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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Conshor Mining, LLC
Review granted on history-based flagrant violations
An ALJ certified a controlling legal question after ruling that a violation not caused by reckless conduct could not be deemed flagrant based on an operator's history of similar violations. The Commission agreed that the issue warranted immediate interlocutory review under Rule 76. It granted…
Oil-Dri Corporation of Georgia
Five safety violations upheld and hoist citation vacated
Six citations remained for hearing from inspections of Oil-Dri's Simpson clay mine, and the Secretary had already vacated a seventh citation. Judge Priscilla M. Rae upheld violations involving an unguarded loading dock, an unprotected ladder opening, material obstructing a conveyor walkway, exposed…
Matter of Wilmer Rodrigo CASTRO RODRIGUEZ
Marijuana mitigation requires proof of no remuneration
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision involving a Virginia conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. It held that an alien has the burden to show that the offense involved a small amount of marijuana intended for…
Williams Bros. Coal Co., Inc.
Refuge-unit violation reduced to a $100 penalty
Williams Bros. Coal twice missed promised delivery dates for the refuge unit specified in its approved emergency response plan. The company had shut down temporarily for economic reasons and later chose a more expensive Carbonoks unit that it considered safer, but the replacement was not installed…
Black Beauty Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor
Accident-site citation affirmed and examination order vacated
Black Beauty resolved 32 of 34 citations and orders through settlement or agency vacatur, leaving an accident-site preservation citation and an alleged inadequate on-shift examination for decision. Judge Jerold Feldman held that Black Beauty violated section 50.12 by resuming mining after reporting…
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, et al.
In re New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, et al. (EAB EPCRA 12-01C): consent agreement ratified
The Environmental Appeals Board issued a Final Order for New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, et al., in an EPCRA enforcement matter. Under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(c), the Board incorporated the parties’ Consent Agreement into the Final Order and ratified it. The respondent was ordered to comply with all…
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, et al.
In re New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, et al. (EAB EPCRA 12-01(C)): Consent Agreement ratified
New Cingular Wireless PCS, LLC, et al. was the respondent in an EPCRA matter before the Environmental Appeals Board. The Board incorporated an attached Consent Agreement resolving the matter into its Final Order and ratified the agreement under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(c). The Board ordered the respondent…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lance Carter v. Kino Aggregates, Inc. and Noble Plant
Safety complaints caused unlawful discharge
Lance Carter managed safety compliance at Kino Aggregates and repeatedly raised concerns about dust, housekeeping, equipment foundations, access, and untrained workers. During an MSHA inspection, owner Noble Plant confronted Carter for contacting the agency and discharged him; Kino later claimed…
Titan Constructors, Inc.
Shared batch-plant shop fell within Mine Act jurisdiction
Titan Constructors operated a portable crusher and a concrete batch plant on the same property, with both operations using parts of a shared shop. Titan argued that OSHA, not MSHA, controlled the shop because it was built for the batch plant. Judge Richard W. Manning held that the shop areas…
Nuprecon, LP d/b/a Nuprecon Acquisition, LP
Fall citation affirmed for work near open edge
Nuprecon employees were demolishing an aircraft hangar beside a 21-foot-wide unprotected opening with a 36-foot drop. The Commission rejected the judge's exposure finding for a Bobcat operator because the fall standard's definition of a walking or working surface excludes vehicles, and the record…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Chuck E. Mosby v. Mulzer Crushed Stone, Inc.
