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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OCI Wyoming, L.P.
Final penalty assessments reopened and remanded
OCI Wyoming asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that had become final orders after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission reviewed the circumstances and granted the requests. It remanded the matters to the Chief Administrative Law Judge…
Cumberland River Coal Company
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Cumberland River Coal Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission granted the request. It remanded the case to the Chief…
Perovich Properties, Inc.
Reopening request dismissed because penalty was timely contested
Perovich Properties asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that it believed may have become a final order. After reviewing its records, the Secretary reported that Perovich had timely contested the proposed penalty. The Commission therefore found that the assessment never became a…
Lone Star Aggregates Acquisitions, LLC
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Lone Star Aggregates asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission reviewed the circumstances and reopened the assessment. It remanded the matter to the Chief…
Mach Mining, LLC
Interlocutory review and stay denied
Mach Mining asked to stay this civil penalty proceeding while the Commission considered a related ventilation-plan issue in another case. An administrative law judge denied the stay and declined to certify the ruling for interlocutory review. The Commission concluded that Mach had not shown that…
Justin Nagel v. Newmont USA Limited
Late reconsideration request denied
Justin Nagel filed a discrimination complaint against Newmont USA Limited, and an administrative law judge dismissed it for failure to comply with discovery orders and lack of candor. The Commission had already denied Nagel's petition for discretionary review and his request for a new hearing. It…
Matter of Rudolf STRYDOM
Violating a domestic-violence no-contact order is deportable conduct
The Board reviewed a South African respondent's appeal from a removal order based on his violation of a Kansas domestic-violence protection order. The Board held that a conviction for violating a Kansas protection order can be analyzed under the modified categorical approach when the state statute…
Brody Mining, LLC
Eight safety orders modified and penalties reduced
MSHA alleged eight violations at Brody Mine No. 1 involving ventilation, a preshift examination, a flooded escapeway, combustible accumulations, a haulage safeguard, and an unguarded shuttle-car opening. Judge L. Zane Gill found the underlying violations but reduced gravity or negligence findings…
S & S Dredging
Loader-step violation reduced to non-S&S with $300 penalty
S & S Dredging used a loader with a lower step missing rear supports and an upper step that was bent and had a hole. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the defects affected safety and had not been corrected in a timely manner, violating 30 C.F.R. § 56.14100(b). He found a fall reasonably likely but…
Stoneco Inc.
Reopening request denied without prejudice
Stoneco asked the Commission to reopen a two-citation penalty assessment that became final when the company did not submit a timely contest. Stoneco said it faxed a conference request to an MSHA office but overlooked the separate requirement to send the assessment contest form to MSHA's Arlington…
Independence Coal Company, Inc., et al.
Part 50 audit records must be produced
Six Massey-controlled mine operators contested citations and failure-to-abate orders issued after they declined to provide records requested during MSHA Part 50 reporting audits. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews held that the Mine Act and 30 C.F.R. § 50.41 authorize MSHA to request accident-related…
Jayson Turner v. National Cement Company of California
Discrimination dismissal vacated and remanded
Jayson Turner alleged that National Cement fired him in retaliation for raising safety concerns at its cement plant. An administrative law judge found that Turner engaged in protected activity but dismissed the complaint because she concluded the discharge was based on outside employment and poor…
Cape Wind Associates, LLC
In re Cape Wind Associates, LLC (EAB OCS Appeal No. 11-01): review denied
EPA Region 1 issued an Outer Continental Shelf air permit allowing Cape Wind Associates, LLC to construct and operate a 130-turbine wind project in Nantucket Sound. The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah challenged the permit’s treatment of one-hour…
Big Ridge, Inc. and Peabody Midwest Mining LLC
Part 50 audit citations affirmed
Big Ridge and Peabody Midwest contested citations and failure-to-abate orders issued after two mines declined to provide payroll, time-sheet, and accident-related medical records during MSHA Part 50 audits. Judge Kenneth R. Andrews held that the Mine Act and 30 C.F.R. § 50.41 authorize MSHA to…
Mountain Edge Mining, Inc.
Three section 104(d)(1) violations affirmed with $127,073 penalty
MSHA cited Mountain Edge Mining for exceeding its roof-control-plan entry widths, failing to instruct miners on a revised ventilation plan, and failing to record methane-test results. Judge William B. Moran affirmed all three violations and every special finding attached to them. He emphasized 52…
Mountain Edge Mining, Inc.
