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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Buckingham Slate Company
Unopposed penalty reopening granted
Buckingham Slate asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the contest deadline passed. The official order does not explain why the deadline was missed or describe the supporting evidence. The Secretary did not oppose the request. In the interest of justice…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane imminent-danger order affirmed
An MSHA inspector found at least 5.6 percent methane in a roof cavity near active equipment and miners at Jim Walter Resources' underground No. 7 Mine. The mine argued that no ignition source could reach the elevated methane and that its separate duty to withdraw miners at 1.5 percent methane made…
Hibbing Taconite Company
Unopposed penalty reopening granted
Hibbing Taconite asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the contest deadline passed. The official order does not explain why the deadline was missed or describe the supporting evidence. The Secretary did not oppose the request. In the interest of justice…
Hibbing Taconite Company
Unopposed penalty reopening granted
Hibbing Taconite asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the contest deadline passed. The official order does not explain why the deadline was missed or describe the supporting evidence. The Secretary did not oppose the request. In the interest of justice…
Warrior Coal, LLC
Unopposed penalty reopening granted
Warrior Coal asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the contest deadline passed. The official order does not explain why the deadline was missed or describe the supporting evidence. The Secretary did not oppose the request. In the interest of justice, the…
Continental Coal, Inc.
Unopposed penalty reopening granted
Continental Coal asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the contest deadline passed. The official order does not explain why the deadline was missed or describe the supporting evidence. The Secretary did not oppose the request. In the interest of justice…
Texas Architectural Aggregate, Inc.
Unopposed penalty reopening granted
Texas Architectural Aggregate asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after the contest deadline passed. The official order does not explain why the deadline was missed or describe the supporting evidence. The Secretary did not oppose the request. In the interest…
Spiro Mining, LLC
Jurisdiction and failure-to-state-a-claim motions denied
MSHA cited Spiro Mining for allegedly interfering with an inspector at the Calder Mine. Spiro sought dismissal, arguing that its preliminary operation had not produced minerals or affected interstate commerce and that the Secretary had failed to state a claim. Judge Alan G. Paez held that the Mine…
Humphreys Enterprises, Inc.
Highwall citation modified with $30,000 penalty
A dozer operator became lost in darkness, rain, and dense fog while benching near a previously identified hazardous spoil area at Humphreys Enterprises' surface mine. The dozer entered loose spoil above a 50-foot highwall, spun, slid about two feet, became stuck, and was abandoned without an…
Rock n Roll Coal Company, Inc.
Unsupported settlement motion rejected
The Secretary and Rock n Roll Coal proposed changing a citation from section 104(d)(1) to section 104(a), reducing negligence from high to moderate, and lowering the penalty from $13,609 to $3,690. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that the motion provided no facts supporting those changes or the…
National Cement Company of California
Retaliation complaint dismissed on remand
Electrician Jayson Turner alleged that National Cement fired him in retaliation for safety concerns involving manlift lighting, electrical gloves, mislabeled switchgear, and work near heat and gases. The Commission had found that Turner established a prima facie case and remanded for closer…
Cumberland Coal Resources LP
Ventilation violations modified with $12,500 penalty
Cumberland removed four permanent stoppings and substituted temporary curtains while preparing equipment access between two sections of its underground coal mine. The changes allowed substantial intake-air leakage into the return, leaving the working face below the quantity required by the approved…
Apex Quarry, LLC
Equipment citations modified with $9,791 installment penalty
Apex Quarry admitted a group of S&S equipment violations involving a torn seat belt, an ineffective parking brake, a damaged windshield, unsafe truck access, and nonworking horns or backup alarms. The parties agreed to several gravity and negligence modifications that reduced the proposed…
Windham Materials, LLC
Unreceived default order held nonfinal
Windham Materials failed to answer a penalty petition and show-cause order, leading the Chief Judge to enter a default. Windham said the petition and show-cause order were sent to the wrong mailing address rather than the address on its Legal ID Report, and that it learned of the matter only after…
Standard Sand and Silica Co.
Late fatality report affirmed with $5,000 penalty
A Standard Sand employee suffered a fatal heart attack while working at the Lake Wales Dry Plant. Coworkers promptly called 911 and performed CPR, but the company did not notify MSHA until 7:12 a.m., more than two hours after the employee was found unresponsive and more than an hour after he was…
Florida CRI, Inc.
