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4)
In re District of Columbia Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 11-06): petition dismissed with prejudice after settlement
Friends of the Earth, Anacostia Riverkeeper, Inc., Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc., and Natural Resources Defense Council sought review of the District of Columbia municipal separate storm sewer system permit. They moved to dismiss their petition after reaching a settlement with EPA Region 3 and reported…
Leeco, Inc.
Settlement restored significant and substantial designation
An administrative law judge had found that Leeco's violation of its approved ventilation plan was not significant and substantial, reduced negligence, and assessed a $10,000 penalty. The Commission directed review on the significant and substantial issue. The parties then agreed to modify the…
Matter of Jaime Enrique VALENZUELA-FELIX
Parole for prosecution and later proof of inadmissibility
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Mexican lawful permanent resident who had been paroled into the United States for prosecution. The Board held that when a returning lawful permanent resident is…
Riverton Investment Corporation
Reopening motions denied as more than one year late
Two proposed penalty assessments became final Commission orders in September and October 2010 after Riverton Investment Corporation did not timely contest them. Riverton did not file its motions to reopen until February 2012. The Commission applied the one-year limit for relief based on mistake…
Cam Mining, LLC
Coal-dust citation reduced and examination citation vacated
MSHA cited Cam Mining for float coal dust inside an energized transformer box and for an allegedly inadequate weekly electrical examination that did not identify the accumulations. Judge Jerold Feldman affirmed the accumulation violation but found the Secretary had not proved it was significant and…
Kuhlman Construction
Reopening denied for unreliable assessment handling
Kuhlman Construction had contested underlying citations but later paid two proposed assessments instead of sending them to counsel for contest. Its corporate secretary could not recall receiving the assessments and acknowledged that the company lacked paperwork controls for identifying which…
Standard Gravel Company Inc.
Off-site repair shop held subject to MSHA jurisdiction
Standard Gravel challenged MSHA jurisdiction over an off-site shop that repaired and fabricated mining equipment, with 98 percent of its work supporting the company's mines. Judge Priscilla M. Rae applied the Mine Act's broad definition of a mine and held that the shop's function made it an…
Left Fork Mining Company, Inc.
Timely answers prevented default orders from becoming final
Two show-cause orders provided that Left Fork Mining would default if it did not answer the Secretary's penalty petitions. Left Fork produced Postal Service tracking records showing that it had timely answered both petitions, and the Secretary confirmed receiving those answers and did not oppose…
Active Minerals International, LLC
Paid assessments left closed despite later individual investigation
Active Minerals paid two proposed penalties believing that payment would end litigation over the violations. After MSHA began a possible individual-liability investigation under section 110(c), the operator sought reopening so its payments would not be treated as admissions against the company or…
Matter of M-H-
Particularly serious crime standard applies in the Third Circuit
The Board reviewed cross-appeals involving a Pakistani exchange visitor who had convictions for corruption of minors and indecent assault. The Immigration Judge denied asylum and withholding of removal, granted withholding under the Convention Against Torture, and found that the respondent was not…
David Stanley Consultants, LLC
Four citations vacated and two training citations left for further proceedings
After the Upper Big Branch explosion, MSHA cited David Stanley Consultants, a staffing contractor whose employees worked underground at the mine, for training and examination violations. Judge Margaret A. Miller held that the company was an independent contractor subject to the Mine Act because it…
Big Ridge, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Special-assessment review forms protected from discovery
Big Ridge sought MSHA's Special Assessment Review forms for the citations and orders in these cases, or alternatively asked the judge to strike the specially assessed penalties. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that the recommendation and review sections of the forms were part of MSHA's pre-decisional…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Roof-fall withdrawal order left unchanged on remand
After a roof fall, MSHA withdrew miners from unsupported areas south of a mine crosscut under a section 103(k) order. The Eighth Circuit held that the Commission had authority to modify such an order and remanded Pattison Sand's requests to narrow the affected area or allow its experts to enter for…
Byholt, Inc.
Late penalty contests remain closed after unexplained delays
Byholt asked the Commission to reopen two proposed penalty assessments that became final after it missed the 30-day contest deadlines. The company said it misunderstood when to contest section 104(d) orders and later delayed while searching for counsel. Even after the Commission allowed amended…
Matter of Ramiro SANCHEZ-HERBERT
Departure does not end properly noticed removal proceedings
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings because the respondent had left the United States. The respondent had received notice of the proceedings and had conceded removability through counsel. The Board held that an…
Q3 Contracting, Inc.