Machinist economically reinstated after safety complaint
Chuck Mosby reported an uncapped and unsecured oxygen cylinder and kept a notebook documenting safety concerns at Mulzer Crushed Stone's Rockport Plant. The company searched his toolbox, reviewed the notebook, accused him of dishonesty, and discharged him about three weeks after the cylinder…
Shaw Areva Mox Services, LLC
Electrical grounding citation vacated
OSHA cited Shaw Areva after finding a three-plug adaptor and a fuel-pump cord with missing grounding prongs at a nuclear-fuel facility construction project. The Commission held that the grounding-path standard applied to the adaptor because it functioned as a multiple receptacle that was required…
Pine Ridge Coal Company, LLC
Faulty ventilation controls and weekly examination orders affirmed
MSHA cited Pine Ridge after finding holes in seven of nine stoppings and overcasts separating a working section's return air from intake entries, a belt entry, and escapeways. Judge Alan G. Paez held that the poorly built controls violated the approved ventilation plan and that an adequate weekly…
Layne Christensen Company of Delaware Corporation
Final penalty assessment reopened
Layne Christensen asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission explained that it may reopen final assessments in appropriate circumstances, using Federal Rule of Civil…
Matter of Bavakan AVETISYAN
Administrative closure may be ordered over a party's objection
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's interlocutory appeal from an Immigration Judge's administrative closure of removal proceedings while a visa petition for an Armenian respondent was pending. It overruled Matter of Gutierrez and held that Immigration Judges and the Board may…
Starr Aggregates, LLC
Final penalty assessment reopened
Starr Aggregates asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission explained that it may reopen final assessments in appropriate circumstances, using Federal Rule of Civil…
Black Panther Mining, LLC
Original belt-maintenance decision later amended
MSHA alleged that Black Panther's maintenance chief repaired a conveyor belt without removing power and blocking the machinery against motion, an S&S and unwarrantable-failure violation of section 75.1725(c). Judge Thomas P. McCarthy credited the operator's witnesses that three circuits had been…
Granite Rock Company
Fall-protection and access violations yield $3,990 penalty
Granite Rock operates a surface rock, sand, and gravel mine in California. Two miners climbed conveyor framework and worked on elevated belts without wearing fall protection or using the available ladders, harnesses, and lanyards. Judge Jacqueline R. Bulluck found that the conditions created a…
Adelman Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Timely answer prevents default
Adelman Sand & Gravel did not initially answer the Secretary's penalty petition, so the Chief Judge issued a show-cause order that would become a default after 30 days. Adelman produced a certified-mail receipt showing that the Commission's Docket Office received its answer within that period. The…
Lakeview Rock Products
Blasting and highwall violations yield $3,000 penalty
Lakeview Rock Products operates a sand and gravel mine where flyrock from a blast traveled about 600 to 700 yards, penetrated a nearby home's roof and attic, and entered the living room. Judge William B. Moran found that the blaster failed to account for the nearby residences and that the occupants…
Matter of J. R. VELASQUEZ
Authenticated conviction records are required
The Board reviewed the removal case of a Salvadoran lawful permanent resident charged with multiple crimes involving moral turpitude. It held that the records listed in the Immigration and Nationality Act and the regulations are admissible to prove a conviction, while other probative evidence may…
Wolf Run Mining Co.
Summary motions denied in flagrant-violation dispute
MSHA proposed a $142,900 flagrant penalty for extensive combustible coal and coal-dust accumulations at Wolf Run's Sentinel Mine. The parties agreed that the section 75.400 violation occurred, involved high negligence, was S&S and unwarrantable, and could reasonably cause permanently disabling…
George Reed, Inc.
Timely answer prevents default
George Reed did not initially answer the Secretary's penalty petition, prompting a show-cause order that would become a default after 30 days. The company produced a certified-mail receipt showing that the Commission's Docket Office received its answer on time. The Secretary did not oppose…
North Montgomery Materials, LLC
Default vacated and penalty case reopened
North Montgomery Materials did not answer a show-cause order, causing a default to become effective in its penalty case. The company said it had timely answered the Secretary's penalty petition and never received the show-cause order. The Secretary did not oppose reopening and confirmed that MSHA's…
James River Coal Service Company
Default vacated and penalty case reopened
James River Coal Service did not answer a show-cause order, causing a default to become effective in its penalty case. The company said it never received the Secretary's penalty petition, while the Secretary reported that MSHA's records contained a timely answer that apparently had not been sent to…
Bachmann Sand & Gravel
Equipment and storage violations yield $1,186 penalty
Bachmann Sand & Gravel operates a small South Dakota mine where county employees used the operator's loader when no mine employee was present. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed violations involving damaged conveyor guards, an inoperative backup alarm, a parking brake that would not hold, dry…
Southern Wood Piedmont Company and Rayonier Inc.