Default vacated and penalty case reopened
Florida CRI defaulted after the Commission did not receive an answer to the Secretary's penalty petition. The operator said it had responded promptly in 2009 but apparently sent the answer to an MSHA conference representative instead of filing it with the Commission, and it did not receive later…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Truck-scale guardrail ruling vacated and remanded
MSHA cited Lakeview Rock Products because its elevated truck scales had eight-inch rub rails rather than berms or guardrails reaching the 20-to-24-inch mid-axle height of trucks using them. An ALJ granted summary decision to Lakeview and vacated the citation after finding that the Secretary had not…
Cordero Mining, LLC
Discrimination remedies stayed in part
An ALJ found that Cordero Mining unlawfully discharged Cindy Clapp for safety complaints and ordered reinstatement, back pay, file correction, notice posting, and a $40,000 penalty within 14 days. Cordero sought a stay so it could use the Mine Act's review period, and the Secretary did not oppose…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Ground-support citation vacated but withdrawal order affirmed
A 20-to-30-ton roof fall struck and damaged an occupied scaling excavator in an unbolted cap-rock area of Pattison Sand's underground mine, but the miner escaped without injury. MSHA issued a ground-support citation and a section 103(k) order barring activity in unbolted and unmeshed areas south of…
Hoover Excavating, Inc.
Three penalty reopening motions denied
Hoover Excavating asked to reopen three final penalty assessments, saying its owner had relied on assistants to submit contests and believed the paperwork had been filed. The Secretary opposed relief because Hoover lacked a reliable process for confirming submissions and did not explain delays…
Hidden Splendor Resources, Inc.
Financial-record reopening denied
Nine months after a hearing on 23 contested citations and orders, Hidden Splendor asked to reopen the record with a recent SEC filing showing that its parent company's financial position had deteriorated. The operator argued that the report was relevant to whether penalties would affect its ability…
Service Oil, Inc.
In re Service Oil, Inc. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 11-01): penalty reduced to $14,529.24
Service Oil, Inc. was cited for storm water violations during construction of a truck stop in Fargo, North Dakota. The Board had previously affirmed a $35,640 penalty, but the Eighth Circuit vacated and remanded the penalty for recalculation after invalidating one liability basis. On remand, the…
Mining & Property Specialists
One-dollar penalty vacated for fuller findings
Mining & Property Specialists kept a personnel carrier's electrical examination book at its office 9.1 miles from the mine rather than at the mine site. An ALJ affirmed the record-availability violation but reduced the Secretary's proposed $100 penalty to one dollar based on the company's…
Matter of Javier Jesus ESPINOSA GUILLOT
Cuban adjustment counts as admission
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal after an Immigration Judge terminated removal proceedings against a Cuban respondent who had adjusted status to lawful permanent resident under the Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act. The respondent had later been convicted of trafficking in cannabis and was charged with…
Barnhart, Inc.
Settlement approved after construction-safety decision
OSHA cited Barnhart, the controlling contractor on a Marine Corps barracks renovation, for electrical, floor-hole, fall-protection, training, and inspection issues involving its subcontractors. The appended judge's decision had affirmed three items involving temporary cords, uncovered floor holes…
Cordero Mining, LLC
Retaliatory discharge found with reinstatement and $40,000 penalty
Shovel operator Cindy Clapp repeatedly raised safety concerns about blocked equipment visibility, unmanned dozers, uncontrolled dust, and a procedure requiring overloaded haul trucks to turn and dump near the coal face. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that supervisors responded with hostility…
Cordero Mining, LLC
Retaliatory discharge found with reinstatement and $40,000 penalty
Shovel operator Cindy Clapp repeatedly raised safety concerns about blocked equipment visibility, unmanned dozers, uncontrolled dust, and a procedure requiring overloaded haul trucks to turn and dump near the coal face. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that supervisors responded with hostility…
Allen Barry and Tim Barry d/b/a Allen Barry Livestock
In re Allen Barry and Tim Barry d/b/a Allen Barry Livestock (EAB CWA Appeal No. 11-07): reconsideration granted and penalty order vacated
An EPA administrative law judge found Allen Barry and Tim Barry d/b/a Allen Barry Livestock in default for failing to file the required prehearing materials or a signed consent agreement and assessed a $75,000 penalty for violations of an NPDES permit. The EAB later elected to review the matter on…
21st Century Roofing Systems, Inc.
Roof fall citations affirmed by default
OSHA observed 21st Century Roofing employees working near the edge of a low-slope roof without adequate fall protection. The warning line was only about 2.5 to 4 feet from the edge instead of the required 6 feet, and employees worked outside it near a roughly 25-foot drop without a safety monitor…
Tilcon New York, Inc.