Roof-control and preshift violations affirmed
MSHA cited Mountain Edge Mining during low-height retreat mining for failing to install required roof support and test holes and for an inadequate preshift examination that missed ventilation hazards. Judge William B. Moran affirmed both violations as significant and substantial, highly negligent…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Sago seal citation settled for $8,500
MSHA alleged that Wolf Run failed to follow its ventilation plan when constructing seals later destroyed in the January 2006 Sago Mine explosion. Post-accident testing showed that both the installed seals and seals built exactly to the plan likely would have withstood the 20-psi force required at…
Sanchez Arango Construction
Four violations affirmed and two vacated
OSHA cited Sanchez Arango Construction after an inspector saw an employee working about twenty-five feet above the ground without tying off. The judge affirmed serious violations for using a damaged synthetic sling and failing to provide fall protection, rejecting the employee-misconduct defense…
Sangravl Company
Eight violations resolved with $7,671 penalty
MSHA cited Sangravl for eight safety violations at its sand and gravel facility involving compressed-gas storage, exposed or damaged electrical conductors, a defective truck parking brake, an unsecured raised truck bed, a missing roadway berm, and unsafe access to a fuel tank. Judge David F…
Hocker Construction, LLP
Reopening request denied without prejudice
Hocker Construction asked to reopen a penalty assessment that became final after it missed the 30-day contest deadline. The company said it believed the assessment did not need to be contested because the underlying citations had been terminated. The Secretary opposed reopening, noting that…
Left Fork Mining Company, Inc.
Default vacated and case remanded
Left Fork Mining defaulted after the Commission did not receive its answer to the Secretary's penalty petition. The company showed that it had sent an answer responding to 17 penalties and conceding 17 others, and that the assigned Labor Department attorney received it. The Secretary did not oppose…
Matter of A-G-G-
Firm-resettlement findings must focus on an offer of permanent resettlement
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of asylum to a Mauritanian respondent who had lived in Senegal for more than eight years. The Board established a four-step framework for deciding whether an asylum applicant was firmly resettled in…
U.S. Silver - Idaho, Inc.
Late penalty contests reopened and remanded
U.S. Silver asked to reopen three penalties after its assessment contest form reached MSHA after the 30-day deadline. The operator attributed the delay to an administrative error while it paid the other penalties, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission majority noted that U.S…
Lowell Vos d/b/a Lowell VOS Feedlot
In re Lowell Vos Feedlot (EAB EAJA Appeal No. 10-01): fee application denied
EPA brought a Clean Water Act enforcement action against Lowell Vos Feedlot, alleging unpermitted pollutant discharges. The ALJ ultimately found that EPA had not proved a violation by a preponderance of the evidence, and Vos Feedlot then sought $80,548.99 in attorneys’ fees and costs under the…
Wake Stone Corporation
Two horn citations vacated after pre-shift checks
MSHA cited Wake Stone Corporation at its Nash County Quarry after the service horns on an excavator and a dozer failed during pre-shift examinations. The company recorded the defects and tagged both machines as non-operational before they were used. Judge L. Zane Gill read the horn-maintenance rule…
Matter of M-A-M-
Competency safeguards are required when indicia of incompetency exist
The Board reviewed a Jamaican respondent's appeal from removal proceedings in which he appeared to have significant mental-health and competency concerns. The Board held that respondents are presumed competent, but an Immigration Judge must make further inquiry when the record shows indicia of…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Lightning-arrester citations split on remand
MSHA issued five citations concerning lightning-arrester protection for surface conductors and wires leading into Wolf Run's Dorothy No. 3 Mine after investigating the 2006 Sago Mine explosion. On remand, Judge Jerold Feldman affirmed an S&S violation involving inadequate separation between…
Black Beauty Coal Company
Inaccessible lifeline affirmed with $45,000 penalty
MSHA cited Black Beauty Coal Company because about 100 to 110 feet of a directional lifeline in a secondary escapeway hung 7 to 12 feet above the mine floor and could not be pulled within reach. Judge Margaret A. Miller found that the condition prevented effective use of the lifeline during an…
Cemex, Inc.