In re Southern Wood Piedmont Company and Rayonier Inc. (EAB RCRA (3008) 11-04(C)): Consent Agreement ratified
Southern Wood Piedmont Company and Rayonier Inc. were respondents in an RCRA penalty matter. The Board incorporated and ratified the Consent Agreement under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b) and section 3008(a), 42 U.S.C. § 6928(a). It ordered both respondents to comply with all terms of the agreement effective…
Conshor Mining, LLC
Flagrant-violation question certified for review
The Secretary sought enhanced flagrant penalties for three roof-control violations based on Conshor Mining's history of similar unwarrantable violations, even though the current orders alleged high negligence rather than reckless conduct. Judge Jerold Feldman had ruled that violation history alone…
Matter of U. SINGH
Stalking conviction qualifies as aggravated felony
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from a waiver grant to an Indian lawful permanent resident convicted in California of felony stalking. It held that a federal appellate decision reversing a Board precedent is binding only within that circuit, so Matter of Malta…
Vindex Energy Corporation
Screen citation settled for $3,996
The Secretary and Vindex Energy proposed settling a citation involving a portable mechanical screen that was moved at least once per shift. They agreed that the machine's extremely slow movement supported reducing the likelihood of injury from highly likely to reasonably likely. That change reduced…
Bresee Trucking Co., Inc.
Penalty reopening denied over address and mail controls
Bresee Trucking sought to reopen two penalty assessments, arguing that they were delivered to the wrong address and were not discovered until after the contest deadline. The Secretary showed that Bresee had specifically instructed MSHA to use that address, had received and contested other…
Moose Lake Aggregates, LLC
Penalty reopening denied for inadequate processing system
Moose Lake Aggregates asked to reopen penalty assessments that its administrative staff had routinely paid without determining whether the company wanted to contest them. The Commission majority found that this practice was an inadequate internal processing system and that the operator remained…
Buckingham Coal Company
Dust-spray citations settled for $8,225
Two citations involved dust-suppression sprays on a continuous miner at Buckingham Coal's mine. The Secretary reconsidered the special assessments because 30 sprays were working, mining had not begun when pre-operational checks identified the problems, no prior special assessment had been issued on…
Arch Materials LLC
Roof-fall reporting settlement denied for missing facts
Arch Materials discovered an unplanned roof fall measuring about 200 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 8 feet thick, then reported it to MSHA about 80 minutes later. The parties proposed changing the citation from section 50.10(a) to section 50.10(d) and reducing the penalty from $5,000 to $100. Chief…
Morton Salt Division / Morton International Inc.
Hoist-outage reporting settlement denied
A power outage affected both hoists at Morton Salt's Fairport Mine at 1:03 a.m., and the company notified MSHA at 7:30 a.m. The parties proposed changing the citation from section 50.10(a) to section 50.10(d), reducing negligence from high to moderate, and cutting the penalty from $5,000 to $100…
Mach Mining, LLC
Ventilation order modified and borehole order vacated
Mach Mining extended longwall headgate entries beyond the length shown in its approved ventilation plan before obtaining district-manager approval. Judge Richard W. Manning upheld that violation but found that unclear communications created a reasonable, good-faith misunderstanding, so he removed…
All Steel Consultants, Inc.
Roofing citations partly affirmed
All Steel Consultants was installing metal roofing when OSHA observed four employees working without tying off and two others using lifelines with enough slack to contact the lower roof in a fall. The foreman knew the company's tie-off rule but allowed employees to work without following it, and he…
Boh Brothers Construction Co., LLC.