Traffic-control items withdrawn and judge's decision vacated
Q3 Contracting performed underground utility work on a Denver gas pipeline project. An administrative law judge affirmed two serious items involving missing traffic warning signs and noncompliant barricades, and assessed a $750 penalty. The case was directed for Commission review. The Secretary…
Foundation Coal West, Inc.
Unbermed drill bench treated as an elevated roadway
Foundation Coal West contested a citation for failing to provide a berm along the elevated 21 Bench at its Eagle Butte surface coal mine. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that vehicles commonly traveled the bench during routine drilling and blasting, making it a roadway covered by 30 C.F.R. §…
Todd Descutner v. Newmont USA
Safety complaints found to have contributed to a miner's firing
Todd Descutner, a haul-truck driver at Newmont's Leeville underground gold mine, alleged that he was fired after reporting safety concerns, including open ground and incomplete pre-shift inspections. Judge David F. Barbour credited Descutner's account of the latest complaint and found that its…
Solar Sources, Inc.
Fire-extinguisher citations affirmed for a plant level and wheeled pumps
Solar Sources contested three fire-extinguisher citations issued at three Indiana bituminous surface coal mines. Judge Alan G. Paez held that the preparation plant needed an extinguisher on its third level under 30 C.F.R. § 77.1109(a), even though other firefighting equipment was present. He also…
Lakeside Construction, L.L.C.
Framing safety violations affirmed
Lakeside Construction had three employees framing an Idaho residence without a supervisor present. One employee worked below roof-framing activity without a protective helmet, while other employees worked about 9 feet above the ground without fall protection. The employees also lacked training to…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Nelson Gregory Bradley v. Climax Molybdenum Company
Supervisor temporarily reinstated after safety-retaliation claim
Nelson Gregory Bradley alleged that Climax Molybdenum demoted him from a front-line supervisor job and later fired him after he reported safety concerns and challenged the demotion. He was terminated after refusing a direct-observation drug test ordered during the company's investigation of his…
TMD Contracting
Workload did not excuse late contest
OSHA issued TMD Contracting two serious items after inspecting a commercial construction project in Albion, New York, and proposed $2,850 in penalties. The company filed its first contest letter two weeks after the deadline. TMD said it was managing two large commercial projects, was unfamiliar…
J4 Welding, Inc.
Contest filed nearly a year late was dismissed
J4 Welding performed mobile welding work at a Florida strip-mall remodeling project where OSHA observed the owner cross from an aerial lift to a building without proper fall protection. OSHA issued three serious items and proposed $9,000 in penalties. The company filed its contest almost a year…
The Doe Run Company
Defaults reopened after settlement talks were mistaken for answers
Doe Run failed to answer two civil-penalty petitions, allowing show-cause orders to become default orders. Its safety director said she mistakenly believed informal settlement discussions with MSHA were a substitute for filing answers and did not understand the show-cause orders. The Secretary did…
Tricon Industries, Inc.
Steel-erection fall item vacated for lack of exposure
Tricon employees performed steel-deck layout and welding work on a 100-by-65-foot roof deck more than 15 feet above the ground. They were not tied off while working near the center, but the evidence showed that their assigned work kept them about 12 feet from an unguarded edge, with one employee…
Sandy Woodmansee d/b/a S.A.W.S.
Roofing eye and fall protection items affirmed
S.A.W.S. was repairing a Massachusetts residential roof when OSHA found its sole employee using a pneumatic nail gun without eye protection and working on the roof without fall protection. The roof ranged from 6 feet 10 inches to 13 feet above the ground. The nail-gun manual warned of severe eye…
Gabriel Lopez Alvarez, dba Three Amigos
Default vacated for reconsideration of returned mail
A chief administrative law judge dismissed Three Amigos' notice of contest after the employer did not answer the complaint or respond to a show-cause order. The default affirmed two citations carrying $21,120 in proposed penalties. The record showed that the show-cause order and an earlier order…
Matter of Jennifer Adassa DAVEY
Closely related marijuana offenses can qualify for the personal-use exception
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision releasing a Jamaican respondent from mandatory detention on a $2,000 bond. The respondent had convictions for possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and the Immigration Judge found that both…
Eagle Wings Construction, LLC
Unguarded tail pulleys upheld with $4,000 in statutory minimum penalties
MSHA cited two separate unguarded conveyor tail pulleys at Eagle Wings Construction's newly relocated sand and gravel plant. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found two distinct violations of 30 C.F.R. § 56.14107(a), not one duplicative violation, because the pulleys belonged to separate conveyors. He…
Dominion Coal Corporation
Unsupported settlement rejected and case set for hearing
The Secretary asked to modify a citation's expected-injury finding and reduce its penalty from $1,111 to $777.70. Judge Priscilla M. Rae found that the motion supplied no facts supporting either change, despite Commission Rule 31 and prior instructions requiring a factual basis for each settlement…
Dickenson-Russell Coal Company, LLC
Unsupported settlement rejected before later contest withdrawal
The Secretary proposed deleting the significant and substantial designation from a citation and reducing its penalty from $971 to $500. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that the settlement motion supplied no facts supporting either change, as required by Commission Rule 31. He rejected the motion and…
Rosebud Mining Company
Three violations upheld, welder order reduced, and refuse order vacated
Rosebud Mining contested five enforcement actions at its Dutch Run coal preparation plant with proposed penalties totaling $21,618. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews affirmed three significant and substantial, unwarrantable-failure violations involving inadequate examinations, combustible accumulations, and…
Bonham Concrete, Inc.