Timely response defeated default
Tilcon New York was treated as being in default after failing to answer a penalty petition. The operator showed that it had timely responded to the later show-cause order, although its filing contained a typographical error in the docket number, and that it had reached a settlement with the…
Junction City Mining Company, LLC
Unreceived show-cause order defeated default
Junction City Mining failed to answer a penalty petition, and the Chief Judge entered a default through a show-cause order. The operator said it never received that order or other correspondence before a delinquency notice arrived. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission held that the…
Matter of Judith Elma CAMARILLO
Notice to appear triggers the stop-time rule
The Board reviewed DHS's appeal after an Immigration Judge granted cancellation of removal to a lawful permanent resident from Guatemala. The Board held that service of a notice to appear ends continuous residence under the stop-time rule even when the notice does not yet state the date and time of…
Melrose Quarry & Asphalt, LLC
Two defaults vacated after management transition
Melrose Quarry failed to answer two penalty petitions, resulting in final default orders. Its current management said it was working through three years of citations left unhandled by prior management and obtained the penalty petitions only after contacting the Solicitor's Office after default…
ICG Beckley, LLC
Late penalty petition accepted and stays denied
MSHA filed one penalty petition slightly more than three months after the Commission's 45-day deadline, citing a high contest rate and limited staff. ICG Beckley sought dismissal and argued that fading witness memories caused prejudice. Judge David F. Barbour accepted the late petition because the…
Active Minerals Intl., LLC
Loader safety violations affirmed with $77,000 penalty
A contractor's loader operator was fatally run over after an unsecured passenger accidentally released the parking brake while the loader was stopped on an inclined ramp. Judge Priscilla M. Rae affirmed violations for transporting a passenger without a secure seat, leaving the loader bucket raised…
Amfire Mining Company, LLC
Mailed contest mishap excused and assessment reopened
Amfire sought to reopen a penalty assessment after MSHA had no record of receiving its contest for Citation No. 8012006. The company's safety director said he mailed that contest in the same envelope as another contest that MSHA did receive. He discovered the delinquency while reviewing MSHA's Mine…
Lone Mountain Processing, Inc.
Stay of penalty payment denied pending appeal
Lone Mountain appealed an order that had denied its request to reopen three final penalty assessments. It asked the Commission to stay payment of the penalties or allow payment into an escrow account while the appeal proceeded. The Commission found no new or compelling basis showing that Lone…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Emergency request to narrow roof-fall order denied
A large roof fall struck and damaged scaling equipment operated by a miner at Pattison Sand's underground mine. MSHA issued a section 103(k) order barring activity in unbolted and unmeshed areas south of crosscut L, and Pattison asked for an immediate ruling that would vacate or narrow the order…
Fittstone, Inc.
MSHA jurisdiction upheld over local gravel operation
Fittstone argued that MSHA lacked jurisdiction because its Oklahoma limestone gravel operation did not substantially affect interstate commerce. Judge L. Zane Gill held that local economic activity may be regulated when similar activity in the aggregate affects interstate commerce. He found that…
Capital Quarries Company, Inc.
Incomplete contest form excused and assessment reopened
Capital Quarries timely sent MSHA a contest form for a proposed assessment containing one citation but failed to attach the citation check-off sheet. MSHA treated the submission as incomplete rather than as a penalty contest, and the assessment became final. Capital said it intended to contest the…
Buckingham Slate Company
Omitted checkmark excused and assessment reopened
Buckingham Slate sought to reopen a final penalty assessment after it mistakenly failed to check the contest box for Citation No. 8633701. Its submitted form showed that it had checked every other citation and had also marked the box requesting a formal hearing on all listed violations. The…
Conshor Mining, LLC
History-only test for flagrant violations rejected
The Secretary classified three roof-control violations as flagrant largely because Conshor had paid penalties for two earlier unwarrantable violations of the same general standard within 15 months. Judge Jerold Feldman held that MSHA's internal policy-letter and news-release criteria were…
Era-Valdivia Contractors, Inc.
Independent lifeline item affirmed
Era-Valdivia employees painted a water tower from suspended Spider baskets about 80 feet above the ground. One painter climbed outside his basket and tied his harness lanyard to the scaffold's suspension cable instead of an independent lifeline. The judge vacated a general-duty item based on…
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and BP Corporation North America Inc.
In re BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and BP Corporation North America Inc. (EAB SDWA Appeal No. 11-02C): consent order ratified
EPA published notice of a proposed Final Order resolving a Safe Drinking Water Act matter involving BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and BP Corporation North America Inc. The public comment period closed on October 31, 2011, and EPA received no comments. The Environmental Appeals Board incorporated the…
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Products North America Inc., BP West Coast Products LLC, and BP Corporation North America Inc.