Lifeline citation vacated on remand
OSHA cited Boh Brothers after a bridge-work accident, alleging that more than five employees were tied to a horizontal lifeline designed to support no more than five. The judge originally affirmed the citation, but the Commission remanded for clearer credibility findings and reconsideration of the…
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (EAB TSCA 11-08(C), RCRA 11-05(C), and TSCA 11-09(C)): settlement amended for supplemental environmental project
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company and EPA jointly sought a second amendment to a Consent Agreement and Final Order governing DuPont's supplemental environmental project. The Board approved changes that extended the completion date by two years and three months, to March 27, 2014, and added…
Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. & Shell Offshore, Inc.
In re Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. & Shell Offshore, Inc. (EAB OCS Appeal Nos. 11-02, 11-03, 11-04 & 11-08): Review of OCS PSD permits denied
Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. and Shell Offshore, Inc. sought review of two Clean Air Act permits for the Noble Discoverer drillship and associated support vessels operating in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas off Alaska. Petitioners challenged the Region's determination of when the drillship became an…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc. v. Secretary of Labor
Ignition orders and mine-wide training upheld
After a welding ignition at Jim Walter Resources' methane-liberating No. 7 Mine, MSHA issued a telephone section 103(j) order, converted it to a section 103(k) order when an inspector arrived, and required ignition training for all underground miners. Judge William B. Moran rejected the operator's…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Charles Scott Howard v. Cumberland River Coal Company
Charles Scott Howard v. Cumberland River Coal Company (FMSHRC KENT 2011-1379-D): Medical-return emails ordered produced
Charles Scott Howard alleged that Cumberland River Coal used a supplemental medical opinion to prevent his return to work and terminate him because of protected safety activity. The company withheld 77 pages of emails, notes, and letters concerning his medical appointments and return-to-work status…
Matter of R-A-M-
Child pornography conviction is particularly serious crime
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of withholding of removal to a Honduran respondent who had been convicted of possessing child pornography. It held that the conviction was an aggravated felony and, based on the nature of the offense and the specific facts, a…
Kronos Worldwide, Inc.
In re Kronos Worldwide, Inc. (EAB TSCA 11-07(C)): $61,382 penalty assessed under Consent Agreement
Kronos Worldwide, Inc. was the respondent in a TSCA matter before the Environmental Appeals Board. The parties signed and consented to entry of an attached Consent Agreement, which the Board incorporated into its Final Order. The Board assessed a $61,382 civil penalty and ordered Kronos to pay it…
Cam Mining, LLC
Late penalty petitions remained unsupported on remand
Cam Mining obtained summary decision dismissing three late-filed penalty petitions after the Secretary did not respond to its motion or dispute its facts. The Commission vacated that ruling and remanded for an explanation of why the judge had not followed an earlier order allowing the late filings…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Ground-control dismissal and summary motions denied
MSHA cited hazardous cracked and loose ground extending about 242 feet at Pattison Sand's mine and restricted the area to miners correcting the condition. Pattison argued that this restriction effectively closed the entire mine and exceeded the authority of a section 104(a) citation. The Secretary…
Lehigh Southwest Cement
Contractor-training violation affirmed with $12,248 penalty
Contract construction workers spent several months rebuilding a fuel station at Lehigh Southwest Cement's active California plant but received only site-specific hazard training. Judge Alan G. Paez held that construction workers at an active mine are miners under Part 46 and must receive…
Excel Mining, LLC
Pump permissibility violations yield $49,000 penalty
Two de-watering pump starter boxes in Excel Mining's underground coal mine lacked packing needed to contain an internal ignition, and the defects had remained for at least a month. Judge Gary Melick found the violations S&S because the pumps were near methane-releasing seals, multiple return air…
Clark Mining, Inc.
Assessment reopened after mailing to wrong address
Clark Mining's proposed penalty assessment was mailed to the Kentucky mine and signed for there, even though MSHA's address-of-record form listed the company's Virginia consultant. The consultant said he did not receive the assessment until MSHA faxed it after the contest deadline. His records…
Copeland Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Two final assessments reopened
Copeland Sand & Gravel asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that had become final after the contest deadline passed. The official order does not explain why the deadlines were missed or describe the supporting evidence. The Secretary did not oppose either request. In the interest…
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.