Accountant subpoena granted for ability-to-pay records
Bonham Concrete asserted that it could not pay a proposed $23,857 civil penalty. The Secretary asked to subpoena the company's accountant for tax returns, financial statements, asset and debt records, financing documents, corporate minutes, and sale records. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that…
Boart Longyear Company
Brake-light order reduced while drill-platform violations upheld
Boart Longyear faced three enforcement actions involving a contractor's drilling operation at a Nevada gold mine. Judge Margaret A. Miller upheld a brake-light violation on a flatbed truck but removed the unwarrantable-failure designation and changed it to a section 104(a) citation because repeated…
Federal Construction Group
Case remanded to address alleged ex parte communication
Federal Construction Group faced hazard-communication and lead-compliance citations arising from renovation work at Fort Bragg. An administrative law judge affirmed the items and assessed $6,000 in penalties. In its review petition, the company alleged that the judge had a private lunch…
Sean P. Tadlock v. Big Ridge Inc.
Discrimination complaint dismissed for repeated litigation failures
Sean Tadlock was temporarily reinstated, but MSHA later found no Mine Act discrimination and he chose to pursue his complaint personally before the Commission. Tadlock did not respond to scheduling proposals, missed conference calls, failed to answer discovery, and did not comply with orders…
Big Ridge, Incorporated
One roof citation vacated and six reduced, with $53,000 total penalties
Big Ridge faced eleven roof-control citations at its Willow Lake Portal Mine with proposed penalties totaling $359,400. Four citations were settled for $36,500. Of the seven litigated citations, Senior Judge Michael E. Zielinski vacated one because the Secretary did not prove that the mine's recent…
Genwal Resources, Inc., et al.
Consolidated mine settlements impose $1.15 million in penalties
The parties submitted a consolidated settlement covering citations and orders arising from the 2007 Crandall Canyon Mine fatal accidents and numerous other enforcement dockets involving four related operators. The companies admitted the Mine Act violations for purposes of the agency proceedings…
Highland Mining Company, LLC
One citation affirmed, nine modified, and three vacated
Highland Mining admitted many of the cited conditions at its Highland 9 underground coal mine but disputed significant and substantial and unwarrantable-failure findings across thirteen litigated enforcement actions. Judge Priscilla M. Rae evaluated roof and rib hazards, belt accumulations and…
Matter of M-Z-M-R-
Standards for internal relocation in asylum cases
The Board reconsidered a Sri Lankan respondent's applications for asylum, withholding of removal, and protection under the Convention Against Torture after the Ninth Circuit remanded the case. The Board held that internal relocation requires separate findings on whether the applicant could safely…
Bledsoe Coal Corporation
Fifteen S&S violations uphold pattern designation
MSHA placed Bledsoe Coal's Abner Branch Rider Mine under a pattern-of-violations designation after a follow-up inspection produced eighteen citations marked significant and substantial. The parties agreed that MSHA needed at least nine valid S&S citations to sustain the pattern action. Judge…
Pocahontas Coal Company, et al.
Late penalty cases remanded under clarified adequate-cause test
The Commission had consolidated multiple cases for interlocutory review after judges accepted penalty petitions that the Secretary filed beyond the 45-day deadline. A newly issued Commission decision clarified that adequate cause exists when the Secretary gives a supported, nonfrivolous explanation…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Roof-fall withdrawal order modification returned to the ALJ
MSHA issued a section 103(k) withdrawal order after a roof fall at Pattison Sand's Iowa sandstone mine, barring activity in broad unbolted and unmeshed areas. An ALJ upheld the order and concluded that the Commission lacked authority to modify it. The Eighth Circuit affirmed that the roof fall was…
Bolton Fencing and Construction, LLC
Trench items reduced from willful to serious
Bolton supported oil and gas pipeline work in Colorado and sent two employees into an unprotected excavation with walls between 5 and 8 feet high. The soil was Type B, no sloping, shoring, or trench box was used, and the competent person left the site after directing the employees into the…
US Borax, Inc.