Operator liable for contractor driver's fall-protection violation
An MSHA inspector saw a truck driver standing about 12 feet above the ground on the rounded top of a tanker without fall protection during gusty conditions at Cemex's Kosmos mine. The driver worked for an independent trucking company and knowingly bypassed Cemex's posted requirement to use an…
Luminant Mining Company, LLC
Final penalty assessment reopened and remanded
Luminant Mining Company asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that became final when it did not contest the assessment within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission relied on its authority to grant relief from final orders in appropriate circumstances and…
Pine Ridge Coal Company, LLC
Four-day roof-fall reporting delay draws $6,000 penalty
A large roof fall struck a continuous miner at Pine Ridge Coal Company's Big Mountain No. 16 mine, pulled out roof supports, displaced a ventilation curtain, and left the No. 6 face unsafe to reach. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy found that the unplanned fall occurred in active workings and both impaired…
Master Products Corporation
Late reopening granted for extraordinary circumstances
Master Products timely sent its penalty contest to the wrong MSHA office and repeatedly sought help after receiving delinquency and collection notices, but MSHA did not correct the company's understanding that its case was under review. The company asked the Commission to reopen the assessment 16…
Matter of Hilmer Leonel CUBOR-Cruz
Personal service on minors age 14 or older is effective
The Board reviewed a Guatemalan respondent's appeal from an in absentia removal order and his motion to reopen for lack of proper notice. The respondent was 17 when he was personally served with the Notice to Appear and argued that notice also had to be served on his stepfather or a legal guardian…
Elk Run Coal Company, Inc.
Default vacated after timely answer went unfiled
A judge defaulted Elk Run Coal Company after the Commission did not receive an answer to the Secretary's penalty petition. Elk Run showed that its counsel had timely served the answer on the Secretary, after which the parties began discovery and settlement discussions, but the answer was never…
Cortez Joint Venture
Reopening request dismissed because contest was timely
Cortez Joint Venture asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that it believed might have become final. After reviewing its records, the Secretary confirmed that Cortez had timely contested the assessment. The Commission therefore held that the assessment never became a final…
American Coal Company
Proposed 55 percent penalty reduction rejected
A dozer dropped into a void above an operating coal feeder at American Coal Company's Galatia Mine, followed by an ignition that caused severe burns to the operator. The Secretary and the company proposed reducing negligence from moderate to low and cutting the penalty from $7,578 to $3,405 because…
Cam Mining, LLC
Ground-control violation affirmed, blasting-area citation dismissed
Flyrock from two surface-mine blasts traveled more than 1,570 feet and struck a mechanic in an equipment staging area, causing a fatal injury. Judge Avram Weisberger found that Cam Mining's ground-control plan contained no specific drilling or blasting procedures to prevent flyrock, so he affirmed…
Marfork Coal Company, Inc. Settlement Agreement
Marfork Coal Company, Inc. (FMSHRC WEVA 2009-1367-R, et al.): 83 dockets settled for $627,714
Marfork Coal Company and the Secretary submitted a comprehensive settlement covering 83 contest and civil-penalty dockets involving several company mines. The agreement reduced total assessed penalties from $784,659 to $627,714, a reduction of $156,945, with the docket-by-docket amounts listed in…
Birdair, Inc.
Compliance officer's phone records protected by informer's privilege
Birdair subpoenaed the personal cellular-phone records of the OSHA compliance officer who investigated it. The Commission held that the informer's privilege protected the records because phone numbers, call frequency, and call duration could identify people who assisted OSHA and reveal how much…
Matter of Paul Wilson DORMAN
DOMA cancellation-of-removal questions remanded for findings
The Attorney General reviewed a Board of Immigration Appeals decision applying Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act to a respondent's request for cancellation of removal. The Attorney General vacated the Board's decision and remanded the matter for findings about whether the respondent's…
Altor, Inc., and/or Avcon, Inc.
Eight willful items affirmed with $412,000 penalty
OSHA cited extensive hard-hat, open-edge, and floor-hole hazards during construction of a sixteen-story concrete building. The Commission held that Altor and Avcon operated as a single employer because they shared a worksite, management, ownership, office support, and integrated operations. The…
KS Energy Services, Inc.
Review withdrawn and judge's decision made final
The Commission vacated its earlier direction for review of the case. As a result, the administrative law judge's decision became the Commission's final order on April 26, 2011. The order does not discuss the underlying citations or explain why review was withdrawn. It expressly states that the…
Trinity Yachts, LLC, and its Successors
Argon-training case remanded for excluded testimony
After a welder died while working with argon in a yacht's enclosed vent trunk, the judge affirmed a training violation but vacated atmospheric-testing and mechanical-ventilation items. The Commission did not decide the merits. It held that the judge improperly cut off testimony from Trinity's…
ADM Milling Company
Manlift guarding citation vacated under grandfather provision
OSHA cited ADM Milling for failing to guard the lower pulley and moving steps of a continuous-belt manlift installed in 1954. The judge held that the manlift standard's grandfather provision, reinforced by OSHA's own 1991 interpretation letter, made the standard inapplicable to manlifts installed…
Waterford Aluminum Company, Inc.