In re BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and related companies (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 11-03C and SDWA Appeal No. 11-02C): consent order ratified
The Environmental Appeals Board considered a Consent Agreement resolving a consolidated RCRA and Safe Drinking Water Act enforcement matter involving four BP companies. Under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b) and RCRA sections 3008(a) and (h), the Board incorporated the agreement into its Final Order and…
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Products North America Inc., BP West Coast Products LLC, and BP Corporation North America Inc.
In re BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. and related companies (EAB RCRA Appeal No. 11-03C): consent order ratified
The Environmental Appeals Board considered a Consent Agreement resolving a RCRA enforcement matter involving BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc., BP Products North America Inc., BP West Coast Products LLC, and BP Corporation North America Inc. Under 40 C.F.R. § 22.18(b) and RCRA sections 3008(a) and (h)…
GRG Construction Co., Inc.
Final assessment reopened without opposition
GRG Construction asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was recorded. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the submissions, the Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further…
Heavy Materials, LLC
Final assessment reopened without opposition
Heavy Materials asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was recorded. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed the Secretary…
H&K Materials, Inc.
Reopening denied for unreliable assessment tracking
H&K Materials faxed a proposed assessment to its counsel, but clerical and filing errors prevented the contest from being docketed and returned to MSHA. The company did not seek reopening until Treasury collection activity began, almost six months after the assessment became final and more than…
Prairie State Generating Co.
Flooding-report citation reduced to $112
Heavy rain caused unplanned flooding in the slope of Prairie State's underground coal mine while it was under construction. Management concluded that the event was not an inundation and did not notify MSHA within 15 minutes. Judge L. Zane Gill found that the flooding was reportable under 30 C.F.R…
Drum Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Disputed contest mailing remanded for fact-finding
Drum Sand & Gravel sought reopening after MSHA treated its penalty contest as late. The owner swore that he mailed the contest within ten days of receiving the assessment, while the Secretary produced an envelope postmarked four days after the assessment became final. The Commission majority found…
Anderson Sand and Gravel
Final assessment reopened without opposition
Anderson Sand and Gravel asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become final after no timely contest was recorded. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission reopened the matter in the interests of justice and remanded it for further proceedings. It directed the…
Steyer Fuel Mining Co., Inc.
Two final assessments reopened without opposition
Steyer Fuel Mining filed motions to reopen two penalty assessments that had become final after no timely contests were recorded. The Secretary did not oppose either request. The Commission reopened both assessments in the interests of justice and remanded them for further proceedings. It directed…
White Buck Coal Company
Reopening denied without prejudice after repeated filing failures
White Buck's parent-company legal analyst overlooked a contest while preparing SEC disclosures and processing 33 other assessments, causing the filing to arrive two days late. The Secretary did not oppose reopening because the delay was short and promptly discovered, but she described repeated…
Appalachian Leasing, Inc. and Double Bonus Coal Company
Haulage operator status required a hearing
MSHA cited Double Bonus after a contract truck driver was fatally run over during coal haulage from Mine No. 65 to a preparation plant. Double Bonus sought summary decision, arguing that the haul road was not a mine and that it was not an operator responsible for the cited training, inspection, and…
Barrick Turquoise Ridge, Inc.
Undelivered contest letter excused and assessment reopened
Barrick told its counsel to contest both citations in a proposed assessment. Counsel's paralegal prepared the contest letter, but an oversight prevented its hand delivery to MSHA's Office of Assessments. Counsel discovered the delinquency the next month while reviewing MSHA's online data. The…
Canyon Fuel Company, LLC
First-time payment error excused and assessment reopened
Canyon Fuel's safety manager was out for surgery when a safety engineer asked an accounts payable clerk to pay three citations and return the contest for a fourth. The clerk, handling assessments for the first time, did not know that the contest form had to be sent to MSHA's Civil Penalty…
Graymont (PA) Inc.
Paid assessment reopened after second inspector questioned citation
Graymont paid the full assessment based on the citing inspector's explanation. It later decided to contest one citation after a second inspector caused it to question whether the condition was actually a violation. The Secretary did not oppose reopening, and the Commission majority reopened and…
Matter of Saiful ISLAM
Separate credit card offenses are not one criminal scheme
The Board reviewed the appeal of a Bangladeshi lawful permanent resident who had convictions for forgery and possession of stolen property after using multiple stolen credit or debit cards at several stores. The Board held that the offenses did not arise from a single scheme of criminal misconduct…
Guam Waterworks Authority
In re Guam Waterworks Authority (EAB NPDES Appeal Nos. 09-15 and 09-16): review denied
Guam Waterworks Authority sought to renew Clean Water Act section 301(h) waivers that allowed its Northern District and Agana wastewater treatment plants to operate without secondary treatment. The EAB held that GWA did not show that it met all statutory and regulatory waiver criteria, and it had…
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.