Electrical-cover citation reduced while hoist guarding violation remained S&S
US Borax faced nine citations at its large California boron operation, with seven resolved by settlement for $21,675. Judge Margaret A. Miller upheld a citation for a missing insulating cover over energized timer connections but removed the S&S designation because the locked room and timer were…
Titanium Metals Corporation
In re Titanium Metals Corporation (EAB TSCA 12-06C): consent agreement ratified and $258,176 penalty assessed
Titanium Metals Corporation was the respondent in a Toxic Substances Control Act proceeding involving its Morgantown, Pennsylvania facility. The Consent Agreement describes four failures to submit required chemical-inventory reports and 126 failures to submit import certifications for titanium. The…
Matter of Edgar LEAL
Arizona reckless endangerment is a crime involving moral turpitude
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied cancellation of removal based on his Arizona endangerment conviction. The conviction involved recklessly endangering another person with a substantial risk of imminent death, and Arizona's definition of recklessness…
Matter of Y-N-P-
Section 212(h) waiver unavailable for special rule cancellation
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge denied special rule cancellation of removal and a section 212(h) waiver based on her criminal conviction and inadmissibility. The Board held that an applicant for special rule cancellation under section 240A(b)(2) cannot…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Norman Deck v. FTS International Proppants, LLC
Temporary reinstatement affirmed after anonymous accident report
Norman Deck anonymously told MSHA that an accident at FTS International Proppants' Brewer Quarry had not been reported, and FTS fired him fourteen days later. An ALJ found the discrimination complaint was not frivolously brought and ordered temporary reinstatement. The Commission held that…
ACME Energy Services dba Big Dog Drilling
Rig-floor struck-by citation affirmed
Big Dog Drilling employees were extending an oil rig's telescoping mast when the hydraulic ram failed and large suspended equipment fell onto the rig floor. A driller assigned to watch the mast from the rig floor was fatally struck. The judge vacated OSHA's general duty clause citation, finding…
Jaunt, Inc.
Unserved show-cause order could not create a final default
Jaunt did not answer a civil-penalty petition, and a show-cause order was treated as becoming a default order after thirty days. The operator later said it did not understand that another answer was required after contesting the proposed assessment. The record also showed that Jaunt was omitted…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC
Missed contest form reopened after prompt delinquency response
Canyon Fuel's safety manager instructed an employee to pay uncontested penalties and mail a contest form. The employee sent the payment but did not mail the form, causing the assessment to become a final Commission order. The Secretary did not oppose reopening because Canyon acted shortly after…
Timber Savers, Inc.
Gravel-crushing operation held subject to MSHA jurisdiction
MSHA cited a gravel-crushing site identified as Timber Savers, while its owner said the operation had been renamed Solid Rock Gravel Company. Judge William B. Moran allowed the petition to be amended because both names referred to the same Idaho site and owner. He also granted partial summary…
Chemalloy Company, Inc.
In re Chemalloy Company, Inc. (EAB TSCA 12-05C): $204,971 penalty paid and case resolved
Chemalloy Company, Inc. was accused of failing to comply with TSCA reporting requirements and the Inventory Update Reporting Rule. EPA's complaint proposed a $204,971 civil penalty. Chemalloy paid the full amount, which waived its right to contest the allegations and appeal the order under the…
City of Palmdale (Palmdale Hybrid Power Project)
In re City of Palmdale (Palmdale Hybrid Power Project) (EAB PSD Appeal No. 11-07): PSD permit review denied
The City of Palmdale proposed a 570-megawatt hybrid power plant combining natural gas generation with a 50-megawatt solar component in California. A petitioner challenged the Region's decision not to extend or reopen the public comment period, its greenhouse-gas best available control technology…
JLD Custom Carpentry
Business pressures did not excuse late contest
OSHA issued JLD Custom Carpentry five serious items after inspecting residential re-roofing work in Pennsylvania and proposed $18,000 in penalties. The owner's wife received the citation and scheduled an informal conference, but miscommunicated the date and the company missed the conference and…
E.C. Stokes Mechanical Contractor, Inc.
Misplaced citation did not excuse late contest
E.C. Stokes was installing plumbing and air-conditioning systems at a Florida hospital project when OSHA cited two serious oxygen and acetylene cylinder-storage violations. The proposed penalties totaled $4,760. An experienced office employee received the certified citation, scanned it, believed it…
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.