Pro se default set aside and case remanded
A judge entered default against Waterford Aluminum after the company failed to answer the Secretary's complaint or respond to a show-cause order. The Commission set the default aside because the record did not establish that Waterford received the show-cause order, a broken water pipe had closed…
PBS Coals, Inc. & Musser Engineering, Inc.
PBS assessed $55,000 for inaccurate mine map
Nine miners were trapped for three days after mining at Quecreek No. 1 broke into water-filled abandoned workings shown inaccurately on the mine map. An earlier ALJ decision held PBS Coals and Musser Engineering liable under the accurate-map standard and assessed maximum penalties. The Commission…
Susan Lucero v. Powder River Coal, LLC
Discrimination complaint dismissed for lack of adverse action or motive
Susan Lucero alleged that Powder River Coal supervisors bullied or interfered with her after she raised safety concerns about haul-road holes, oil on electrical wires, and backing a company van, and that the company delayed her promotion in retaliation. Judge David F. Barbour found that each safety…
Mize Granite Quarries, Inc, and Robert W. Mize, III and Clayborn Lewis
Mize Granite Quarries, Inc. (FMSHRC SE 2009-401-M, et al.): Nine company violations and agent liability findings
MSHA cited Mize Granite Quarries for unsafe access, missing fall protection, an excessive grinder-tool-rest gap, an uncapped oxygen cylinder, a worn crane hook, exposed metal in a blasting-cap magazine, missing handrails, unsecured high-pressure hose connections, and an untested grounding system…
Essroc Cement Corporation
Cement grinding facility held subject to MSHA jurisdiction
Essroc Cement Corporation argued that its Michigan facility was a cement grinding and shipping terminal, not a mine subject to the Mine Act. Judge David F. Barbour held that the facility fell within the Act because grinding is a milling process and the statutory definition of a mine includes…
Matter of Julio Cesar AHORTALEJO-GUZMAN
Conviction records control moral-turpitude findings
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal from the denial of cancellation of removal after an assault conviction. The Immigration Judge relied on a police report and testimony that the assault involved domestic violence, even though the judgment and sentence stated that the offense did not…
Henry R. Stevenson, Jr. Individually And as Owner of Parkwood Land Company
In re Henry R. Stevenson, Jr. Individually And as Owner of Parkwood Land Company (EAB CWA Appeal No. 11-02): appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Henry R. Stevenson, Jr., individually and as owner of Parkwood Land Company, appealed an EPA Region 6 administrative order concerning dredged and fill material discharged into 1.26 acres of wetlands. The order alleged unpermitted discharges under the Clean Water Act and required a restoration plan…
Tilden Mining Company, L.C.
Extension-cord grounding tests required
MSHA cited Tilden Mining for failing to test and record the resistance of extension cords used as part of the mine's grounding system. Judge Alan G. Paez held that grounding conductors in extension cords are essential components of a grounding system and therefore fall within section 56.12028. He…
P & K Sand & Gravel, Inc.
Reopening granted after repeated misdirected contest efforts
P & K Sand & Gravel did not follow the assessment form's contest instructions but repeatedly wrote to MSHA, Treasury, and the Solicitor's Office after receiving the assessment and later collection notices. The small family-owned operator said it misunderstood its contest rights and initially…
Carline Coal Company, Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Carline Coal Company 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. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. The…
Essroc Cement Corporation
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Essroc Cement Corporation 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. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. The…
Korte Construction Co.
Flexible-cord damage citation vacated
Korte Construction routed two heavy-duty electrical cables and a smaller extension cord through friction-hinged windows at a construction project. OSHA alleged that the cords were insufficiently protected from sharp edges and pinch-point damage. The judge found that the heavy rubber sheathing…
Long Branch Energy
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Long Branch Energy 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. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings before the…
Wyo-Ben, Inc.
Two assessments reopened and remanded
Wyo-Ben asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that became final when they were not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the requests. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened both assessments and remanded them for further proceedings. The…
Mark Cunningham, employed by Tri-Star USA, Inc.
Individual penalty assessment reopened
Mark Cunningham asked the Commission to reopen an individual penalty assessment under section 110(c) that became final when it was not contested within 30 days. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for…
Mountain Spring Coal Company
Same-day contests held timely after misdelivery
Mountain Spring Coal notified MSHA that ownership of the mine was changing and directed future correspondence, including assessments, to its West Virginia address. MSHA nevertheless sent two assessments by Federal Express to the former Ohio mine address, where other persons signed for them…
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.